Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Welcome to Scott County Indiana, where the prescription opiate Opana is the drug of choice



Rural Indiana Struggles to Contend With H.I.V. Outbreak.  (The New York Times, 5/5/2015)
At the same time, H.I.V. specialists from Indianapolis — who have evaluated about 50 people with the virus here so far and started about 20 of them on antiretroviral drugs — are fighting a barrage of misinformation about the virus in Scott County, where almost all residents are white, few go to college and one in five live in poverty, according to the census. 


One unexpected benefit of the H.I.V. outbreak, according to the woman who tested positive and fears starting treatment, is that the men who used to stream into town daily, seeking young female addicts who would prostitute themselves in exchange for drug money, have all but disappeared.

“It took H.I.V. to change our town,” she said. “Those of us who are affected are devastated, but I’m glad H.I.V. is here.”

 Source of column graph and table:  U.S. Census State and County Quickfacts

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