Madison police arrested a 25-year-old man for impaired driving and possession of drug paraphernalia on the 500 block of University Avenue Wednesday, according to a Madison Police Department incident report.
The suspect, James Land, admitted to using heroin in a parking garage just before pulling out on the street and falling unconscious while resting his foot on the brake pedal. Land was found slumped over the steering wheel in the running car by a student, according to MPD Spokesperson Joel DeSpain.
Later the same afternoon, just two blocks from the Capitol, a second driver was charged with driving under the influence of what is presumed to also be heroin, according to DeSpain.
These events underscore the rising heroin epidemic, both in Wisconsin and across the nation, DeSpain said.
“We’ve seen an increasing number of individuals driving into Madison from smaller communities looking to purchase heroin, and many of them shoot up before they drive back,” DeSpain said. “In an area with lots of pedestrian traffic, that kind of DUI is troubling.”
In Wisconsin alone, heroin-related deaths have risen by 50 percent in the last year. While the use among high school students is low compared to other drugs such as marijuana, it is steadily rising, according to a survey of county coroners.
As for the public response to this growing problem, DeSpain said “It is as much a public-health issue as it is a police one. We are not going to be able to arrest our way out of it. There are a lot of addicted people who desperately need help.”
