PORTAGE, WI (WTAQ-WRN) — One of Wisconsin’s U.S. Senators talked about a growing problem in the state’s rural communities.
Senator Tammy Baldwin visited The Harbor Recovery Center in Portage Monday to discuss the increasing number of deaths from opioid overdoses outside of Wisconsin’s urban areas.
Baldwin told those assembled at the center the statewide problem of opioid addiction is one she can relate to personally.
“My mother struggled with addiction to prescribed opioids during very long periods during her life,” said Baldwin.
Wisconsin Department of Health Services data show 84 opioid overdose deaths in Columbia County alone between 2014 and 2021, with more than half of them involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.
