Twin Cities Journalist Digs Into Duluth’s Opioid Crisis

I stumbled on a YouTube video where a regional journalist investigated Duluth's opioid problem. Liz Collin is a contributor to Alpha News. They describe themselves as a group of journalists that "bring you the local, state, and national news the mainstream media refuses to report.

It's no secret that Duluth has a drug problem, but it's often overlooked or swept under the rug in mainstream news. We periodically receive updates from the Lake Superior Drug Taskforce when a bust has been made. It's shocking when you see a report like this and find out just how many drugs are coming through Duluth & Superior.

Duluth is a Northern hub for drug trafficking. Drugs make their way to Duluth from the Twin Cities Metro area and Chicago. From there the drugs make it to smaller towns across the region. Reservations are also targeted, where the opioid crisis is particularly troubling.

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Downtown Duluth's homeless situation is made worse by opioid addiction. Homeless camps have been broken up, only to emerge in different locations. If you walk downtown in the early morning, you'll pass homeless people sleeping on benches, in doorways, and in parking ramps. Many of those people are trapped by their addiction to opioids.

As Liz Collin reports, things aren't getting better. The pandemic has made the crisis even worse. Just check out this graphic where overdoses have rose, and 346 people were saved last year in St. Louis County.

I think this news piece was well done and shines a light on a problem that's only getting worse in Duluth.