The World from PRX

opioids

Officers gather kratom plants in Phang Nha province, Thailand. Thailand on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021, decriminalized the possession and sale of kratom, a plant native to Southeast Asia.
Health & Medicine
Thailand legalizes kratom, a mild narcotic leaf
A fire medic holds a box containing naloxone hydrochloride which is carried in all their department's emergency response vehicles, in Akron, Ohio
Health & Medicine
With rising overdoses, British Columbia expands experimental prescription initiative
Chemicals seized during Asia’s largest-ever drug bust in Myanmar. 
Global Politics
A massive Asian drug bust has stirred a fentanyl mystery
Mae Salong
Conflict & Justice
They were CIA-backed Chinese rebels. Now you’re invited to their once-secret hideaway.
Bags of white powdery fentanyl on a table.
Health
How the deadly drug fentanyl is making its way to the US
A poppy farmer stands in front of a poppy plant and talks with a mic in his hand.
Conflict & Justice
Could decriminalization of Mexico’s poppy farms reduce drug-cartel violence?
An Afghan policeman destroys poppies during a campaign against narcotics in Jalalabad province, Afghanistan, April 4, 2017.
Conflict
US airstrikes in Afghanistan are targeting drug labs that fund the Taliban
A pharmacist holds prescription painkiller OxyContin, 40mg pills, made by Purdue Pharma L.D. at a local pharmacy.
Health
Why the opioid crisis is an American problem