Jan 9 3:53 PM

Vermont governor: State has ‘full-blown heroin crisis’

A sign for heroin and opiate addiction treatment in a hallway in Burlington, Vt.
Jordan Silverman/Getty Images.
The Stream (Al Jazeera)

In a surprise move, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin devoted his entire State of the State address Wednesday to a single issue: the state's growing epidemic of opiate addiction.

Shumlin placed particular emphasis on the explosion of heroin-related deaths, arrests and addiction treatment in the past year. He asked state lawmakers to make budget adjustments and suggested initiatives to address what he called "a full-blown heroin crisis."

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Vermont
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Drugs

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