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Series: The Opioid Epidemic In Wisconsin

Opioid overdoses kill hundreds of Wisconsinites every year, amid a nationwide surge in painkiller and heroin abuse that's been building since the turn of the century. Opioids are a category of pain relief drugs that include long-known substances like morphine and heroin, but also powerful synthetic pharmaceuticals like hydrocodone and fentanyl. Years of widespread opioid prescriptions helped initiate the crisis, and the increasing cheap cost of these drugs fueled the spread of abuse in rural, suburban and urban communities alike. All levels of government are mobilizing to address opioid abuse, and like many states, Wisconsin is adopting policies that focus on public health approaches over emphasizing criminalization. As the contours of this epidemic continues to shift, so do efforts to contain and reverse it among health care providers, law enforcement and community organizations.
 
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The number of deaths caused by drug overdoses continues to rise in Milwaukee County — and the county is on pace to have a record 640 fatal overdoses in 2020.
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A federal grant is helping Viterbo University in La Crosse educate counseling students by sending them to rural areas to help people addicted to opioids.
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Drug overdose deaths in Milwaukee County reached a record high in 2019.
While the widely known opioid epidemic killed 3,800 people in Wisconsin between 2014 and 2018, a surge in meth use has quietly supplanted opioids in western and northern parts of the state.
La Crosse County Division of Health Services director Jason Witt discusses what he describes as a child welfare crisis in Wisconsin. Issues related to the abuse of opioids and methamphetamine are contributing to costs, and local governments agencies are seeking more funding.
The story of opioids in the 21st century is one fraught with urgency, pain and heartbreak.
As the opioid epidemic surges, the fallout on others impacted by the crisis takes shape. A report that makes the case that an uptick in Wisconsin children entering foster care is related to opioid abuse.
The opioid crisis has encroached on arguably all levels of society across the United States, the federal government officially deemed it a public health emergency. An estimated 91 people die every day from an opioid overdose.
The opioid crisis is a grave and growing burden on local governments, in one way or another.
Marathon County joined a growing list of Wisconsin counties suing pharmaceutical companies their promotion of opioids. Marathon County supervisor Sara Guild discusses the growing cost of addiction in central Wisconsin.