Herointown
Revealing hidden communities using substance abuse data
About me
- Data reporter at NJ Advance Media for last six years
- Working on substance abuse with a heroin/opioid focus for 2 years
- Retired drunk
How we got here
- Heroin appearing at purity levels of up to 90 percent
- Able to be snorted, smoked or injected
- Rx drugs have acted as a bridge, introducing a new generation to the drug
- At $5 a dose, it's cheaper than a pack of cigarettes
Impacts
- 6,000+ deaths since 2005
- Heroin/opioids now more than 50% of treatment patients in NJ
- 11,000+ Narcan deployments since 2014
What we know about today
- Heroin deaths in 2015 likely to eclipse 800 for first time
- Hep-C cases continue to climb
- Heroin/opioid admissions through July 9, up 22 percent
Heroin's ugly cousin: Fentanyl
- Up to 50 times more potent than street-level heroin.
- Simple to manufacture, easier to traffic than heroin.
- Can be ingested and absorbed through skin
- Often used as a lacing agent, but also appearing on its own more commonly
Treatment Issues
- Long waiting lists remain at state's residential facilities
- Committing a crime remains easiest way to guarantee treatment
- Treatment beds for the poor/uninsured are disappearing
What is Herointown?
------> www.nj.com/herointown <------
Data Sources
SAMHSA - Federal Treatment data; ER data
http://www.samhsa.gov/data/
Rx Drug Data - Medicare Part D
https://projects.propublica.org/checkup/
CDC - Vital Statistics on overdoses
http://bit.ly/CDC_OD
Filling the Town
Know your data's limitations
Be honest with your readers about what you can and can't show
Demographics
- Population: At least 128,000, making it NJ's 4th largest city
- 28 percent growth in 10 years; 6X the state rate
- Rates of death, communicable disease and homelessness far exceed rest of state
- Increasingly white and young.
How do we populate this town?
We ask the residents.
Data was the Vehicle
People were the Fuel
The Stories
The Stories
"Every time I relapse I have a different excuse"
- Jennifer, 31, Perth Amboy
"There is nowhere to go without thousands upon thousands of dollars"
- Ryan, 22, Plainfield
"I'm a suburban success story... No one at work knows my demons even though I'm high at work every day"
- Matt, 24,
East Caldwell
"It's a killer of many things, not just life."
- Amy, 32, Sayreville
"I was born on heroin, I could've fit into your hand."
- Janet, 29, North Bergen
"I'll never know what happened to him when I left for work that morning"
- Jennifer, 26, Beachwood
"Our obsession over his addiction has taken over our lives."
- Marc, 59, Howell
"I guess I'll never understand
- Anthony, 23, Parlin
The Dead
Crowdsourcing Art
Multiple Gateways
Broken up into clickable, shareable posts
Questions???
Stephen Stirling
@sstirling
sstirling@njadvancemedia.com
This slideshow:
http://slides.com/sstirling/deck-3