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On March 20 there is a meeting scheduled at the Iowa County Health and Human Services building that should draw a capacity crowd.
That is if you care at all about a problem that is no doubt larger than any of us know. That problem is heroin use.
The meeting is billed Heroin Awareness--Stopping the Spiral. It is sponsored by the Dodgeville Police Department, Iowa County Sheriff's Department and the Richland-Iowa-Grant Drug Task Force. The meeting starts at 7 p.m.
Other communities have held such an event and have turnouts in the hundreds. I hope the attendance here surpasses all others.
The Dodgeville Chronicle has run a series of articles about heroin addiction, what it does to the addicted and their families. Since the articles have appeared we receive many comments from people affected by the addiction and what comes out of it so often is that the problem is bigger than we realize.
This week the person who has been the source of many of the heroin articles we have run announced she will be part of the panel. She is a very passionate person who will provide information worth listening to.
Information can go a long way toward fighting the problem. Hopefully the information will scare anyone considering taking heroin enough that they abandon the idea of trying. Information will help those who have to face the fallout from addiction every day.
Heroin is not a back alley, big city problem anymore. It has become a drug of choice when nothing else can get you the extreme high one seeks. The problem is it is not something most people use just once.
Addiction results in nothing good and often ends in death.
Attend the meeting. Get information. The impact on our communities is greater than you realize and if you want to help, become as informed as possible.