Opioids big threat to life in Jefferson County area
Jefferson, Wis.
It’s not just COVID-19, but the opioids heroin and even stronger fentanyl that are killing people in Jefferson County as 2022 kicks off.
Jefferson County Medical Examiner Nichol Tesch and Emi Reiner, registered nurse and Jefferson County Drug Free Coalition/Drug Free Communities Project director, both offered statistics and other information on the ongoing opioid crisis that has claimed more than a dozen lives in the county each year since 2019. In 2018, there were 10 such deaths from overdoses and in 2017, there were 14.
Other people who deal directly with opioid drug problems in the county, including Human Services Director Kathi Cauley and Detective Sgt. Dan Horvatin of the Jefferson County Drug Task Force, also acknowledged the problematic nature of opioids here.