Hooked To Heal : Focusing The Opioid Crisis From Numbers To Names

Examining the scope of the opioid crisis in the greater La Crosse community, many find themselves struggling while plenty look forward to a future free from addiction. But finding a solution starts by knowing the enemy.

It’s not what some might consider a “big city” issue, or so said La Crosse County health educator Al Bliss. But it is a problem that Bliss said is at a bottleneck moment, reaching the choke point in the county over the last couple of years.

“It wasn’t until 2017 when we saw the highest number of drug overdose deaths at 29,” said Bliss. “In just this past year we’ve seen a slight decrease from 29 to 25.”