Opioid, car crash deaths up this year in Vermont; Pat Leahy, with just one eye, was college marksman

By Guy Page

Twice as many people have died in car crashes so far this year compared to 2019. Opioid overdoses are up 50%. In both cases state officials say the pandemic is at least partly to blame. Suicides, however, are down in 2020 compared to the last five years.

So far, there have been 43 deaths as a result of car crashes in the state, Vermont State Police reported at a press conference yesterday (Times Argus report). Anthony Facos, former Montpelier police chief and now DMV head of enforcement, said there were 21 last year at this point. Even though last year was a “low” year, Vermont highway fatalities are on pace to hit a five-year high this year, officials say.

Guy Page

Vermont State Highway Safety Office official Bill Jenkins was quoted as saying: “When you drive around, people seem to be speeding more. They seem to be looking at their phones more. They do not see law enforcement out as much as they used to. I think some people, unfortunately, got the message that they could do things that they shouldn’t be doing.” As the state opened up, there were less police on the roads, Jenkins said.

From January through May, opioid overdose deaths rose 50% from 41 last year to 61 this year, according to a Vermont Health Department report. A more recent report cited by VT Digger shows the same percentage of increase, but with 72 deaths. Officials say that during the pandemic lockdown, substance abusers were more isolated and had less peer support in the event of an overdose. Treatment options also were limited due to the lockdown.

However, fears that the pandemic would lead to more suicides due to depression, isolation, and less access to medical services have not been realized. Through Aug. 28, 68 Vermonters had committed suicide, according to Vermont Department of Health statistics. That compared with a five-year average of 79.

The number of Vermonters dead of Covid-19 is 58, according to Vermont Dept. of Health statistics.

Sen. Patrick Leahy – blind in one eye – was shooter on college rifle team

The Vermont Daily post on Vermont women buying handguns and learning to shoot with the help of Major Ted Tedesco (USMC, Ret.) stirred a memory about Sen. Patrick Leahy from George Putnam of Cambridge. Raised on the local family farm, retired from a career with Yankee Farm Credit, and now serving on the town selectboard, Putnam also writes provocative essays on current affairs in blog, the Switchel Philosopher. He emailed this memory to Vermont Daily:

Senator Leahy was a top shooter on the rifle team at Saint Michael’s College when he was an undergraduate. In 2008 he was being inducted into the Vermont Agricultural Hall of Fame in a luncheon ceremony at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex. I found myself standing next to him in the buffet line, and we started talking about our common experiences on college rifle teams (some 16 years apart – he graduated in 1961, I graduated in 1977). He remembered that experience fondly, and he told me that he still enjoys shooting on his property in Middlesex. He also told me something that I didn’t know before, that he is legally blind in one eye. He thought that helped him be a better shooter. As we parted, he said: ‘Everyone should learn two things. They should learn how to swim, and they should learn how to shoot a gun.’

Read more of Guy Page’s reports. Vermont Daily is sponsored by True North Media.

6 thoughts on “Opioid, car crash deaths up this year in Vermont; Pat Leahy, with just one eye, was college marksman

  1. Get this.. we hear Vermont’s news over here in NH, which speaks of how many Vermonters are now here.. but that is another subject.
    It reported this and said it was because there were fewer police on the roads.

    Yup okay, the fact that so many peoples lives are now being utterly destroyed had nothing to do with it right?
    *eyeroll*
    The Media truly is the Enemy of the People.

  2. opioid overdose deaths .01% of population – is this significant?
    suicides about the same. how does this compare nationally?

    • In 2014 we were the leading state in per capita addicted births. I would suspect for every baby born addicted to crack, etc. that a minimum expense would be $250k per baby with social services, probably closer to $1,000,000 because it will continue generationally.

      This is aside from the soul crushing aspect it has on humanity and families. If you look into the halls of DCF, I’m quite certain you will find families taking up a $1,000,000 of social services today.

      We have this happening every week. Every week we start a new life down this path. It is completely unsustainable.

      The opioid wars that Britain brought upon China brought the country to their knees for over 150 years. It’s not the deaths, it’s those addicted. It’s a very serious problem. Yet Vermont in our infinite pride and “wisdom” thinks more drugs is a better answer. smh.

      • This is why our birth rates are on the decline too Neil- and then add in the high rates of Abortion we have.

        If you have damn near every family in the state with a relative or two that are dealing with the crisis and poverty, all these social issues, it sure doesn’t make people want to bring kids into this world.
        This right here is a big issue. Smart people don’t want to bring kids into a world (into a state) where all they see is suffering and despair..
        And now look at things!

        • Yeah it’s pretty basic what young families are looking for

          Job Opportunities
          Low Drugs/Crime
          Great Schools
          Affordable Homes/Living

          That is a recipe for solid family foundation. Personally I’d throw in a foundation on God’s truth, love and forgiveness, something our state abhors, but was/is the foundation for Western civilization.

          The only people migrating to socialist countries/states are those who want to be in inner circle of government, which of course is what is happening, We are the J.V. development team for socialists/progressive, nwo pimps…

          And the plight of the common man is undo struggle, because essentially the state owns your career, path, housing, etc. It’s a sophisticated form of slavery.

  3. Drugs and Alcohol, a continuing issue nobody wants to talk about.

    Ask the folks over at DCF……how’s that combination work for our families?

    Vermont will always be expensive and oppressive for average Vermonters, because the system of socialism makes you a tenant of the state, just like they want it. Montpelier and those connected are making millions every year off keeping people poor. They take away hope.

    Ask DCF……how are the children doing this year, what are they reporting about suicide? I think you’ll find a much different story.

    Socialists and NWO pimps, don’t believe in the middle class, they believe in peasants and ruling class, look at any socialist country, the demographics are the same. Why would we want to adopt those policies?

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