Now in the last year there has been a crack down on RX drugs coming into the area so Black Tar Heroin is on the rise. Just because you shut off the RX drugs does not mean all those folks hooked on Oxy are suddenly cured. We had our first mass murder in the area one County over and it was due to drugs mostly RX drugs but heroin and crystal meth were involved also.
Robberies and assaults are the result of addiction, period. The fact that they have cracked down on pharmaceutical opioids means that the illegal opioids become even more expensive due to diminishing supply. The demand has not been reduced at all. Thus a reduction in supply has created higher prices and increased the need to commit more assaults & robberies to satisfy those higher prices. Usage in its self is a real problem and reducing supply only exacerbates the crime problem.
I think I remember the mass murder you are speaking of. It involved a farm house and a lot of family members being killed execution style or something along those lines. It occurred sometime within this calendar year. Did they ever arrest anyone in connection with that crime? I ask because I was wondering if the crime was perpetrated by addicts or rival suppliers fighting for control of the marketplace.
Bottom line here is that illegal usage is the real issue, and the source is only the facilitator of that usage. Without usage the sources would have no marketplace and would move on to where that marketplace existed.