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• Dane County ended a four-year program that distributed pipes and smoking supplies to reduce overdose deaths and disease transmission among people who use drugs.
• Public health officials said the program increased visits from people seeking overdose reversal medication, fentanyl test strips and other harm reduction resources.
• County officials halted the program in March after questions arose about whether distributing pipes violated Wisconsin paraphernalia law.
• People who relied on the free supplies say they may now buy pipes elsewhere, use makeshift devices or inject drugs they previously smoked.

Dane County has ended an initiative to prevent overdose deaths by giving out pipes. 

Four years ago, public health officials started giving people pipes and other supplies to reduce health risks associated with smoking drugs. 

The program was part of the department’s broader efforts to reduce harms of drug use. For decades, syringe service programs across the country have provided harm reduction supplies to people who inject drugs. Though controversial, these programs reduce hospitalizations and overdose deaths while increasing participation in drug treatment.

But in recent years people have increasingly smoked drugs rather than injecting them. Adapting to that trend, harm reduction providers, including Public Health Madison and Dane County, began offering smoking supplies.

The pipe handouts worked. More people visited health officials to receive overdose reversal medication and other resources to prevent drug-related illnesses and injuries. 

But the program was likely illegal under Wisconsin law, which allows injection supplies, not smoking materials. 

Staff stopped offering smoking supplies in March. Spokesperson Morgan Finke cited a need to re-evaluate the program after the risk of COVID-19 transmission from shared pipes sharply declined and federal guidance on harm reduction shifted.

The department still offers injection supplies and other harm reduction items not intended for smoking.

“While syringes are classified as disease prevention materials under state law, smoking supplies have less clear protections,” Finke wrote in an email to Wisconsin Watch.

Halting the distribution of smoking supplies is already having an impact.  

People who previously received pipes from the health office said they will buy similar supplies at smoke shops and gas stations, use makeshift pipes made from foil and soda cans or inject drugs they would have smoked, according to records and interviews obtained by Wisconsin Watch. 

Others said they would likely stop visiting public health altogether. 

Why did health officials hand out pipes?

Wisconsin opioid overdose deaths hit a record high in 2022, topping 1,450.

Officials found more evidence of smoking than injecting at fatal overdose scenes across the U.S. in 2022, a shift from years prior, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Although it still carries overdose risks, evidence shows smoking instead of injecting reduces the spread of diseases like hepatitis, HIV and bacterial infections and abscesses. It may also lower overdose risks. Regular access to new pipes can reduce how often people share pipes or use broken and unsafe materials, according to a national research study that included 2024 survey data from Public Health Madison and Dane County.

Public Health Madison and Dane County offered evidence-based resources to prevent disease and overdoses, including sterile needles, fentanyl test strips and overdose reversal medication. But the office primarily served people who inject drugs, the department’s medical director, Dr. Jonathan Temte, wrote in a 2022 letter explaining why the office would start ordering smoking supplies.

“People who use drugs by means other than injection have no reason to visit,” Temte wrote.

Temte is a family medicine physician and University of Wisconsin-Madison associate dean of public health and community engagement. He advises the health department on a limited basis.

When staff asked Temte to approve adding smoking supplies to the department’s syringe service programs, they told him Wisconsin law allowed it, Temte recalled. He focused on whether medical evidence supported the initiative. 

Health research overwhelmingly supports harm reduction, he said.

Adding smoking supplies addressed two major issues: Health officials needed to get life-saving resources to people who smoked drugs. And without access to safer smoking supplies, people were more likely to share pipes or use materials that cause cuts, burns and infections.

Monthly visits jumped nearly 30% once department offices began regularly offering filters, mouthpieces and two kinds of pipes.

Even with increased visits, the department distributed 3.7% fewer syringes between 2021 and 2023.

But despite the public health benefits, Wisconsin paraphernalia laws criminalizes smoking materials.

A woman visited a public health office and asked for a pipe in early April. When she found the office no longer distributed them, she asked for syringes, according to emails obtained by Wisconsin Watch. Staff asked if she would inject the drugs she usually smokes. She said yes. Without a pipe she would dissolve powdered drugs in water and inject them.

Why did the program end? 

The city-county agency was likely the state’s only syringe service provider that publicized pipes online, according to a 211 list of syringe service programs.

While reporting a feature highlighting the seemingly unique initiative, Wisconsin Watch emailed Madison City Attorney Michael Haas on March 23 to ask how the department could legally distribute pipes. 

The email was forwarded to public health staff, records obtained by Wisconsin Watch show. The public health agency redacted correspondence related to the email, citing attorney client privilege. 

The next day, a public health supervisor instructed a staff member to remove smoking supplies from an internal tracking system. By the end of the week the department’s website no longer mentioned safer smoking supplies.

Wisconsin’s paraphernalia law bans equipment used, designed or intended for inhaling a controlled substance. Possessing paraphernalia carries a penalty up to a $500 fine and 30 days in jail. 

Dane County lowered local penalties for drug paraphernalia citations in 2023. County sheriffs and local police have continued to fine and charge people for possessing smoking materials similar to those health officials distributed.

Madison police cited paraphernalia possession in around 350 arrests in 2025, department records show.

“Public health programs must follow federal, state and local law,” Finke told Wisconsin Watch. “While we continue to evaluate disease transmissions within the community and evolving guidance from federal agencies, we have currently removed smoking supplies from our offerings.”

But the medical evidence supporting the service has not changed “one iota,” Temte said. “It’s just one more (example) of the politicization of public health.” 

The smoking supply rollback came as harm reduction lost support from federal leaders.

The Biden administration spent millions on harm reduction efforts but prohibited spending grant dollars on pipes after reporting on the potential distribution of safer smoking kits went viral and drew criticism.

The Trump administration announced in 2025 a “clear shift away from harm reduction and practices that facilitate illicit drug use and are incompatible with Federal laws.”

Federal health leaders wrote in April that federal dollars cannot be used to buy “drug paraphernalia or supplies that promote or facilitate drug use” including pipes, injection supplies and fentanyl test strips.

The city-county’s harm reduction program focuses on reducing overdose deaths and preventing disease transmission, Finke said. 

“We will continue to engage with and educate policy makers to ensure that federal and state policy evolves consistent(ly) alongside the growing evidence base supporting effective substance use prevention and harm reduction strategies.” 

Opioid overdoses have dramatically declined since 2023, but overdose deaths involving stimulants have increased. People who smoke stimulants, like methamphetamine and cocaine, are at a growing risk for overdose, said Giavana Margo, Wisconsin program manager for Vital Strategies, a national nonprofit working to reduce overdose deaths.

“There’s a lot to be celebrated, and we’re still losing way too many lives to overdose,” Margo said.

What happens now?

Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan and 15 other states allow syringe service programs to distribute pipes, according to a comprehensive review of paraphernalia laws. 

Wisconsin’s paraphernalia laws only exempt smoking supplies associated with tobacco consumption. 

But Wisconsinites can still buy pipes typically used to smoke illegal drugs, several advocates and people using drugs told Wisconsin Watch. Gas stations, local shops and online sellers advertise the glassware as tobacco products, decorations or household items.

Standing outside the department’s East Madison location in late-April a woman who identified herself as Ashley said she received pipes from the office for years. Without the free pipes, people will buy them at nearby stores for around $8 or “improvise” makeshift supplies, the 39-year-old said.

She visited public health for pipes whenever one broke, usually about twice a month. Staff asked whether she had enough fentanyl test strips and wanted to help her “stay as safe as possible,” she said. She can still go to the office to get things like condoms, bandages, injection supplies and tampons. 

“It helps when you’re homeless like I am,” she said. 

Most people who received harm reduction supplies from health officials in 2024 left with fentanyl test strips and overdose reversal medication, a survey of more than 250 program participants shows. Respondents reported feeling safer and no longer needing to steal smoking supplies after the visits.

Still, a quarter of respondents said they weren’t sure or would likely stop visiting the offices if smoking supplies vanished.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story included captions that misidentified the source of screenshots from a harm reduction pamphlet. The pamphlet was produced in response to a public records request submitted to Public Health Madison and Dane County.

Dane County ends safer smoking program that conflicted with Wisconsin law is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Isaac Solis knows all too well how taking a pill bought off the street can lead to tragedy. 

His son Isaac Solis Jr., known as “Bubba,” died in 2019 after taking what he thought was the prescription drug Percocet. 

Instead, it was a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can kill in trace amounts.

Since then, he’s been on a mission to help prevent others from losing loved ones through his “One Pill Kills” awareness campaign. 

His message is being amplified in time for Fentanyl Awareness Day, observed nationally on April 29, through three billboards that feature his son. The billboards direct residents to the 1pillkills.org website and social media pages and include the message: Together We Will Save Lives.  

“It’s about spreading awareness obviously that even one pill can kill you, one line can kill you,” Solis said. “If one family sees it and reaches out to their loved one and one life is saved, that’s our goal.” 

Two of the billboards can be seen off of Interstate 94 in Milwaukee near West Becher and South Fourth streets, and the other is a north/south display on South 27th Street and West Morgan Avenue. The billboard near West Becher will be up for eight weeks and the one on West Morgan for four. 

Solis’s campaign has utilized several billboards over the years to increase community awareness on fentanyl. 

The message on the first billboard, he said, was very aggressive.

“Our grief was a bit more raw at that time,” Solis said. 

Another billboard featured photos of individuals who lost their lives to fentanyl. 

“Eight families put their angels up there,” he said. 

Drop in overdose deaths

Fentanyl has fueled the opioid epidemic nationally and a rise in overdose deaths. 

The drug had devastating impacts on Milwaukee County, which experienced multiple years of record high drug overdose deaths in the 2010s and 2020s. Those totals peaked at 674 in 2022 and 667 in 2023, according to data from the Milwaukee County Overdose Dashboard. Most of the deaths were caused by fentanyl alone or in combination with other substances.

Since then, the number of fatal overdoses has fallen. Last year 387 died, with 236 of those cases involving fentanyl. 

County Executive David Crowley credits increased funding for opioid prevention and collaboration for the decrease. 

“Thanks to the investment of opioid settlement dollars, increased access to free harm reduction supplies, and efforts to eliminate the stigma surrounding substance use disorder, fewer people are dying of overdose, which means more opportunities for treatment, recovery and a path forward,” Crowley said in a statement.

Fentanyl still a major problem

While Solis said the drop in fatal overdoses is great, it’s also concerning. 

“The troublesome part is we don’t know what amount of people are addicted to fentanyl and using it daily,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to do.The closer we get to zero deaths, the better.” 

He said fentanyl products continue to evolve and get more potent, and it can be in powder or liquid form, and even in vapes. 

“It can be hidden in something but you can have no idea what,” Solis said. “There’s always a threat of it being in any type of drug.”

Working together

Like Crowley, Solis credits collaboration for the progress made in addressing the opioid epidemic. He partners regularly with Team HAVOC, a grassroots South Side group. 

Rafael Mercado, founder of Team HAVOC, said Solis’ story and “One Pill Kills” message are having an impact. 

“He does a lot to bring awareness by way of billboards, social media and pop-ups,” Mercado said. “He has lost a son to this, so he knows firsthand the pain and suffering a family goes through and the ripple effect of addiction on a family.”  

Solis also partners with Samad’s House, a Milwaukee-based sober living home and behavioral health clinic dedicated to supporting women. He said he’s working with Tahira Malik, founder and chief operating officer of Samad’s House, to help organize a Walk for Lives event on July 11. Walk for Lives is a nationwide movement to raise awareness about those who died from fentanyl. 

Solis said he wishes he could do even more but knows that ending the fentanyl crisis won’t happen quickly. 

“The problem didn’t happen overnight,” he said. “It’s not gonna be any one group, not any one solution. Together we will save lives.”

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Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

‘One pill can kill’: A Milwaukee father turns grief into a warning about fentanyl is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Elected leaders and public health officials in Milwaukee gathered at the Marcia P. Coggs Center for Health & Human Services building to announce that opioid overdose deaths in Wisconsin’s most populous county have declined for the fourth straight year in a row. 

According to data provided through the county’s overdose dashboard, there has been a 17.7% decrease in fatal overdoses and a 22.7% decrease in fatal opioid overdoses since 2024. There has been a 42.6% decline since 2022 in all forms of overdose death, with a 54.6% decline in opioid-related overdose deaths specifically.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley praised the use of opioid settlement funds to expand  treatment and harm reduction strategies. The funds originate from lawsuits against the producers and distributors of pain killers that triggered the opioid crisis. The nationwide epidemic of addiction and overdoses is also tied to the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl which began spreading in  the mid-2010s, causing deaths on an unseen scale.

“As we acknowledge the progress we have made, we must also remember those we have lost,” said Crowley. “Their lives matter, and their stories remind us why this work is so critical. I am committed to continuing this work until every person in Milwaukee County has access to the care, support and second chances they deserve.” 

The latest data shows that 387 people in Milwaukee County still lost their lives to an overdose last year. “These are our neighbors, these are our loved ones, these are our family members,” said Crowley, “people who we care about that live in our own communities.” At a press conference Tuesday, Crowley said he has seen family and neighbors struggle with addiction as he grew up. “And I saw firsthand the barriers that they faced when trying to access treatment, but also continue to take those steps towards healing,” said Crowley. “Healing is a lifelong journey. So to me these aren’t just numbers on a dashboard. They’re people, and even one overdose death is one too many.” 

Milwaukee County will receive $111 million over the next 18 years through the opioid settlements. This represents the largest amount recovered by a local government in Wisconsin history, a county press release states. 

“Three years ago, we were losing a life to opioid overdose every 16 hours,” said Chief Health Policy Advisor Dr. Ben Weston, praising the sharp decline in deaths since then.

Weston recalled an April weekend three years ago when there were 16 overdose deaths in Milwaukee County. The scale of the epidemic was “unimaginable” Weston said, and it forced emergency management staff, firefighters, police and community members  to “say enough,” said Weston. 

Over the  last several years Milwaukee County adopted multiple harm reduction strategies. Narcan — the nasal spray used to revive someone from an opioid overdose — has been distributed in vast quantities to emergency responders and average citizens. There are also 27 free-to-use harm reduction vending machines around the county providing narcan, fentanyl testing strips and even gun locks. 

The vending machines were launched through a Department of Health and Human Services program called Harm Reduction MKE. Another program called Pull Up & Pick Up offers residents the opportunity to order free supplies and pick them up at the Coakley Brothers building (400 S. 5th St) on the third Friday every month. Vivent Health Depot has also partnered with Milwaukee County to provide free harm reduction supplies delivered right to people’s homes. 

“We’ve expanded community paramedicine programs and peer support to close the gaps in care and reach people who might never otherwise have entered into the system,” said Weston. “And we’ve partnered with the state using real-time overdose data and predictive learning and modeling to better understand who is at highest risk, and be able to intervene early.” 

Treatment centers have also worked to overcome zoning restrictions and stigma to open in new parts of Milwaukee. Treatment access has also been expanded for people both entering and leaving incarceration, a particularly dangerous time when people are more likely to overdose, Weston said. 

“At the Medical Examiner’s Office, we see firsthand the human toll of this crisis, and while the data shows progress, it also reminds us that this work is far from over,” said Dr. Wieslawa Tlomak, Chief Medical Examiner of Milwaukee County. ”

Tlomak said that it should concern everyone that every third or fourth death in Milwaukee County is due to drug overdose. She noted that usually overdose deaths are caused by multiple drugs. While Narcan can reverse an opioid overdose from fentanyl, there is no equivalent medication to reverse the effects of stimulants like cocaine or meth. “In other words, the landscape of overdose deaths has changed,” said Tlomak. “It is more complex, more unpredictable, and more difficult to treat.”

Tlomak said that of the 387 people who died of fatal drug overdoses last year, 263 involved opioids. 

Jeremey Triblett, Prevention Integration Manager at the Department of Health and Human Services, highlighted the importance of new campaigns in Milwaukee to continue to reduce overdose deaths. One program, dubbed “Better Ways To Cope,” provides residents with strategies to deal with life problems. 

On June 12, recognized as National Harm Reduction Day, the Department of Health and Human Services is inviting residents to participate in the 1,000 Doors Challenge, a neighborhood canvassing project aimed at spreading information and supplies to the people who need it. 

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• Methadone is highly effective at reducing illicit opioid use and overdoses.

• The federal government sets minimum standards for clinics to prevent misuse, but Wisconsin imposes more than a dozen additional requirements on providers.

• As a result, patients may wait longer to begin treatment, make daily trips to clinics and take more time to reach an effective dose.

• Many other states have eased their rules, expanding access without compromising patient safety.

After years of opioid use, Bob saw three paths ahead: jail, death or methadone.

The 70-year-old Stevens Point resident chose methadone, which he has stuck with for more than half his life. He credits the treatment for his long career and ability to raise two daughters. Now retired, he sits in a recliner holding a sheet of paper with a list of old friends; he’s written “OD” next to the names of several loved ones killed by drugs.

Methadone is highly effective at reducing illicit opioid use and overdoses, experts say. It reduces drug cravings, prevents withdrawal and can provide stability without a mind-altering high.

More than 10,000 Wisconsinites used methadone treatment in 2024 to recover from opioid use disorder. But state regulations make accessing treatment more difficult for those patients, providers and researchers say.

The federal government sets minimum standards for clinics providing methadone treatment aimed at preventing misuse. Wisconsin adds more than a dozen more restrictive requirements, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.

For patients, the state’s laws can mean waiting longer to enroll in treatment, daily drives to the clinic — even on weekends and holidays — and waiting longer to reach an effective dose.

Two years after the federal government relaxed its rules, Wisconsin’s landscape remains largely unchanged. Providers and researchers want Wisconsin to catch up with newer standards adopted by other states, including Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois and Iowa. 

The Department of Health Services is reviewing Wisconsin’s rules, but it’s unclear what will change or when.

Long drives for methadone treatment 

Bob wakes up at 4:30 a.m. and starts the 40-minute drive to his treatment clinic. Years ago, he left that early to make it to work on time. Now, he just likes to beat the crowd.

Wisconsin Watch is identifying people who use methadone by first name only to protect their private health information. 

Bob tries not to pee before starting the drive. He knows clinic staff will likely send him into the bathroom with a cup as soon as he arrives. It’s been two decades since he used drugs or alcohol, but he takes the drug test all the same.

Next, he walks up to a clinic window, where someone hands him 13 plastic bottles of a cherry red liquid. Bob locks the medications inside a box he brought from home. A staff member watches as he swallows another dose.

He’ll do it all again in 13 days. The treatment saved his life, but it keeps him tied to this time-intensive routine — and to a clinic in another town. 

“Methadone is like having a pair of golden handcuffs,” he says.

Unlike other medications, methadone cannot be picked up from a pharmacy. Only 31 locations across Wisconsin are approved to provide medication-assisted opioid treatments including methadone, according to the state health department.

At the state’s northernmost clinic in Wausau, patients traveled an average of 31 miles, one way, to their clinic in 2024.

Wisconsin allows fewer take-home doses 

Methadone can be fatal if misused. To prevent people from overusing it or selling it, the federal government limited the number of take-home doses patients receive. 

Early in the pandemic, the federal government allowed states to relax take-home rules to limit crowding at clinics — and many states did so. Studies later showed higher patient satisfaction and feelings of being respected without a significant increase in misuse.

In making the pandemic exceptions permanent in 2024, federal regulators wrote that the previous standards “can pose disruption to employment, education and other daily activities for patients, and several of the criteria reflect outdated biases that promote stigma and discourage people from engaging in care.”

But Wisconsin’s take-home regulations remain stricter than the federal minimums from before the pandemic.

The federal standard allows patients like Bob to take home 28 doses at a time. Wisconsin allows only 13.

Wisconsin patients must visit their clinic seven days a week until they complete a month in treatment and meet other criteria not required by the federal government. It takes a year in Wisconsin to qualify for the number of take-home doses providers in other states can offer patients after two weeks. 

Random callbacks disrupt routines

State rules also require clinics to regularly “call back” patients, like Bob, who have more than two take-home doses. The callbacks are intended to help providers make sure patients are not selling or misusing take-home doses. 

Between visits, Bob’s provider often calls and tells him to arrive at the clinic within 24 hours with all 13 methadone bottles. If he doesn’t, he has to go back to daily clinic visits. 

Federal rules do not require callbacks. In a 2024 report, federal regulators said providers should “consider the disruptive nature of random callbacks.”

It’s hard to make plans knowing you might have to change them any moment, Bob says. “I want to be normal again.”

Rules changes under review 

Wisconsin is an outlier whose policies are overdue for an update, said Sharel Rogers, CEO of Addiction Medical Solutions and Vin Baker Recovery. She also serves as president of the Wisconsin Association of Treatment for Opioid Dependence.

Rogers was among several providers who backed a bill last month to update state rules. The measure was introduced right before the legislative session ended and was not expected to pass, but supporters hoped it would push regulators to act.

Wisconsin health officials are considering changing opioid treatment regulations, but without legislative action, the process could take years.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services aims to ensure state regulations support access to “high-quality, evidence-based care for those who need it,” wrote Elizabeth Goodsitt, a spokesperson for the agency.

The agency started the state’s “intentionally thorough” rulemaking process last year to bring state regulations “closer in alignment with current federal regulations,” Goodsitt said.

The agency is still drafting proposed changes. They would be subject to public hearings and lawmaker approval in a process that ensures input from providers, advocates and patients, Goodsitt said.

The health department declined to answer detailed questions. Staff plan to review enrollment and take-home requirements, according to a document submitted to the Legislature. It’s not clear if other discrepancies, like callbacks, lab testing or dosage levels, will be addressed.

Opioid treatment providers should be carefully regulated, but Wisconsin’s current rules create barriers for patients, Rogers said.

“I’m just amazed at these patients every day, what they will do for their own recovery,” she said.

Recovery under tight restrictions

Timothy overdosed three times before starting treatment. 

After nine months in Marathon County jail, he relapsed unaware of his lowered tolerance and the strength of the drug supply in 2022.

Within a couple of months, he started methadone.

“Some people don’t get out of that. A lot of people don’t,” Timothy said. “I’m grateful.”

Opioid overdose deaths dropped by more than 42% in Wisconsin between 2023 and 2024, according to the state health department. Still, opioids killed 815 people in Wisconsin in 2024, compared with fewer than 300 deaths two decades earlier. 

Rising overdose rates are driven in part by fentanyl, a more potent opioid. Patients with a history of fentanyl use typically need higher methadone doses, said Dr. Hillary Tamar, who oversees Wisconsin treatment providers as a medical director for Community Medical Services. 

Wisconsin rules prohibit providers from giving new patients a starting dose above 30 milligrams of methadone. That limit is outdated in the fentanyl era, Tamar said. The average dose at most Wisconsin clinics in 2024 was above 100 milligrams. 

Updated federal limits allow providers to start patients at 50 milligrams or higher, based on their clinical judgment. A higher starting dose can help patients avoid withdrawal and reach a stable dose sooner, Tamar said. 

Federal regulations also give providers greater ability to decide whether a patient may benefit from fewer visits.

“The regulations in Wisconsin bind us to creating a one size fits all plan, and that is just not how humans work,” Tamar said.

Despite attending regular counseling and dosing in-person daily for four years, Timothy still doesn’t qualify for a single take-home dose in Wisconsin. 

That’s because he started using cannabis while undergoing chemotherapy around the time he started methadone treatment. Now in remission, he is working with his counselor to stop using cannabis, but it still prevents him from receiving take-home doses in Wisconsin.

In other states, marijuana use does not bar patients from receiving take-homes, Tamar said.

Last month, Timothy received two take-home methadone bottles while visiting his daughter in Florida.

Before leaving Wisconsin, he worked with staff at his clinic to set up a week’s worth of visits with a Florida provider. He was surprised when the new clinic told him he would receive take-home doses over the weekend.

When at home in Wisconsin, Timothy doesn’t mind the daily clinic visits. But when he’s with his daughter, they remind him of his past mistakes. 

For two days he mixed his medication with apple juice and celebrated his 45th birthday with his family without stopping at the clinic.

He said it was the best time of his life.

‘Golden handcuffs’: Wisconsin methadone rules limit access to opioid treatment is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.