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America’s drug crisis has many survivors. Jerry Schlesinger, 72, is among the longest tenured. He tried heroin at 15. Today, he has been sober for two years. In between, decades of illicit drug use wrecked his lungs and teeth and compromised his liver. America spent millions of dollars imprisoning, housing and treating him before he stopped using. “You’re not done until you’re done,” Schlesinger said. His is a living history of a drug crisis that has left millions of people in poor health and searching for purpose. The most senior are entering old age. Their struggles show how the damage wrought by addiction will linger long after the death toll drops. (Wernau, 12/1)

The cartel recruiter slipped onto campus disguised as a janitor and then zeroed in on his target: a sophomore chemistry student. The recruiter explained that the cartel was staffing up for a project, and that he’d heard good things about the young man.“ ‘You’re good at what you do,’” the student recalled the recruiter saying. “‘You decide if you’re interested.’” In their quest to build fentanyl empires, Mexican criminal groups are turning to an unusual talent pool: not hit men or corrupt police officers, but chemistry students studying at Mexican universities. (Kitroeff and Villegas, 12/1)

Doctors have long taken for granted a devil’s bargain: Relieving intense pain, such as that caused by surgery and traumatic injury, risks inducing the sort of pleasure that could leave patients addicted. Opioids are among the most powerful, if not the most powerful, pain medications ever known, but for many years they have been a source of staggering morbidity and mortality. (Friedman, 11/29)

Many social drinkers who take obesity medications, such as Wegovy or Mounjaro, say they don't enjoy alcohol as much. A new study of Weight Watchers members who take obesity drugs — and were in the habit of drinking — finds about half of them cut back after they started the medication. (Aubrey, 12/2)