WDIV’s Devin Scillian Joins Detroit Today to Talk Opioid Crisis

“The United States consumes 80 percent of the world’s opioids.”

Michael Hayball

There has been a lot of national coverage around the opioid crisis, but how is addiction to narcotics affecting people and communities in southeast Michigan?

Detroit news station WDIV is launching a series looking at the prescription drug epidemic.

WDIV anchor Devin Scillian speaks with Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson about the ongoing series. 

Scillian describes the difficulty that first responders face when responding to calls regarding opioid overdoses. 

“Unfortunately we’ve still got a lot of police departments in America who are not outfitted with Narcan, which is what’s used to overcome an opioid overdose,” he says. “We are now at a point in America where we have more people dying of opioid overdoes than die in car crashes.” 

For Scillian, one of the more staggering aspects of this epidemic is that “the United States consumes 80 percent of the world’s opioids.” 

Click on the audio player above for the full conversation. 

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  • Detroit Today
    Dynamic and diverse voices. News, politics, community and the issues that define our region. Hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Stephen Henderson, Detroit Today brings you fresh and perceptive views weekdays at 9 am and 7 pm.