Local heroin ring linked to higher education industry

Heroin hotbed

The Finger Lakes' heroin crisis was apparently caused by the recent influx of college students:

A Cornell student was arrested along the 500 block of Stewart Avenue Dec. 19 for criminal possession of a “substantial quantity” of heroin, the Ithaca Police Department said.

Keri Blakinger ’11 was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree, a class A-II felony.

The report also makes clear that the reason Blackinger came to the Finger Lakes was to particpate in the area's higher education boom.

Blakinger is a former (Cornell Daily) Sun staff writer. She also previously served as editor of Red Letter Daze and features editor.

Further application of the same logic is available here.