By most accounts, heroin use has shot up in Wisconsin and the nation in the last few years. Based on statistics from the Milwaukee Coroner’s office, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the percentage of Milwaukee county overdose deaths attributed solely to heroin rose from 9% in 2002 to 24% in 2012 in Milwaukee County. Once considered a drug of major urban centers, heroin has started becoming more prevalent in more rural areas as well. What accounts for the more widespread use of this highly addictive drug? Special Agent Chris McNichol of the state Department of Justice Criminal Investigations Division joined the Buzz to answer these questions and more. McNichol heads the Milwaukee High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area and was previously an officer in the Milwaukee Police Department.
More information on heroin use