Many drug addiction experts believe that the state of West Virginia is the epicenter of the opioid crisis gripping the United States. In 2017 alone, 909 people died in the state’s 55 counties. This epidemic has also driven many of the state’s most desperate addicts to the streets, looking to secure a fix.
Probation officers in the state told NBC News that they are seeing a steady stream of arrest reports with a very troubling pattern in which addicts “go from prescription painkillers to heroin to prostitution.”
Already grappling with the loss of thousands of coal mining jobs and an exodus of young people in search of opportunities elsewhere, West Virginia was a sitting duck when Big Pharma began pumping prescription painkillers into the state. (4/7) https://t.co/KVfz3Cr4ka
— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 30, 2018
NBC’s extensive piece Monday focuses on a handful of women who have become sex workers after becoming addicted to opioids. The piece draws another link between sex trafficking, the opioid epidemic and the lack of resources and understanding being devoted to the issue. How pervasive this problem has become is unclear because West Virginia is one of the few states that doesn’t report these types of crimes to the FBI. But Assistant U.S Attorney Andrew Cogar says he knows “that data exists. And it’s troubling.”
NBC reports that the House Energy and Commerce Committee has begun investigating the pharmaceutical companies and distributors who they say are at the root of the problem. News and Guts wrote about the state of Arkansas’ lawsuit against Big Pharma in March.
Last year, 909 people died following fatal overdoses in the state’s 55 counties, according to the West Virginia Health Statistics Center. (5/7) https://t.co/KVfz3Cr4ka pic.twitter.com/8ZKLH8ixuV
— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 30, 2018