Resource Center

Stories

The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast.

These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need.

Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:



Search results for "drug addicts" ...

  • Cyber Drug-Dealers

    NBC 10 investigators found that children may be able to get their hands on powerful drugs without even leaving home and with no prescription, and an interviewee told them that one does not even need money to get narcotics off the internet.

    Tags: TAPE; narcotics; drug; pill; prescription; children; kids; narcotics; addict; addiction; pharmacy; doctor; cyber; cyber dealer; pain killer; antidepressant; steroid; hydrocodin; oxycontin; codeine; Valium; Xanax; tablet; bodybuilder.

    By LuAnn Cahn;Dave Bentley;Ed Dress;Brandyn Bissinger;Jamie Simmons

    WCAU-TV (Philadelphia)

    2003

  • Drugging the poor

    The story uncovers how a "small group of doctors have prescribed huge quantities of narcotic painkillers and other addictive drugs to low-income people on Medicaid, costing taxpayers hundreds of million of dollars and adding a torrent of overdose deaths in the state". The reporter used more than five databases, including autopsy data and Medicaid physician billings.

    Tags: prescription drugs; painkillers; Medicaid; autopsy

    By Fred Schulte

    Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

    2003

  • Pharmaceutical Roulette

    Reporters from the Washington Post reveal that there are various loopholes in the supposedly tightly regulated system for distributing prescription drugs. Their findings reveal that the main avenues to acquire prescription drugs are internet sites, certain doctors and small illegal wholesalers. They also find loopholes in the laws and regulations.

    Tags: Prescription drugs; prescribed medication; drug addiction; illegal drugs; online selling of prescription drugs; rogue internet sites

    By Mary Pat Flaherty;Gilbert M. Gaul

    Washington Post

    2003

  • Time Bomb: A Meth Parable

    "Time Bomb" is the story of two methamphetamine addicts whose troubled and violent time together touches on almost every issue associated with the meth boom. The intriguing piece manages to fit the entire scope of the issue into a sort of feature on the two and the circles in which they travelled.

    Tags: Drugs; meth; addicts; time bomb

    By Chris Barge;Curtis Hubbard

    Daily Camera (Boulder

    2003

  • Addicted to Drug Courts

    An insightful look at the Hennepin County Drug Court shows that it has not reduced the number of people incarcerated for drug offenses, nor has it reduced recidivism rates. According to the story, the state's largest drug court has actually increased the number of people prosecuted on drug charges by 50 percent. And most of those people are poor, inner city minorities.

    Tags: Drug Court; lawyers; law; diversion

    By Beth Hawkins

    City Pages (Minneapolis)

    2003

  • Hogar Crea attempts makeover in wake of money, licensing woes

    The Morning Call revealed how internal disputes and bad management led to an international nonprofit dedicated to helping Latino drug addicts into serious trouble. Hogar Crea, a "force in the region's drug abuse for more than 20 years," wound up "reeling from a series of shocks that is driving its leadership to scale back and remake the statewide organization into a system of homeless shelters." Mismanagement also led the organization to lose its license to provide drug treatment in Pennsylvania, and miss the opportunity y for a $1 million grant it could have received from the federal government that would have doubled its annual income.

    Tags: latino; hispanic; drug; drug treatment; addict; homeless; shelter; nonprofit; charity; counselor; detox; finance; management

    By Tim Darragh;Matt Assad

    Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)

    2003

  • AA Unmasked

    The Village Voice examines Alcoholics Anonymous' policy of having members discuss only alcohol addiction, not drug addiction. "Throughout AA's 66 years runs a history of mistreatment of non-alcoholic addicts and dually addicted alcoholics that is not in keeping with AA's own criteria for membership and the spiritual principles the program espouses."

    Tags: AA; Alcoholics Anonymous; alcohol; addiction; alcoholism; 12-step program; drug addiction; group therapy; support groups

    By M.T.

    Village Voice (New York)

    2001

  • The coach's secret

    The Oregonian's four-part indepth series on Michael Abraham, a promising coach who falls into drug addiction and sturggles to recover.

    Tags: drugs; athletes; sports; drug addiction; cocaine; coach

    By Jason Quick

    Oregonian (Portland, Ore.)

    2000

  • Prescription for Pain

    "Nobody knew how bad Eastern Kentucky's prescription drug problem was." After an eight-month investigation, the Lexington Herald-Leader series "Prescription for Pain," revealed that the region was "the painkiller capital of the United States. And nobody--not the doctors, the cops, the court system or society--was doing anything to stop the abuse."

    Tags: drug trade; eastern Kentucky; prescription drugs; drug addiction; painkillers; narcotics; drug courts; DUI

    By Tom Lasseter;Bill Estep;Charles B. Camp;Lee Mueller;Linda J. Johnson

    Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.)

    2003

  • Flying high - U.S. Air Force pilots on speed

    An ABC investigation reveals that, "in a little known policy, Air Force F-16 combat pilots, currently flying long night missions over Afghanistan, are being kept awake with speed - "go-pills" - amphetamines issued to them by their superior officers." The main findings are that the pilots are told to take the pills or otherwise would be found unfit for the missions; the pills -- Dexedrine -- are highly addictive and banned for use by commercial pilots and truck drivers; the FDA has not approved the drug for treatment of fatigue.

    Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; aviation; pharmaceuticals; wars; drug abuse; FOIA; Department of Defense

    By Brian Ross;Rhonda Schwartz;Maddy Sauer;Tom Morcyes;David Sloan

    ABC News

    2002