Heroin abuse in the Chicago area has gotten worse over the last decade, creating a crisis that is perhaps more extreme than anywhere else in the country, Roosevelt University researchers conclude in a new study.
The report, to be released Monday, finds that the area has seen an increase in people admitted to emergency rooms for heroin-related problems. It now has more than any other metropolitan area.
Other trouble signs include soaring overdose deaths in the collar counties, a high percentage of inmates at the Cook County Jail testing positive for heroin and an increase in the number of people injecting the drug.