Recent stories from the New York Times and the Washington Post encapsulate why language choices are so important for responsible reporting on addiction.
Now that President Trump has officially declared the opioid crisis a national emergency, data can inform how to properly tackle the problem, community by community.
When Erin Borrego was 15, she and her classmates started experimenting with opioid painkillers. It started with pills called Percocet and Lortab, but she quickly moved on to injecting heroin.
Opioid addiction has claimed thousands of lives in San Diego County. Understanding who is dying and how addiction has changed over the last 15 years is central to confronting the addiction epidemic.