Posted on 04/10/2015 8:37:29 PM PDT by Olog-hai
More than 100 people in southeastern Indiana have tested positive for HIV in an outbreak linked to the sharing of intravenous needles, and officials said Friday they’re trying to combat unfounded fears among drug users that they could be arrested if they take part in a needle-exchange program created to stem the spread of the virus.
The state’s Joint Information Center said there had been 95 confirmed HIV cases and 11 preliminary positive cases tied to the outbreak as of Thursday. That’s up from last week’s 84 confirmed HIV cases and five preliminary positive cases. […]
Indiana’s largest-ever HIV outbreak has hit Scott County, a rural, economically-struggling area about 30 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky. Health officials say all of those infected either live in the county or have ties to it. In a typical year, that county would see only about five new HIV cases, but it’s seen 20 times that number since December.
Republican Gov. Mike Pence declared a public health emergency in the county March 26 that temporarily waived the state’s ban on needle-exchange programs, although solely for that county in hopes of stemming the virus’ spread. …
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Mrs. Henkster hails from Scott County, and we are sad but not surprised. While there are other counties in Southern Indiana that are economically worse off, being in I-65 just 30 minutes north of Louisville makes drug trafficking easier.
Duesberg was obviously right all along. This is no story.
The only story here.....is that heron has made a magnificent comeback. A decade ago...folks would have said it was ‘done’ and no one would be interested in the stuff.
I’m from north Ala and you typically see five or six cop reports per month now on heron busts. Rural areas now regularly see the stuff.
I live in a very conservative county in Wisconsin and the sheriff, district attorney and the head of the county drug enforcement task force are all in favor of needle exchange programs. They have also supported supplying addicts with narcan and a state law that waives the Len Bias law for people who call 911 when someone OD’s.
Heroin is a monster of a drug and does a great job destroying lives. At least without HIV, an addict has some vain hope of getting clean.
I spent a couple weeks last summer working on a series about heroin addiction and all I can say is to never touch the stuff. It is life destroying.
What have they got going on out there, Little Bathhouse On The Prairie?
The increase in heroin use is directly attributable to Florida’s implementation of a prescription database which has cut the supply of oxycodone and like drugs. The price of those drugs on the street have climbed to the point where heroin becomes an economic choice. For demented junkies. Or demented junkie-wannabees.
It’s the same in Wisconsin. i’ve heard it from narcotics cops, district attorneys and AODA counselors. They all wish the supply of normal narcotics were available to keep people off heroin.
Every cop I’ve ever talked to on the subject has said that one never really kicks heroin.
Around here, it’s related to the Meth explosion.
Eventually, meth just doesn’t “do it” enough for the heads, and they move on to mainlining heroin.
I guess I will never understand the reasoning behind supporting one illegal habit to head off another.
Meth is still pretty disgusting. It makes me puke to hear of all the foreign substances that people use in making meth, and yet people put that into their own body.
And heroin, that’s pretty awful, awful because it pretty much attaches itself to a person and becomes a permanent apetite.
It was a growing problem in Delaware and Pennsylvania too, especially Philadelphia and northern Delaware. In Delaware, the per capita heroin use was pretty bad, epidemic in fact.
First, people ought to be able to walk into a drugstore and buy syringes without a prescription.
More to the point of druggies. We need government run homes, like dorms for example, where we have the drug users live. We give them all the drugs they want, supply them with basic necessities of food & medical care. And let them commit the suicide they are looking for, as slow or fast as they wish. No crimes need be committed to get drugs & no diseases need be passed to anyone. And these people are free to die in the manner they choose, at the rate they choose.
This will dramatically lower crime related to drugs and save society a boatload of money in the longer term.
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