"It is back with vengeance."
U.S. Attorney Barb McQuade sits in her upper floor office in downtown Detroit, lamenting the heroin problem on our streets.
"We have seen overdose death rates really escalate in the state of Michigan. Its a real epidemic," she says.
That and general opioid addiction. Alarmingly, she says, older folks are becoming a key casualty.
"People are becoming addicted to prescription pain pills."
This week the Obama administration called on Congress to fund a billion dollar effort to curtail the problem, and McQuade says she is committed to doing her part here.
"We have been trying to attack the problem from the supply side. We tend to go after large distribution networks, but we've seen a real increase in organizations that want to pray on addiction."
Especially in economically struggling towns like the Motor City. Officials hope awareness like this week's outreach gets people talking about a oftentimes taboo struggle.
