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Tuesday, November 12, 2024 85° Today's Paper


Hawaii News

Opioids are ‘apex predator’ of social ills

NEW YORK TIMES

Opioids, highly addictive narcotics commonly used to treat pain, are prescribed to roughly 400,000 patients in Hawaii each year. It takes about three weeks for a patient to become dependent on the drug, which can stop a person’s breathing and heart, resulting in death when combined with alcohol and other depressants.