:00:07. > :00:20.Time now for macro are world. -- Our World.
:00:21. > :00:38.Powerless. Powerless. This is an epidemic and that's the right word,
:00:39. > :00:48.that's precisely what this is, an epidemic.
:00:49. > :01:14.A darkness has descended across America. A plague of addiction and
:01:15. > :01:19.death and there's ever been. -- greater than there's ever been.
:01:20. > :01:26.And the legacy of this story's playing out every day and night
:01:27. > :01:32.across the country. Washington city, western Pennsylvania. Police and
:01:33. > :01:36.emergency services are called to aces Bective heroin overdose. Oh my
:01:37. > :01:43.god, what's wrong? Get out of the way. Drugs are killing almost 50,000
:01:44. > :01:48.every year, most are dying from opioids like heroin and morphine
:01:49. > :01:51.pain pills. If the paramedics hadn't arrived what would have happened?
:01:52. > :01:57.Bad things were going to happen, she was pretty close to not breathing.
:01:58. > :02:01.How common is this? Everyday, keeping our finger in the dyke so
:02:02. > :02:05.the dam doesn't break is all we can do. It doesn't matter of your
:02:06. > :02:11.economic status, race, religion, it affects everybody.
:02:12. > :02:19.The recovery village in Orlando, Florida. There are almost 1 million
:02:20. > :02:24.heroin addicts in America. And this is where the new breed comes for
:02:25. > :02:29.help. Increasingly their young white kids from the suburbs and
:02:30. > :02:33.countryside, areas that had been immune to the scourge of heroin.
:02:34. > :02:39.Started when I was 17 years old. When I was 13 I started using pain
:02:40. > :02:44.pills. I'm here because I'm a heroin addict. I didn't know what I was
:02:45. > :02:48.getting into, at the time I just enjoyed the high, you know? It will
:02:49. > :02:52.take everything you have, all the money you have, everything you work
:02:53. > :02:58.for, you love. Your whole life revolves around it. In the blink of
:02:59. > :03:04.an blink of an eye your whole life turns around and I'm about to be 25
:03:05. > :03:11.and I have nothing. This centre is run by advanced recovery systems. It
:03:12. > :03:17.has clinics across America, but the demand is so great now they're
:03:18. > :03:20.almost always full. And in a nation of private healthcare, only the
:03:21. > :03:28.lucky few with the right insurance end up here getting top-class care.
:03:29. > :03:37.And that's the problem, John, your brain can't forget, it remembers
:03:38. > :03:42.everything. Needle tells a whole, the old familiar sting, tried to
:03:43. > :03:47.kill it on the way, but I remember everything because I can't break
:03:48. > :03:53.those connections. Their there. Hardwired for a long, long, long
:03:54. > :03:57.time. Why did your recovery failed? It failed because you're trying to
:03:58. > :04:12.do this by yourself. No one can do it alone. I'm addicted to heroin. I
:04:13. > :04:20.want to stop but I can't. I've about died six times. I remember the first
:04:21. > :04:24.time I overdosed and my boyfriend was actually filming me. He brought
:04:25. > :04:29.me back and right after that he went and did a shot and it was kind of,
:04:30. > :04:38.like, Wiles, I just almost died and I was done at that point -- wow.
:04:39. > :04:44.Gokhan is a cure for someone overdosing it. Without it people
:04:45. > :04:49.die. When am I going to get some more, that's all I can think about
:04:50. > :04:55.to feel better. But I never feel better. I'm sorry.
:04:56. > :05:04.What is this? A spoon. Doctor Huckabee is the medical director
:05:05. > :05:10.here. He's an expert on pain medication and what it does. He's
:05:11. > :05:14.also a recovering addict who became hooked on oxycodone, a prescription
:05:15. > :05:21.painkiller. My fear is we're going to have this whole generation that
:05:22. > :05:25.basically, you know, is going to continue to struggle and the death
:05:26. > :05:28.rate is going to continue to get higher and higher. I had an injury
:05:29. > :05:33.where I broke my foot climbing on the roof of my house and I have to
:05:34. > :05:36.have surgery on my foot and I got prescribed oxycodone for
:05:37. > :05:42.post-operative pain, it took over my brain in such profound ways that it
:05:43. > :05:46.totally blindsided me to the point I was injecting my own fentanyl in the
:05:47. > :05:52.operating room and I was fortunate enough to have partners helping me.
:05:53. > :05:59.You were injecting yourself? Yes. Powerless. Powerless over it.
:06:00. > :06:11.Promised myself all the time, not going to do this again. Not going to
:06:12. > :06:17.do this again today. And by the end of the day, you know, just couldn't
:06:18. > :06:22.control it. The kind of pain pills Doctor Huckabee took were opioids,
:06:23. > :06:27.powerful morphine like pills. But in the wrong hands they can be highly
:06:28. > :06:32.addictive. Even so, they were increasingly prescribed for common
:06:33. > :06:36.problems like backpain. But some of the drug companies not only oversold
:06:37. > :06:40.the benefits, they undersold the risks and sometimes they even
:06:41. > :06:44.encouraged doctors to over prescribed. Government tried a
:06:45. > :06:49.crackdown. Drug companies tried to make the pills harder to abuse but
:06:50. > :06:53.it was too late. A nation of Addicks had been born and people just
:06:54. > :07:00.switched to an alternative and it's never been so cheap, pure or
:07:01. > :07:05.available. Heroine. Americans constitute 5% of the world
:07:06. > :07:09.population but yet we consume 90% of the world's hydrocodone, which is an
:07:10. > :07:14.opioid painkiller. We know that four out of five new heroin users start
:07:15. > :07:17.on prescription pills, they are addictive, people get addicted to
:07:18. > :07:21.them all the time and that's a large part of the problem. This is an
:07:22. > :07:26.epidemic and that's the right word, this is precisely what this is, an
:07:27. > :07:33.epidemic. Jody Russo runs one of these rehab centres in Florida,
:07:34. > :07:38.she's an expert on addiction and she also grew up with it in her own
:07:39. > :07:42.home. My mother was a heroin addict growing up so at a very young age I
:07:43. > :07:46.understood what heroin was. I was probably about eight years old when
:07:47. > :07:51.I understood how to cook heroin and what you did and so the secret...
:07:52. > :08:10.You think you're keeping it from your children, it's... Your cooking
:08:11. > :08:16.heroin for your mum? Sorry. So this is... Can we stop for a moment? This
:08:17. > :08:21.is where Jodi's from. The Mont Valley, Western Pennsylvania.
:08:22. > :08:27.Rustbelt America. Built on steel and coal but long in decline as
:08:28. > :08:31.factories closed and jobs were lost. America's addiction to opioids has
:08:32. > :08:37.swept across the country. Although with respect no one, not race,
:08:38. > :08:40.religion or class, its head white communities in smalltown America the
:08:41. > :08:48.hardest in places like the modern Valley. All the communities in the
:08:49. > :08:51.valley were on a downward spiral economically. The epidemic of
:08:52. > :08:57.heroin, it's like it has put the nail in the coffin. If there was any
:08:58. > :09:11.glimmer of hope for rising above, it has quickly, quickly putting that
:09:12. > :09:18.light out. -- it is. This is a prime example of a community in fast
:09:19. > :09:26.destruction in a heroin epidemic that is completely taking over.
:09:27. > :09:34.Jodie introduced us to family and friends along the valley whose lives
:09:35. > :09:39.had been devastated by this. Heroin's the devil, that's the worst
:09:40. > :09:44.of the worst. Why did my son try it? I really think he was trying to find
:09:45. > :09:48.a cheap way to live. All I know is I lost my son. I didn't think it was
:09:49. > :09:51.going to happen and I don't think anyone else thinks it's going to
:09:52. > :09:56.happen to them. Since Melinda's son died she's been looking after a good
:09:57. > :10:02.friend of his, Stephen Ashbourne. Steve is also a heroin addict. By
:10:03. > :10:09.heart breaks, it aches. When I was in high school, that's when I first
:10:10. > :10:16.started using. Then it was just pills. Pills. I was 20 when I first
:10:17. > :10:21.tried heroin. I don't want to glorify it but it was great. Never
:10:22. > :10:25.had anything like it since. The first one was the best one. Then
:10:26. > :10:30.it's like constantly trying to get that back. I look at you and it's,
:10:31. > :10:35.like, you don't want to do this. I'm at the point where I don't want to
:10:36. > :10:39.get high any more and on dealing with it but it's constantly on my
:10:40. > :10:44.mind. Are used to have so many friends. We would all get together,
:10:45. > :10:49.it would be, like, 20 people hanging out -- are used to. Out of those 20
:10:50. > :10:53.guys are used to be friends with, three of them are dead because of
:10:54. > :10:59.drugs -- are used to. I would say ten of them are still using -- I
:11:00. > :11:04.used to. The rest of them are in recovery. Tomorrow I'm going to be
:11:05. > :11:10.sick. I'm going to have to find money somehow to get my vote and if
:11:11. > :11:20.not I'm going to be miserable, I'm going to hate life. -- stop. Yet I'm
:11:21. > :11:30.going to do it anyway. -- stop. You're going to be OK.
:11:31. > :11:40.That boys stole my heart. My heart is... Steve also started on pain
:11:41. > :11:43.pills at school, before moving to heroin. It has destroyed the
:11:44. > :11:47.business of the once owned, and though he is desperate to get clean,
:11:48. > :11:53.it is hard to shake without serious, long-term help. Steve has been
:11:54. > :12:00.trying to get clean, but the withdrawal pains have started. It
:12:01. > :12:06.has been about an hour since I got home. The only thing I can do to get
:12:07. > :12:10.better, I can't feel like there's no more. I'm sweating, I've got... I
:12:11. > :12:16.don't know if you can see at what I've got goosebumps really bad. I
:12:17. > :12:21.can't quit sweating, freezing cold, sweating at the same time. It is 80
:12:22. > :12:22.degrees in my room, after the air-conditioner on, but I'm still
:12:23. > :12:35.freezing. Heroin grips people like no other
:12:36. > :12:39.drug. Addiction is almost guaranteed. And for many it usually
:12:40. > :12:48.ends one of two places. Rehab or death. Two days later, Steve is back
:12:49. > :12:53.in the grip of his addiction. How are you feeling right now? Right now
:12:54. > :13:00.I'm all right. I got a few bags earlier, so I'm feeling level, in
:13:01. > :13:06.order mean? But it is never, never good enough. Never have enough, in
:13:07. > :13:12.order mean? It is always... It seems like whenever I am using it is
:13:13. > :13:17.just... Just constantly want more and more and more. The Mexican
:13:18. > :13:21.cartels are flooding the country with heroin and in parts of the
:13:22. > :13:27.valley you can get it as quickly as ordering a pizza. Steve's contact
:13:28. > :13:32.has come through. And once that bag is in his pocket, there is nothing
:13:33. > :13:37.else he can think of. Every injection is the role of the dice.
:13:38. > :13:43.This is a new supplier. Steve doesn't think it will be strong, so
:13:44. > :13:47.he is taking three bags in one shot. But there is no way to know how
:13:48. > :13:51.strong it is, what it is cut with, or whether it will kill you. It
:13:52. > :14:11.takes just seconds to course through his veins. It has got hold on me. I
:14:12. > :14:17.just... I'm obsessed with it. It runs my life. I don't need it, but I
:14:18. > :14:37.feel like I do. It is so hard. It is like it
:14:38. > :14:49.controls everything. I want to, they need to, control it. And cut it out
:14:50. > :14:57.of my life. Because... Honestly, and deep down, I don't want to. I don't
:14:58. > :15:24.want to keep using. Jodi believes Steve went he says he
:15:25. > :15:28.really wants to be clean, and she has found a place for him and her
:15:29. > :15:32.clinic in Florida. He is a big boy, he is an adult. And I can't be
:15:33. > :15:37.giving him money, I can't be giving him everything he needs because you
:15:38. > :15:42.couldn't get up for work, or you just want to get high. You have got
:15:43. > :15:51.to do what you have got to do for yourself. And I think this is his
:15:52. > :15:58.first step. I want to get clean, I don't want to live like this any
:15:59. > :16:03.more. I do want to go. It is really hard to talk to my mum, and talk to
:16:04. > :16:15.my family about it, because, like... I see how, like, it upsets them. I
:16:16. > :16:19.love you. I'm sorry. You don't have to say you're sorry. You say I am
:16:20. > :16:28.going to do it, ma'am. That is what you say. As he prepares to leave the
:16:29. > :16:32.Mon Valley, the business of buying and selling heroin goes on. One
:16:33. > :16:37.dealer agreed to speak to us but he didn't want to be identified. I
:16:38. > :16:42.don't have to do it. I like the fast money. It is easy, fast money. I
:16:43. > :16:46.mean, I take care of my family fine. It is young people, old people,
:16:47. > :16:52.white people, black people, rich people. You know what they mean? The
:16:53. > :16:55.drug doesn't have any colour to it, or any age. I have seen 13
:16:56. > :17:03.-year-olds out here, sniffing heroin. It is absolutely everywhere.
:17:04. > :17:08.Every town around here, at least, there is somebody that sells drugs.
:17:09. > :17:15.It is predominantly heroin, because that is the big thing around here.
:17:16. > :17:18.It is the night before Steve leaves for Florida, and it is not the
:17:19. > :17:23.future he is desperate to arrange right now. It is where to get his
:17:24. > :17:29.next fix. This is the power of heroin. I am going to work tomorrow,
:17:30. > :17:33.dude. Before I leave, that's why in trying to get it on the night,
:17:34. > :17:38.before I go. Steve hasn't quite got enough money for his drugs, so he
:17:39. > :17:43.calls his mum. Do you think you can do me a favour and give me a 20
:17:44. > :17:48.until I get off work tomorrow, because the kind of needed, before I
:17:49. > :17:52.go. And I'm not going to be able to do anything tomorrow, after you pick
:17:53. > :17:56.me up from work, I've got to go straight to the airport. Is it all
:17:57. > :18:05.right? Like, I don't want you to be mad at me nothing. -- or nothing.
:18:06. > :18:14.Thank you, goodbye. Does she know what it is for? Yeah. I kind of told
:18:15. > :18:18.her, without actually saying it. And she knows, she is not stupid. She
:18:19. > :18:25.has been dealing with it for how long? But I think in a normal, like,
:18:26. > :18:29.circumstance, like any other day, she would just flat out tell me
:18:30. > :18:45.know. Will this be his last night of addiction? 12 hours, I'll be flying
:18:46. > :18:56.to Florida. It is going to be rough, I know. But I am ready for it. The
:18:57. > :19:03.next morning, it is time to leave the Mon Valley, and perhaps his
:19:04. > :19:08.addiction, kind. I am excited. I am pumped, I want to get this started,
:19:09. > :19:13.I want to get off this (BLEEP). I want to get one more shot, I have to
:19:14. > :19:27.get that last one in, I could have said that in my head, and that is
:19:28. > :19:36.it. I am done with it. I am done. Hello, Jodi. Hi, Stephen. I'm good,
:19:37. > :19:40.I'm so glad you made it. A month later, in Florida, and Steve is
:19:41. > :19:43.clean, and in therapy. Finally opening up about the guilt that
:19:44. > :19:48.fears his addiction. What is the motion you are feeling right now? My
:19:49. > :19:53.grandfather being the father figure that he was, the last time I spoke
:19:54. > :19:57.to him, I told him that he didn't have to worry about me any more,
:19:58. > :20:00.that I would make him proud. That I would be all right, because he was
:20:01. > :20:07.always so worried about... He was always really worried about me,
:20:08. > :20:24.because he knew what I was doing. And I just told him I would be all
:20:25. > :20:30.right. And... I wasn't. But I know it is not too late. I can still, I
:20:31. > :20:42.can still make it right. But I told him... You know, I think he has made
:20:43. > :20:47.tremendous progress, I really do. From the time he entered in, from
:20:48. > :20:53.the time he left out of Pittsburgh, came and entered in, I see a great
:20:54. > :20:57.deal of progress for him. He has had a lot of insight, he is able to see
:20:58. > :21:01.things a little differently now than what he did during that conversation
:21:02. > :21:04.that we had on the porch with him. So that's exciting. I think he was
:21:05. > :21:07.in a hopeless and helpless situation, and having the
:21:08. > :21:13.opportunity to get out of that is what he needed. Like so many, I
:21:14. > :21:17.think people across the United States, they just need a place to
:21:18. > :21:22.go, and some encouragement and some support. And every single day of his
:21:23. > :21:32.life, he will have to work hard just to stay clean. But so far, our
:21:33. > :21:40.success story. But for many, there are no happy endings. Just more
:21:41. > :21:47.addiction, overdoses, and death. We met 24-year-old Anna at a food
:21:48. > :21:55.handout run by Angels of Addiction, a group looking out for the
:21:56. > :22:02.destitute. And is in the depths of addiction, struggling to survive in
:22:03. > :22:09.the filth and squalor. -- Anna. A lot of people walking by. Emaciated,
:22:10. > :22:18.dirty and cold, she is hooked on heroin. So how long have you been in
:22:19. > :22:22.here? Like a month and a half. You cannot do that. What do you have to
:22:23. > :22:28.do to get the money? Just go with people places, or some guys just
:22:29. > :22:32.want to hang out and take you to dinner, pay you, or they want you to
:22:33. > :22:36.get high with them, and they will pay you two. Some days it is like
:22:37. > :22:44.you don't get upset about it, and other days it is misery. You OK?
:22:45. > :22:48.Little bit of a rush. You need it, you don't feel good if you are not
:22:49. > :22:53.on it. You don't feel like talking to people if you are on it. Another
:22:54. > :23:03.Sol lost to an addiction that is devastating America. # and the home
:23:04. > :23:30.of the brave? ??NEWELEMENT the weekends here and
:23:31. > :23:31.it certainly getting off to a chilly start. There will be some ice