Dr. Frank Annie sees desperation in his hospital, where 30- and 40-year-olds come in with organ failure after injecting opioids with dirty needles. Joe Solomon finds it in the faces of those who line up in the church gyms and parking lots where he passes out overdose reversal drugs. Sheena Griffith encounters it on the streets she navigates with a car packed with HIV test kits and disinfectant for sanitizing syringes.
Annie is a Republican, Solomon a Democrat and Griffith an independent. All three are running for city council in the capital city of battle-scarred West Virginia, where the devastating toll of the opioid crisis transcends party politics.
