I’m from small town VT just across the river, and while that hasn’t been my personal experience I absolutely have known people who have had that experience. Small town USA is unbelievably messed up, but everyone likes to act like its only in the cities. Felt like half my town was Section 8, and an actual full 10th of the population was from the county jail on furlough. Since I’ve left, violent crime/murder rate has gone up a lot and heavy drug use is rampant.