One Door County native describes his former life as a heroin user as "just a tidal wave of misery and despair." The man, who asked to remain anonymous , moved to Madison as a teen and quickly became involved in the drug scene as heroin began making its big comeback. "It's just a very strange world, and if I stayed in it I would not be alive," he said. "I lost a friend almost every month - only a small amount of us made it through." [continues 972 words]
The use of prescription opiate narcotics is on the rise by both the younger and older generation, said Will Taylor, who works as a special agent with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration out of Chicago. Taylor's job is to nab traffickers bringing heroin and other narcotics into Wisconsin and nearby states including Illinois and Indiana. As a drug, heroin is made from poppies and is similar to synthetic opiates such as oxycontin and oxycodone. Traffickers move drugs based on supply and demand, and as a prescription drug habit costs more to get high as tolerance levels increase, a hit of heroin is relatively inexpensive. [continues 554 words]