Off The Editor’s Desk – 12-29-2021
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Drugs are killing us
About 93,000 American citizens lost their lives to drug overdose in 2020 and here in Wisconsin the number of deaths is growing each year. Our state listed some 1,530 deaths from drug overdoses in 2020 up from about 1,200 the year before.
Everyday the television news is full with reports about gun violence, but reporting on the drug pandemic needs to improve.
I have watched reports coming from the United States Attorney’s office for the Western District of Wisconsin about sentences handed down by the court for selling drugs in this states. This past week the court handled four drug cases that results in long prison terms. On December 8 a LaCrosse man got 72 months in a federal prison. On December 9, a Chicago man got 84 months, On December 10 a LaCrosse man got 90 months and on December 14 a Wausau man got 12 years.
But we must stop the flow of drugs into our state and nation and with the southern border open to everyone who can walk; the flow of drugs will never be stopped.
According to a piece written by Will Cushman for Wisconsin Public Broadcasting, told the story of what is happening.
“As the Coronavirus swept across Wisconsin, an entrenched epidemic continued to exact its own deadly toll in communities across the state. Drug overdose deaths soared to record levels in Wisconsin in 2020 as social upheaval and isolation upended lives and disrupted life-saving social services.
“Primarily but not exclusively driven by heroin and synthetic opioids like fentanyl, overdose deaths had been growing for years in Wisconsin and the United States before the pandemic struck in early 2020. Then through the rest of the year, they surged.
“Few if any parts of Wisconsin were spared as fentanyl, heroin, Meth, cocaine and other drugs flowed through urban centers and rural areas alike, including Northwoods and Native communities. Still, a surge in overdoes in and around Milwaukee in 2020 confirmed Wisconsin’s largest metro area as the ongoing epicenter of the sate’s overdose scourge.
“Fatalities attributed to overdoses shot up in Milwaukee County to a record of 546 deaths. That figure means more than a third of overdoes deaths in Wisconsin during the year were in a county that’s home to only about one-sixth of the state’s population.”
So, what it looks like to me is that trying to kept people safe from the pandemic, by keeping them home, only increased the overdose deaths in this state and nation.
If you think that drugs are not a problem in your community, think again. We posted a story a couple of weeks ago about a traffic stop in Glenwood City and drugs were discovered being transported through our town.
“Mirroring a national trend, overdose deaths peaked locally in Milwaukee County in May and June 2020, a period of deep economic uncertainty and social unrest as pandemic-related restrictions collided with a protest movement set off by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.” According to the piece by Will Cushman.
Thanks for reading!
~Carlton