US Senator Tammy Baldwin was in Kaukauna today speaking with first responders and police officers about the growing challenge of opioid addiction in our communities.
Local law enforcement said that they are responding to more crime related to opioid addiction, and they said that they are also responding to more overdoses in the last couple of years.
Baldwin sat down with those who deal with the problem on a daily basis today to hear about what can be done to fix the problem
Officials said that NARCAN, the drug used to save lives in cases of overdoses, costs about three times more than it did just a couple of years ago.
Baldwin said that she would like to make more money available to counties so that communities like Kaukana don't have to worry about having the life saving drug.
"One of the things you heard today is it would be much more helpful if communities had more flexibility," Baldwin said. "For example, if there's a meth crisis in one community and an opioid crisis in another, let's let the funds be used for combating either one at the local communities discretion."
Wisconsin's Department of Health estimates that about 130 people died from using opioids back in 2001. In 2016, that number reached more than 800 people.
