In the wake of the prescription painkiller epidemic, heroin, much of it Mexican, has wormed its way into unsuspecting communities far from the Southwestern border as a cheaper and often more easily obtained alternative. Ms. Ivy’s was believed to be the seventh fatal heroin overdose in eight months in this town of 13,000 on the St. Croix River near Minneapolis. Two months after her death, and before yet another young Hudson woman died ”” at a “sober house” ”” of a heroin overdose in October, nearly 500 townspeople crowded into the First Presbyterian Church for a forum called “Heroin in Hudson: A Community in Crisis.”
Ms. Ivy’s death certificate, recently released, revealed that a mix of drugs was to blame; the police declined to specify the drugs since her death remains under investigation. But “Alysa was a heroin abuser, and her addiction to drugs killed her,” said Patty Schachtner, the St. Croix County medical examiner.
“It’s a tightknit community, and these kids all knew each other,” Ms. Schachtner said of those who overdosed. “They were not what you might expect. They were not the faces of heroin addiction we see on television.”
This isn’t news, it’s history as the graphics in the article show; graphics I tend to think have some garbage data because of underreporting. Heroin killing off young Americans didn’t start with Phillip Seymour Hoffman (a not so young user). I guess if his death brings attention to it…, but where was the concern five years or ten ago? The people who have been picking up the pieces in small towns, suburbs, and big cities knew, what kept MSM from waving flags? Can we start dealing with this?
#1–The first thing we are doing as a society to deal with it is making marijuana legal. Colorado is alreading getting a million dollars a week in added tax revenue. So, how long will it be until heroin is added to the legal list? Not long IMHO. We are turning America on its head–the government’s insatiable desire for revenue now trumps the very well being of its citizens!