Pennsylvania is No. 3 in Heroin Use

Because the drug-fueled deaths of 1990s alt-rock gods were just too cool not to imitate.

You may have suspected it last month when 16 people were arrested in a “drug mule” investigation. Or last week, when news broke that 63 people had overdosed on “opiods” in Bensalem in a single month. Perhaps the Pennsylvania man with 124 bags of heroin tipped you off. Either way, we now have confirmation: The Keystone State is big on heroin.

NewsWorks reports: “Pennsylvania has the third highest number of heroin users, behind California and Illinois, according to state law enforcement officials. In response to the ranking, state lawmakers are trying to learn more about the problem of escalating use and overdose.”

WITF reports on the opening of legislative hearings about the “epidemic”: “We started hearing in my county, my home county, Westmoreland, about drug overdoses,” said Rep. Tim Krieger of Westmoreland. “You look in the newspaper and see 18-year-olds passing away, you have a suspicion. And we started hearing about heroin. Now, in our county, we’re going to have a record year for heroin deaths.”

Expect to see tough new legislation to crack down oon the problem in coming weeks and months.