Deadly Combination: Wayne County Opioid Epidemic

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Deadly Combination: Wayne County Opioid Epidemic

Deadly Combination

Over the past few months, a team of dedicated reporters has delved into the local impact of the national heroin and opioid crisis. Some of what these writers discovered might not surprise you. Some of it will. All of it matters. Share your thoughts on our Facebook and Twitter feeds.

 

Deadly Combination Part III -- The Survivors: To build anew - At the Potter's house

Salvation came to Larry Miller in the form of a merciful judge. He had spent part of his adult life and a large part of his teenage years leading the law on chases through the mucky swamps of Palm Beach...

Deadly Combination Part III -- The Survivors: Survived by - Rance's story

A Carolina Tar Heels shirt still hangs in the closet. A ball cap sits under the lamp on the nightstand. Gloria Hurley holds on tightly to just about everything her son owned. She keeps the items for sentimental reasons and...

Deadly Combination Part II -- The Susceptible: The path to prevention - Curbing with COPE

Wayne County Sheriff's Deputy Robin Stine believes the path to drug prevention starts early in life. Stine is the instructor for the Community Oriented Prevention Education program, a Wayne County Sheriff's Office initiative designed to teach fifth-grade students about the...

Deadly Combination Part II -- The Susceptible: Where it starts - Drugs and youth

As opioid addiction continues to impact Wayne County, students are coming face-to-face with drugs in their daily lives, both at home and at school. Juliet Jones is a health and physical education teacher at Eastern Wayne High School. She said...

Deadly Combination Part I -- The Casualties: The antidote - Narcan, a savior or a crutch?

Shoot it. Smoke it. Snort it. Each plunge of the needle, draw into the lungs or sniff of the powder is an effort to chase that same elusive high -- the one the addict got the very first time they...

Deadly Combination Part I -- The Casualties: A look at the numbers - Overdoses and deaths

Deaths from opioid-related overdoses are now the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. The drugs are increasingly claiming lives across the nation, state and in Wayne County. While the number of deaths in Wayne County is lower...

Deadly Combination Part I -- The Casualties: An ongoing battle - Treating the addicts

Denise Bruce has seen it all before. An adult, anywhere between the ages of 20 and 40, enters the emergency room lethargic, with a low pulse and a very low blood pressure reading. Breathing may be slowed, speech a little...

Deadly Combination Part I -- The Casualties: On the front lines - EMS and law enforcement

A police cruiser sits at the side of the road. The car's blue lights flash against the black backdrop of the early morning darkness. The car that has been pulled over is dark, too. Inside, the officer can see...