Fresno is #1

[underpants]

The percentage of people shooting up heroin and other drugs in Fresno is nearly three times the national average, fueled by a boom in methamphetamine use, according to a study issued last month. (AP Graphic)

[skygazer]

1. How charming

What a marvelous claim to fame. And I see Springfield, Mass - that doesn't surprise me at all. There's some charming areas of Springfield right around the train station....

[depakid]

2. Impressive

Isn't Fresno also the home of "Freerepublic?"

[underpants]

3. FreeRepublic, LLC, PO Box 9771, Fresno, CA 93794

Yes yes it is

[dogpatch]

4. Link please?

I'm doing a public tv project about the Central Valley and this would be very helpful to have. Thanks!

[underpants]

6. LINK-sorry

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/fresno_shooting_up

FRESNO, Calif. - The nation's capital of intravenous drug use is not New York or Miami, not Chicago or Detroit — but Fresno. It is an unlikely distinction for a city of fewer than 500,000 people in the heart of one of the nation's richest agricultural regions.

Fresno County, where farmworkers get paid rock-bottom, seasonal wages, is one of the poorest counties in the nation. More than 20 percent of its residents — an estimated 165,000 people — live in poverty, according to Census estimates, and the per capita income is just $15,495 a year.


In the study, Fresno was found to have 173 IV drug users for every 10,000 people; the national average is 60 per 10,000 people. Three other urban areas within 200 miles also made it into the top 10 — San Francisco, Stockton-Lodi and Bakersfield.

It is a problem that has been costly for the government. Fresno County spends $20 million a year on drug treatment programs that served more than 9,000 people in 2002, and the programs are straining to keep up with demand.

[realFedUp]

5. nevermind.