

Law enforcement officials have seen a spike in heroin usage since about 2008, but the actual scope of the problem is hard to quantify because of differences in how usage is reported throughout the state. So the FBI and other agencies conducted a yearlong analysis using whatever limited information was available, the agency told The Associated Press. The result is a new report called the Wisconsin Heroin Assessment, the largest effort to date to gauge how bad the problem is and how much worse it could get.

Among its findings:

• The drug mainly enters the U.S. from South America and Mexico and finds its way to Wisconsin by way of Minneapolis, Chicago, and Rockford, Illinois. Because heroin is transported in small, concentrated amounts, it is harder for authorities to detect.

• Users are typically white males between the ages of 21 and 25.

• Users generally start out abusing pills such as Vicodin and Percocet, which are opiates like heroin. They tend to switch to heroin as a cheaper, more potent alternative.

• One hit (usually one-tenth of a gram) costs $12 to $15 in Milwaukee and about twice that — due to supply and demand — in the Green Bay area.


The number of Wisconsin deaths due to heroin overdose has risen steadily over the years, according to the state Department of Health Services. There were 187 deaths in 2012, the most recent year for which data are available. That's nearly triple the 67 people who died of heroin overdose in 2008.




The report was a joint collaboration between the FBI, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and three state anti-drug agencies.

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