The Core - Inside Ohio's opioid crisis

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The Core (WSYX/WTTE)

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Trains screech by on a sunny day in Chillicothe. The only other sound coming from the rhythmical flip and flop of Lagenna's sandals over the rocks and dirt next to the tracks. It’s steamy outside. So, she positions herself in the shade against a concrete pilon covered with graffiti. That way she can see who’s coming. She searches through pockets and under her clothes until she finds what she’s been hiding. It’s a tiny black package that she begins to methodically unroll, ultimately transforming its contents into a generic-looking substance that she draws into a needle from the bottom of an upside-down Dr. Pepper can. Once she finally hits a vein, the fentanyl hits her bloodstream and relief comes.

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