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Denver Library Turns Into A Den For Drug Deals And Heroin Use

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Steve Birr Vice Reporter
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Dealers and addicts are turning Denver’s largest public library into a drug den, resulting in multiple overdoses and reports of sexual assaults.

Police dispatchers received 44 calls from the Denver Public Library’s central branch for drug overdoses on the premises between January and April of 2017. The problem is getting so bad that library security workers are now trained to administer Narcan, the overdose reversal drug. Eleven emergency calls regarding sexual assault came from the library over the same period, an increase of 83 percent from 2016, according to an investigation by reporters with 9News.

A reporter who stayed in the library for three days undercover witnessed multiple drug deals, many with children in the vicinity, and addicts injecting heroin. He also saw a man dealing crystal meth near the section of the library designated for teenagers.

“I’m horrified by it,” Denver librarian Michelle Jeske told 9News. “It’s really sad that it’s happening here. And I’m sad for those people who have that drug addiction.”

Security at the library keeps an updated “Ban Book” of individuals barred from the premises for various violations. In addition to the regular drug deals and abuse going on in the library, security has also dealt with drunken brawls and cases of indecent exposure in the children’s section.

Officials blame the national opioid epidemic for fueling addiction in the community.

“It’s a real shame and an embarrassment for the city, really,” city council member Wayne New told 9News. “We’ve got to do a better job, and we have to have a sense of urgency. This problem is getting worse.”

Colorado lost 259 residents to opioid overdoses in 2015, and that figure nearly doubled in 2016. The death rate is relatively small compared to fatality statistics in states like Ohio, where painkiller and heroin abuse are rampant, but officials stress that abuse among residents is more widespread than ever.

Despite the rise in heroin deaths, medical professionals say there is still widespread ignorance throughout Colorado about the toll that opioid abuse is having on communities in the state.

A record 33,000 Americans died from opioid related overdoses in 2015, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. Opioid deaths contributed to the first drop in U.S. life expectancy since 1993 and eclipsed deaths from motor vehicle accidents in 2015.

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