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As prescription drug overdose deaths soar nationwide, most states have failed to take a simple step that would make it harder for doctors to prescribe the deadliest of all narcotics. Methadone overdoses kill about 5,000 people every year, six times as many as in the late 1990s, when it was prescribed almost exclusively for use in hospitals and addiction clinics where it is tightly controlled. It is four times as likely to cause an overdose death as oxycodone, and more than twice as likely as morphine. In addition, experts say it is the most addictive of all opiates. (Vestal, 4/23)

Whether quaffing artisanal cocktails at hipster bars or knocking back no-name beers on the couch, more Americans are drinking heavily – and engaging in episodes of binge-drinking, concludes a major study of alcohol use. Heavy drinking among Americans rose 17.2 percent between 2005 and 2012, largely due to rising rates among women, according to the study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, published Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health. (Feder Ostrov, 4/23)

What started with a Vicodin prescription to deal with a particularly difficult kidney stone spiraled into a painkiller addiction for Bartlett resident Nicholas Gore, one he said made him so desperate to score pills that he'd raid medicine cabinets at real estate open houses. Ultimately, he started using heroin. After five years in and out of rehab, jail time on drug charges and the loss of family, friends and what was once a promising hockey career, Gore says he's been sober for three years. (Hellmann, 4/23)

For the small southern city of Anniston, 2011 seemed like a summer of madness. First came the cicadas, woken from their 13-year-slumber by some ineffable urge. Then came the reports of a new drug in town. It was called Spice, and all the kids were trying it. Then came the suicides. (Miller, 4/24)