___This story was produced with support from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. “This is a huge public health dilemma,” said Dr. Gilles Forte, the secretary of the World Health Organization’s committee that recommends how drugs should be regulated. “It’s a really very complicated balance to strike.”Tramadol is not as deadly as other opioids and the crisis isn't killing with the ferocity of America's struggle withe the drugs. The north Indian state of Punjab, the center of India’s opioid epidemic, was the latest to crack down. The government opened a network of treatment centers, fearing those who had become opioid addicted would resort to heroin out of desperation.

Source: International New York Times December 13, 2019 06:33 UTC