Ed Williams

If there’s any police department that understands what an opioid epidemic means for a community, it’s New Mexico's Española Police Department. Even the chief of police has had addiction struggles within his own family.

When Erin Borrego was 15, she and her classmates started experimenting with opioid painkillers. It started with pills called Percocet and Lortab, but she quickly moved on to injecting heroin.

KUNM’s Ed Williams has been investigating the impacts of heroin addiction on children and families in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. The area has had one of the country’s highest overdose rates for decades. Here he takes a deep look at the issue in an hour-long radio documentary.

When kids are at high risk for addiction, a good public school system can be one of the most effective ways to prevent drug use. In Española public schools, teacher turnover and administrative problems have instead created instability for students.

Española, New Mexico, has had one of the highest rates of heroin addiction in the country for decades. It’s a public health crisis that can create particular challenges for pregnant moms and their doctors.

Research shows early childhood education is one of the most effective ways to prevent drug use later in life. That’s especially important in New Mexico's Rio Arriba County, where an opioid epidemic has been raging for decades.