By Maia Szalavitz
Marilee Murphy Odendahl wants you to know a few things about her son, Ian. "He was marvelously funny, loyal, extremely intelligent and a really good observer of human behavior, so much that you wouldn't necessarily like to be the focus of it. He loved music and played guitar. He was my joy." She also wants you to know that Ian Murphy Mitchard died on Sept. 27, 2007, three days after his 28th birthday, of a heroin overdose.

Especially today, Overdose Awareness Day, Murphy Odendahl doesn't want other families to suffer the ways hers has. But each year, many do: more than 28,000 people die every year of overdose, a growing problem.  » More

By Tamara Lush; Associated Press
SARASOTA, Fla. -- At the height of what he calls his addiction, Ryan Van Cleave would stand in the grocery store checkout line with his milk and bread and baby food for his little girls and for a split second think he was living inside a video game.

It sounds crazy, but it's true: Something would catch his attention out of the corner of his eye -- maybe another shopper would make a sudden move for a Hershey bar -- and he was mentally and emotionally transported to another world.  » More

The Huffington Post; Amanda Chan
The number of deaths from prescription painkillers -- opioids, such as OxyContin, Vicodin and hydrocodone -- in the United States has now surpassed that of skin cancer, alcoholic liver disease and HIV, according to a new study published online in the British Medical Journal.

The deaths may be linked with an increase in doctors prescribing the drugs to patients with chronic pain -- like osteoarthritis -- and not just cancer patients, according to the University of Toronto researchers.  » More

The prescription pain medication Oxycontin is becoming on of the most abused and misused drugs in Hollywood. When used correctly, it's considered a safe pain management drug. But when used inappropriately, Oxycontin, known on the street as OC, O and hillbilly heroin, becomes incredibly dangerous. » More

Medical professionals will gain access to free clinical support in the use of opioid medications through a new grant announced by SAMHSA today. SAMHSA awarded $1.5 million to the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry to develop a Prescriber's Clinical Support System.  » More

Newswise— Medical professionals will gain access to free clinical support in the use of opioid medications through a new grant announced by SAMHSA today. SAMHSA awarded $1.5 million to the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry to develop a Prescriber’s Clinical Support System.  » More