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How a Self-Described ‘Junkie’ Rode Synthetic Drugs to Oblivion — and Fame

An Estonian addict could barely keep pace with the new drugs flooding the market. His terrifying accounts of the cruel toll they took on his body held his country in its grip.

© Meridith Kohut for The New York Times

The Estonian police used to respond to reports of people sniffing glue at these abandoned housing units. Now ultra-potent new synthetic drugs are keeping them busy.
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Trump Administration Backs Down on an Opioid Ban After Kratom Industry Lobbying

Health officials will now allow some levels of a powerful substance to remain in products marketed as natural. The change could help a G.O.P. donor facing wrongful death lawsuits.

© Nick Oxford for The New York Times

Banners promoting the sale of kratom products outside a smoke shop in Tulsa, Okla., earlier this year.
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U.S. Defends Military Campaign Against Cartels as Leaders Gather in Caribbean

A regional coalition convened as part of a U.S. military effort to disrupt and combat drug traffickers that officials have compared to the campaign against the Islamic State and Al Qaeda.

© Enea Lebrun/Reuters

A multinational military exercise near Panama City in August. Regional military leaders at a gathering on Tuesday reviewed a wide-ranging U.S. military plan to combat drug smugglers.
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Justice Dept. Steps Up Moves on Comey and Others as Midterm Elections Near

In some cases, court paperwork bears unmistakable signs of urgency — typos, unorthodox tactics and the signatures of the department’s senior political leadership.

© Steve Helber/Associated Press

Attorney General Todd Blanche announcing the indictment of L. Louise Lucas, a prominent Virginia Democrat, on drug-trafficking charges last week in Norfolk, Va.
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