1 00:00:01,100 --> 00:00:05,100 So your grandparents are at church now? Mm -hmm. So they don't know we're here? 2 00:00:05,420 --> 00:00:06,319 No. 3 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:08,620 No. And they don't know you're using? 4 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:12,620 No. That's weird, isn't it? It's super weird. Nobody knows. 5 00:00:12,980 --> 00:00:14,280 How did you get started? 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:19,340 Well, I was in a car accident, and I broke my neck, so I kept having all this 7 00:00:19,340 --> 00:00:21,920 pain, and I was going to doctors, and they just kept handing me pain pills, 8 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:26,900 literally throwing them down my throat. How did that lead to you being addicted 9 00:00:26,900 --> 00:00:27,900 to heroin? 10 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:29,440 I told the doctor. I said, look. 11 00:00:30,060 --> 00:00:35,140 I'm addicted to these, 100%, no doubt about it. I'm sick, I'm puking, I can't 12 00:00:35,140 --> 00:00:38,520 anything. You've got to help me. The doctor cut me off cold turkey. 13 00:00:39,660 --> 00:00:41,160 He says, I don't know what to tell you. 14 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:43,000 Have a great day. 15 00:00:43,740 --> 00:00:44,960 Shut the door and walked out. 16 00:00:47,700 --> 00:00:52,220 In Huntington, West Virginia, I was spending time with heroin users. 17 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:54,540 I've heard you can OD on that. 18 00:00:54,740 --> 00:00:56,040 Oh, yeah, yeah. 19 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:58,840 If I did that right there by myself, dude, I would drop. 20 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:04,739 The city's been swept up in the most deadly drug epidemic in US history. 21 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:10,480 And for several weeks, I've been trying to get to grips with why. 22 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:12,900 You responded to Brenda's call? 23 00:01:13,260 --> 00:01:16,720 Yeah, we did. And you found Brenda, what, OD'd? 24 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:19,340 I just want to say thank you. 25 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:24,020 And not all of us want to be like this. 26 00:01:26,929 --> 00:01:30,950 Honestly, at this point, as far as this addiction has gone and to lying to my 27 00:01:30,950 --> 00:01:34,550 family about having a job and going to meetings and doing this and that, I'm 28 00:01:34,550 --> 00:01:35,550 exhausted. 29 00:01:37,350 --> 00:01:38,350 I'm tired. 30 00:01:38,730 --> 00:01:39,850 I'm really tired. 31 00:01:42,790 --> 00:01:43,790 Really tired. 32 00:02:01,020 --> 00:02:07,660 Huntington lies at the intersection of West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky, an 33 00:02:07,660 --> 00:02:08,880 known as Tri -State. 34 00:02:11,060 --> 00:02:16,100 Once home to factories and steel mills, it is now a hub for heroin use. 35 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:25,480 Through the city's needle exchange, I'd made contact with 36 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:29,500 25 -year -old Catilia and her boyfriend Alvin. 37 00:02:29,900 --> 00:02:30,900 You okay, Cotilia? 38 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:32,280 Yeah, I'm fine. 39 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:34,860 I just need to go to the restroom real quick. 40 00:02:38,980 --> 00:02:42,320 I don't want to sound paranoid, but is she shooting up in there? 41 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:44,040 No, I don't think she's shooting up. 42 00:02:45,300 --> 00:02:47,060 You okay? 43 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,620 Yeah, I'm fine. Did you ask if I was shooting? Yeah, she's shooting. 44 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:53,500 Are you doing it now? 45 00:02:53,860 --> 00:02:58,220 Yeah. Yeah, it's not, it's not. It's just, it's like a rant. 46 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,700 I've already done my morning shot. It's something that kind of has a little bit 47 00:03:02,700 --> 00:03:05,620 of something in it that will kind of relax me. 48 00:03:08,020 --> 00:03:09,680 Do you use as well, Alvin? 49 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:11,200 No, I don't use. 50 00:03:11,500 --> 00:03:12,500 Not at all? 51 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,580 That's why it's so difficult to be with somebody that has an addiction, because 52 00:03:16,580 --> 00:03:20,740 you always, you love them, but you don't want, it's like a tool of evil, you 53 00:03:20,740 --> 00:03:21,339 know what I'm saying? 54 00:03:21,340 --> 00:03:23,980 You love them, but you wish they'd get off, but it's hard. 55 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,480 You would rather Cotilia was not using? 56 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:28,840 Yes, absolutely. 57 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:35,380 How many times do you shoot up a day, then? I mean, it's at least six, seven. 58 00:03:35,380 --> 00:03:41,100 in a day, how much would you typically say, what money value would you be 59 00:03:41,260 --> 00:03:43,600 I can give at least $150 to $200. 60 00:03:44,260 --> 00:03:46,680 Does that sound right to you, Cotilia? 61 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:49,960 Oh, yeah. Actually, that's probably less. 62 00:03:50,300 --> 00:03:52,520 That's actually the minimum. 63 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:55,860 Are you able to keep down a job, Cotilia? 64 00:03:56,540 --> 00:03:59,760 No. No, I've never been able to get a job. 65 00:04:00,140 --> 00:04:03,440 Have you ever? You've never had a job? I've had jobs, yeah. What kind of work 66 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:04,179 have you done? 67 00:04:04,180 --> 00:04:07,480 Jobs that take taxes has been just fast food. 68 00:04:08,140 --> 00:04:09,420 I've stripped. 69 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:12,260 I have tricked. 70 00:04:12,860 --> 00:04:16,579 I have robbed. 71 00:04:17,079 --> 00:04:19,779 Tricked is prostituted. Yes. Do you still do that? 72 00:04:20,060 --> 00:04:23,060 I don't. Not since I've been without. 73 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:24,640 Because he's providing? 74 00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:30,200 Since we've been around each other, I've been able to find better quality of the 75 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:34,760 drug, too, to where I can not use as much. 76 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:40,040 So did I understand, Ketelia, to mean that you've been able to hook her up 77 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:41,700 better quality product? 78 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:46,880 Yeah. I would rather go out and find her something that's going to be what she 79 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,720 wants than something somebody put together that's going to kill her. Would 80 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:52,320 consider yourself a dealer? 81 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:55,300 Sure. No, I can see myself in her situation. 82 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,220 I know people, and I'll be like, okay, well, they got something good that you, 83 00:04:59,340 --> 00:05:00,840 because I know she's going to get it, you know what I'm saying? 84 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:06,560 How old were you when you first got involved in a serious way with opiates? 85 00:05:07,180 --> 00:05:08,180 Serious way? 86 00:05:09,260 --> 00:05:10,820 When I was about 17. 87 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:14,800 Was there anything going on in your life? I mean, were you just partying in 88 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:17,100 normal way, or was there something else going on? 89 00:05:17,740 --> 00:05:21,040 Well, growing up, my family does a lot of manual labor work. 90 00:05:21,660 --> 00:05:25,040 A lot of people would take medicine here and there that would kind of keep 91 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,560 them... Keep them... Functioning. Yeah. 92 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:33,320 I've seen them as being strong and... You were trying, you saw guys around 93 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:40,140 taking it, you thought, what's that all about? You tried it and you felt... I 94 00:05:40,140 --> 00:05:45,380 don't know why I'm... 95 00:05:46,110 --> 00:05:47,890 Don't worry. Maybe it's hard to express. 96 00:05:48,270 --> 00:05:51,570 Are the questions making you nervous? 97 00:05:52,210 --> 00:05:53,210 No. 98 00:05:53,690 --> 00:05:54,690 No. 99 00:05:54,990 --> 00:05:58,910 If he would walk in here, and I can talk to you guys for a second, and you can 100 00:05:58,910 --> 00:06:03,450 just do what you do. Okay. That man would help you. Jesus. 101 00:06:06,850 --> 00:06:08,690 He just makes me feel that easy. 102 00:06:09,970 --> 00:06:11,410 Yeah. Yeah. 103 00:06:12,170 --> 00:06:13,310 Because I notice... 104 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:18,160 We've just been together for, you know, within the first two weeks of being 105 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:24,780 together. He had already bloodied my face and taken control of me with 106 00:06:24,780 --> 00:06:26,140 the drugs. 107 00:06:26,460 --> 00:06:31,060 He was able to, sometimes he likes to joke and say that he owns me. 108 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:37,120 So pretty much as you can tell, I'm almost like a pet to him, like an 109 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:41,600 for the drugs. 110 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:47,440 I wouldn't, this is, I wouldn't, this is not where I would be. I wouldn't be 111 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:48,440 here. 112 00:06:49,660 --> 00:06:50,660 At all. 113 00:06:54,300 --> 00:06:55,300 It's your deal. 114 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:57,200 Yeah. Yeah. 115 00:06:57,980 --> 00:06:58,980 That's all I'm adding. 116 00:06:59,840 --> 00:07:03,500 Hi there. 117 00:07:04,860 --> 00:07:05,860 Uh -huh. 118 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:08,540 I'm starting to think now I want to get into town. 119 00:07:10,180 --> 00:07:12,200 The more you talk about it, the more you want to do it. 120 00:07:21,310 --> 00:07:27,710 A little later, I was invited along on an outing to a trap house 121 00:07:27,710 --> 00:07:31,190 where Alvin would be attempting to rendezvous with one of his connections. 122 00:07:33,710 --> 00:07:36,690 We were being chauffeured by a neighbour called Petty Betty. 123 00:07:40,050 --> 00:07:41,710 It was all a little odd. 124 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:44,340 I wasn't quite sure what we were getting into. 125 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:49,440 Wow. 126 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:56,260 Looks like it needs an extreme makeover. 127 00:07:57,880 --> 00:07:58,879 Petty Betty? 128 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:01,580 What should I call you? Petty or Betty? Or something else? 129 00:08:02,740 --> 00:08:04,240 My name's actually Jessica. 130 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:08,840 And everybody knows me as Petty Betty. Yeah. 131 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:11,600 Do you have a job, Patty? 132 00:08:11,940 --> 00:08:12,940 No. 133 00:08:13,180 --> 00:08:14,620 You're not in work at the moment? 134 00:08:15,100 --> 00:08:16,700 No. You use? 135 00:08:17,140 --> 00:08:19,020 Yes. Do you? For how long? 136 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:23,320 I'll be 26 in three months, and I've used since I was 12. 137 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:24,640 Since you were 12. 138 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:26,740 What did you start using when you were 12? 139 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:31,020 Loratabs. Huh? Pain pills, painkillers. Where did you get them from? 140 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:35,360 Medicine cabinets from my grandparents, from my mom. 141 00:08:36,059 --> 00:08:37,340 Anywhere I could find them, really. 142 00:08:37,659 --> 00:08:38,659 Why? 143 00:08:40,860 --> 00:08:42,200 Everybody else was doing it. 144 00:08:43,740 --> 00:08:50,000 I was raised as a spoiled little brat, honestly. I had anything and everything 145 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:55,500 ever wanted, but I don't know. I guess I just wanted to fit in with everybody. 146 00:08:56,140 --> 00:09:00,700 And then it becomes, you know, the sicknesses and the pains. 147 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,860 You've got to find something to get rid of it, basically. 148 00:09:05,340 --> 00:09:09,080 They took all the pills away from everybody here, so then you've got to 149 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:10,140 something else to cope with. 150 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:17,720 It's a bad habit. 151 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:19,080 It really is. 152 00:09:22,340 --> 00:09:23,920 It's picking up the call, isn't it? 153 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:25,120 I hope. 154 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:27,480 Let me see that. Can I hit that? What happened? Let me see. 155 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:28,900 He wants to see. 156 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:32,720 That is it. 157 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:35,320 That is it. 158 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:36,840 It's so nothing. 159 00:09:37,340 --> 00:09:38,980 How much was that? 160 00:09:41,020 --> 00:09:42,020 Forty. 161 00:09:43,220 --> 00:09:48,340 Is that a... But I would have had to pay probably 180 for it. Is that a gram? 162 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:50,120 No, it ain't a gram. 163 00:09:50,220 --> 00:09:50,999 Is it less? 164 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:55,120 Less. What would happen if I snorted that right now? 165 00:09:55,420 --> 00:09:56,960 I guess you'd be on her level. 166 00:09:58,340 --> 00:10:02,600 You're probably... Well, I don't know. That's what I'm about to find out. 167 00:10:04,290 --> 00:10:09,550 No, this has a smell to it. So usually that either means they've recut it or 168 00:10:09,550 --> 00:10:16,090 it's a decent decent quality It's got a Smell 169 00:10:16,090 --> 00:10:20,510 it's got it like a vinegar II This is weird 170 00:10:20,510 --> 00:10:28,690 Vinegary 171 00:10:28,690 --> 00:10:29,950 there's no other word for it. 172 00:10:30,890 --> 00:10:32,290 Have you ever smelled that before? 173 00:10:32,959 --> 00:10:36,560 I've smelled it before and then I woke up with an overdose. 174 00:10:36,940 --> 00:10:37,940 Uh -oh. 175 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:41,840 I feel weird watching you do something so dangerous. 176 00:10:44,820 --> 00:10:48,300 And also that I feel like you're going to slightly disappear after you've taken 177 00:10:48,300 --> 00:10:50,480 it. You're going to become dopey and sleepy. 178 00:10:52,340 --> 00:10:55,400 There's nothing I could say that would persuade you not to do that. 179 00:11:02,830 --> 00:11:04,290 I'll have to add a lighter to that. 180 00:11:13,290 --> 00:11:15,090 How will I know if you're in trouble? 181 00:11:17,970 --> 00:11:20,070 I'll lose consciousness pretty much. 182 00:11:20,510 --> 00:11:22,150 I'll even start to probably change color. 183 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:48,600 It's what I call a creeper. It's a slow, a slow, a 184 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:51,500 slow rush. 185 00:11:53,500 --> 00:11:54,500 It's not bad. 186 00:11:54,700 --> 00:11:55,700 I've had better. 187 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:57,440 It's not bad. 188 00:11:57,940 --> 00:11:59,980 How long were you good for now, do you think? 189 00:12:00,420 --> 00:12:02,220 Probably with this, maybe a couple hours. 190 00:12:06,180 --> 00:12:09,860 If I had something stronger, I mean, that's a good six. 191 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:13,340 About three, four hours at least. Just a couple hours. 192 00:12:16,780 --> 00:12:21,640 Like, I'm probably going to go in there and tell him how it is and see if I can 193 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:23,880 get more, depending on if I'm supposed to do a bigger shot. 194 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:25,820 Probably end up getting in my way. 195 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:28,860 I always usually do with him. 196 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:31,180 Is he still physical with you? 197 00:12:31,420 --> 00:12:32,420 Mm -hmm. 198 00:12:36,260 --> 00:12:38,580 Where do you see the relationship going? 199 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:46,420 Well, I can down the drain, but right now it's going to be like this 200 00:12:46,420 --> 00:12:52,480 until I can try to overpower my 201 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:53,980 addiction. 202 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:00,380 He's the only way right now to get what I want. 203 00:13:17,290 --> 00:13:22,030 It's been estimated that in Huntington, as many as one out of four adults is 204 00:13:22,030 --> 00:13:24,690 addicted to heroin or some other form of opiate. 205 00:13:25,350 --> 00:13:30,110 The rate of fatal overdose is 13 times the national average. 206 00:13:32,390 --> 00:13:37,030 Bearing the brunt of the problem are the city's emergency services and in 207 00:13:37,030 --> 00:13:38,370 particular the fire department. 208 00:13:44,230 --> 00:13:47,890 Increasingly... Their job revolves around reviving overdosing users. 209 00:13:50,870 --> 00:13:51,870 Hey, honey. 210 00:13:53,650 --> 00:13:54,650 All right. 211 00:13:54,730 --> 00:14:00,810 He's breathing, but not... He sees actually his color's coming back a 212 00:14:00,810 --> 00:14:03,810 bit. We popped him once. You want to go ahead and give him another Narcan? 213 00:14:04,150 --> 00:14:05,150 Thank you. 214 00:14:05,670 --> 00:14:07,350 What does the Narcan do, Jen? 215 00:14:07,570 --> 00:14:12,410 It reverses the effects of the opiate that they took, the heroin. 216 00:14:13,710 --> 00:14:16,270 Does it stop them from overdosing? Yeah. 217 00:14:17,650 --> 00:14:18,650 Hey, buddy. 218 00:14:22,710 --> 00:14:24,410 Hey, honey, 219 00:14:27,050 --> 00:14:29,670 it's cold out here. I'm going to pull your shirt down for you, OK? 220 00:14:33,970 --> 00:14:36,310 Jan Rader is the city's fire chief. 221 00:14:37,230 --> 00:14:41,650 Could he have... Died just then? Oh, yeah. Did you see his face when we 222 00:14:41,650 --> 00:14:43,090 up? He was very, very pale, almost blue. 223 00:14:43,470 --> 00:14:48,830 Great. Now, he was breathing, but not sufficiently. The first dose of Narcan 224 00:14:48,830 --> 00:14:55,550 increased his breathing rate just a little bit, but he probably had heroin 225 00:14:55,550 --> 00:15:02,250 was laced with fentanyl, and so it took a full two milligrams more intravenously 226 00:15:02,250 --> 00:15:04,170 to get him to wake up. 227 00:15:04,370 --> 00:15:05,450 What is fentanyl? 228 00:15:06,180 --> 00:15:12,020 Fentanyl is a synthetic opiate, typically made in China and shipped to 229 00:15:12,020 --> 00:15:15,220 and that's where it's cut with the heroin before it's sent here. 230 00:15:17,380 --> 00:15:18,440 And it's strong. 231 00:15:18,740 --> 00:15:21,220 It's 100 times stronger than heroin. 232 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:23,780 Now he's in withdrawals. 233 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:25,180 He's got, is he vomiting? 234 00:15:25,860 --> 00:15:27,320 Yep, he is. 235 00:15:30,220 --> 00:15:31,760 That's what the Narcan has done. 236 00:15:32,700 --> 00:15:36,180 the opiate off the receptors in his brain, and now he's dope sick. 237 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:39,740 So tell me about Huntington. 238 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:43,040 Huntington, West Virginia, is a town of 49 ,000 people. 239 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:50,280 Last year, we had over 1 ,100 overdoses, and probably 240 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:55,280 80 % of the people that we deal with started out with a legal prescription to 241 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:59,560 either Lortab or Percocet Oxycontin. 242 00:16:00,090 --> 00:16:03,590 From a doctor? From a physician for legitimate pain. 243 00:16:04,230 --> 00:16:08,570 It's sad. Once they can't get their prescription, they turn to heroin 244 00:16:08,570 --> 00:16:10,290 it's cheaper and more readily available. 245 00:16:16,990 --> 00:16:21,030 Addiction in Huntington is in some ways a legacy of its industrial past. 246 00:16:23,410 --> 00:16:27,950 Doctors, influenced by pharmaceutical companies, prescribed pain pills for 247 00:16:27,950 --> 00:16:28,950 workplace injuries. 248 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:36,760 From early 2011, when authorities realized that drugs were being abused in 249 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:41,060 quantities, they began cracking down, passing new laws against over 250 00:16:41,060 --> 00:16:42,060 -prescription. 251 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:49,020 Combined with disappearing employment, the unintended result was a massive 252 00:16:49,020 --> 00:16:50,020 to heroin use. 253 00:16:56,700 --> 00:17:00,910 Alongside the emergency services, A variety of community and religious 254 00:17:00,910 --> 00:17:03,410 volunteers are attempting to address the problem. 255 00:17:04,329 --> 00:17:07,730 It's a battle every day, no matter where you're at. I struggle just as much as 256 00:17:07,730 --> 00:17:08,669 you do every day. 257 00:17:08,670 --> 00:17:12,170 No matter what, I still got to wake up, turn it over to God and do the right 258 00:17:12,170 --> 00:17:13,770 thing every morning, no matter where I live. 259 00:17:14,349 --> 00:17:16,010 Whether I live down here or I live in a house. 260 00:17:16,569 --> 00:17:21,690 Jan had told me about an ex -user with a criminal past whom the fire department 261 00:17:21,690 --> 00:17:25,190 had had to Narcan back to life many times, Mickey Watson. 262 00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:31,460 He was helping a new arrival find a spot in an encampment by the Ohio River. 263 00:17:32,420 --> 00:17:33,620 How old are you, Edwin? 264 00:17:33,820 --> 00:17:34,599 I'm 42. 265 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:36,800 42? I mean, I have my degree and everything. 266 00:17:37,420 --> 00:17:41,380 I mean, I owned a business up until six months ago. 267 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:43,200 What sort of business? 268 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:47,480 A computer business. I was doing network auditing and penetration testing. 269 00:17:47,820 --> 00:17:48,820 That's a good living. 270 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,780 It's a great living. I made a lot of money at it. Did you? How much? 271 00:17:52,100 --> 00:17:54,320 At one point, I was making over... 272 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:57,420 At least over 200 ,000 a year. Are you serious? 273 00:17:57,640 --> 00:17:58,720 Yeah. Do you hear that, Mickey? 274 00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:03,040 Edwin's a computer buffin'. Yeah. You know, it kills movie stars, man. It 275 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:04,540 doesn't discriminate on who you are. 276 00:18:04,900 --> 00:18:07,640 Getting off of it, it's always waiting around the corner for you to stumble. 277 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:11,760 Absolutely it is. And there's no chemical solution for a God -sized 278 00:18:11,820 --> 00:18:12,820 man. There is not. 279 00:18:13,710 --> 00:18:17,810 You might fill this hole inside you with anything other than God. That hole, 280 00:18:17,970 --> 00:18:20,670 man, that's what I hear a lot of people. That hole is there. 281 00:18:20,930 --> 00:18:22,390 There is a big hole. 282 00:18:22,650 --> 00:18:25,610 Right now, I'm in the winter and I feel that big hole in my chest. 283 00:18:27,950 --> 00:18:31,410 I ain't going to sit in here and bullshit y 'all. If it wasn't for God, I 284 00:18:31,410 --> 00:18:32,410 wouldn't be here right now. 285 00:18:33,510 --> 00:18:35,930 God knows who I am and understands what I am. 286 00:18:37,430 --> 00:18:40,570 God didn't plan for me to live down here. He don't have that plan for him 287 00:18:40,570 --> 00:18:41,570 either. 288 00:18:41,710 --> 00:18:44,650 Right now, what he's got planned for him is this is a stepping stone to get him 289 00:18:44,650 --> 00:18:45,650 where he wants him. 290 00:18:47,710 --> 00:18:49,210 Should we do it? Yep, let's do it. 291 00:18:50,510 --> 00:18:51,870 What were your convictions? 292 00:18:52,550 --> 00:18:54,790 I've only been convicted of second -degree robbery. 293 00:18:55,990 --> 00:19:00,990 Dude had something of some value and ran up and snatched it from me. What was 294 00:19:00,990 --> 00:19:01,990 it? 295 00:19:02,210 --> 00:19:04,070 He had a nice -looking laptop in his hand. 296 00:19:04,670 --> 00:19:07,290 You just snatched it? I snatched it and ran, and they caught me. 297 00:19:07,670 --> 00:19:08,950 And why had you done that? 298 00:19:09,490 --> 00:19:11,070 I was high, and I wanted some more money. 299 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:12,400 so I can keep getting high. 300 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:16,940 I'm a completely different person when I'm high. 301 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:20,760 My wife tells me that's the very devil himself that crawls out of my skin. 302 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:22,980 I'm very violent. 303 00:19:23,700 --> 00:19:30,300 I don't care who I hurt or what I take from who I take it from. 304 00:19:32,380 --> 00:19:34,260 I've stolen from my own kids to get high. 305 00:19:35,660 --> 00:19:37,520 I've let guys suck my dick to get high. 306 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:40,860 I mean, you'll do whatever it takes. 307 00:19:41,370 --> 00:19:44,490 Have you ever sucked a dick to get high? I have never sucked a dick, but I've 308 00:19:44,490 --> 00:19:45,910 let a guy suck my dick to get high. 309 00:19:48,890 --> 00:19:50,490 So you do have some boundaries. 310 00:19:51,130 --> 00:19:52,950 Yeah, I have some boundaries, you know. 311 00:20:12,970 --> 00:20:14,870 I'm beating away. We'll measure it. 312 00:20:16,110 --> 00:20:18,270 Heart rate is 151. 313 00:20:19,070 --> 00:20:20,070 That's not you. 314 00:20:20,810 --> 00:20:25,850 At Cabell Huntington Hospital, Alicia Phillips and Ronnie Rowe were having a 315 00:20:25,850 --> 00:20:26,850 baby scan. 316 00:20:28,250 --> 00:20:29,650 We have some hair. 317 00:20:30,070 --> 00:20:32,290 Oh, all that fuzzy stuff you do. 318 00:20:33,270 --> 00:20:37,890 A recovering heroin user, Alicia had weaned herself onto a synthetic opiate 319 00:20:37,890 --> 00:20:41,330 called Subutex that is thought to be less harmful to babies. 320 00:20:42,860 --> 00:20:45,880 It was part of a programme run by Dr David Chafin. 321 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:51,440 All that together, we're at the 26th percentile. So baby's growth is good, 322 00:20:51,500 --> 00:20:52,399 fluid's good. 323 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:53,920 OK. How much does he weigh? 324 00:20:54,500 --> 00:20:56,900 Well, I realised this was a guesstimate. 325 00:20:57,120 --> 00:20:58,079 Yes, OK. 326 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:01,360 But four pounds, 12 ounces. 327 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:03,740 So, good size. 328 00:21:03,980 --> 00:21:04,980 Yeah. 329 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:11,160 Dr Chafin, you know, in the scenario in which Alicia was still using or 330 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:14,310 abusing... either heroin or prescription opiates. 331 00:21:14,770 --> 00:21:16,790 What does that look like for the baby? 332 00:21:17,730 --> 00:21:20,490 In that case, I have several concerns. 333 00:21:20,690 --> 00:21:23,730 Number one, there is an increased risk of growth restriction. 334 00:21:23,970 --> 00:21:27,710 Babies just don't grow when they're being exposed to those opiates. And then 335 00:21:27,710 --> 00:21:33,110 what's really scary in the case of heroin is the withdrawal can come on 336 00:21:33,110 --> 00:21:38,450 quickly if you miss a dose, and acute sudden withdrawal is dangerous for the 337 00:21:38,450 --> 00:21:39,450 fetus in utero. 338 00:21:39,820 --> 00:21:42,200 And so sometimes those babies don't survive that withdrawal. 339 00:21:44,060 --> 00:21:45,800 Any questions about what you just heard? 340 00:21:46,580 --> 00:21:48,400 I've read lots about it. 341 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:55,100 Last year in Huntington, one out of ten babies was born dependent on opiates. 342 00:21:56,280 --> 00:22:01,640 It's hideous, the idea of a baby being born addicted to an opiate, isn't it? 343 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:03,480 Whether it's Subutex or heroin. 344 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:07,680 Let's not use the word addicted. They're going through withdrawal because 345 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:08,820 they're physically dependent. 346 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:14,220 Everything that is warm and tingly and brings a smile to your face when you 347 00:22:14,220 --> 00:22:19,560 think of snuggling up with a baby, a newborn, is absent in these babies. And 348 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:21,980 yes, it is difficult to deal with these babies. 349 00:22:22,260 --> 00:22:26,820 But they are feeling irritable. They don't want to be touched. They're 350 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:30,240 Correct. The good news is there is an end. 351 00:22:31,180 --> 00:22:36,000 We are weaning them off of this medication and there will be an end to 352 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:48,700 In her 16 -year dalliance with opiates, Alicia had been in and out of rehab and 353 00:22:48,700 --> 00:22:52,580 had picked up multiple drugs charges and a conviction for forgery. 354 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:59,800 She'd met Ronnie 10 months earlier when they were still using, now both in 355 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:02,460 recovery. They were renting space in a friend's house. 356 00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:08,880 Our programme is about misuse of opiates and heroin, which has ravaged this 357 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,980 area. Can you tell me how it's affected your lives? 358 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:14,900 It ruined my life. Yeah. 359 00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:19,700 It ruined my life. How do you mean? I dropped out of college and then I 360 00:23:19,700 --> 00:23:24,420 getting arrested and going to jail and not being able to keep a job. 361 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:27,480 You dropped out of college? What were you studying? 362 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:28,920 Library science. 363 00:23:29,390 --> 00:23:30,390 Library of Science? 364 00:23:30,410 --> 00:23:35,770 Yeah. So how did you get involved in opiates? My stepdad was a welder, a 365 00:23:35,770 --> 00:23:40,990 maker, and he had had a lot of surgeries on his back, and he was receiving the 366 00:23:40,990 --> 00:23:46,670 Oxycontin. And he didn't take his prescription that often, really, so he 367 00:23:46,670 --> 00:23:47,670 stockpile of pills. 368 00:23:48,250 --> 00:23:54,150 And I would, you know, take them. You would dip into it without him knowing? 369 00:23:54,470 --> 00:23:56,550 It took him about two years to realize. 370 00:23:57,260 --> 00:23:59,540 You know, I really was addicted by the time I was 16. 371 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:02,180 Yeah. I didn't understand. 372 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:07,560 Like, I had seen, you know, movies about heroin, you know, like people getting 373 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:08,560 sick. 374 00:24:09,340 --> 00:24:13,220 And I didn't understand that it was the same thing. 375 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:17,640 You thought because it's a pill from a doctor, it can't be that bad. And you 376 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:20,800 know how all the commercials on television for... 377 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:24,520 All the big pharmaceutical companies, antidepressants and pills for this, 378 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:26,980 for that, you know. How did it progress from there? 379 00:24:27,300 --> 00:24:29,520 I started experimenting with heroin too. 380 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:32,620 Because at that time they were starting to close the doctors down. 381 00:24:32,900 --> 00:24:39,180 Started to drive drug dealers around, trafficking drugs back and forth to say 382 00:24:39,180 --> 00:24:40,139 hi. 383 00:24:40,140 --> 00:24:44,760 I would get paid in crack and heroin to drive and I could have ended up, you 384 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:46,540 know, doing 10 years in prison. 385 00:24:46,940 --> 00:24:50,060 So when did you sort of stop abusing drugs? 386 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:55,080 When me and her got serious, when she found out she was pregnant. 387 00:24:56,660 --> 00:25:00,360 That's been a motivator for you to sort yourself out. It's been a life changer. 388 00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:03,480 So where do you keep your subutext? 389 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:09,620 Usually just in the bathroom, but if I have certain people coming over, I hide 390 00:25:09,620 --> 00:25:12,900 them. There are people who will steal them from me. For real? Yeah. 391 00:25:13,140 --> 00:25:15,620 Why? Because they're addicted to them too. 392 00:25:16,330 --> 00:25:18,210 You take one of those in the morning. 393 00:25:18,430 --> 00:25:19,409 One in the morning. 394 00:25:19,410 --> 00:25:20,410 And one in the evening. 395 00:25:21,010 --> 00:25:26,450 And really at this stage, that's all your addiction is. 396 00:25:26,730 --> 00:25:30,990 Yeah. And would the aim be to taper off that at some point? 397 00:25:31,270 --> 00:25:32,270 Yeah. Yeah. 398 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:48,740 I was back with Catilia. 399 00:25:50,860 --> 00:25:54,760 She'd suggested we visit the house she grew up in and the great -uncle who 400 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:55,760 raised her. 401 00:25:56,800 --> 00:26:00,400 I'd been thinking about her and the strangeness of her relationship with 402 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:03,700 I was hoping the trip might be a chance to talk. 403 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:05,360 I'm actually really excited. 404 00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:10,560 This is the first time that I've been able to be home since I've been with Al. 405 00:26:10,820 --> 00:26:11,699 Are you serious? 406 00:26:11,700 --> 00:26:12,700 Yeah. 407 00:26:13,390 --> 00:26:17,130 The impression I had the other day was that it was almost like he'd almost 408 00:26:17,130 --> 00:26:21,710 holding you hostage using the drug. 409 00:26:22,670 --> 00:26:25,630 Actually, I used to be scared. I used to be scared of him. 410 00:26:27,030 --> 00:26:28,230 Aren't you scared now? 411 00:26:29,450 --> 00:26:36,250 I'm scared. I'm not scared of him as much as I'm scared of what he's 412 00:26:36,250 --> 00:26:41,110 capable of doing whenever he gets angry or gets in one of those bad moods. 413 00:26:42,550 --> 00:26:43,730 Yeah, this is Al. 414 00:26:46,070 --> 00:26:50,350 Cotilia's great -uncle lives an hour outside Huntington in Wayne County, West 415 00:26:50,350 --> 00:26:51,350 Virginia. 416 00:26:51,790 --> 00:26:53,550 It's kind of idyllic, isn't it? 417 00:26:54,170 --> 00:26:57,310 He's the retired owner of an oil well drilling company. 418 00:26:57,710 --> 00:26:58,770 Louis. Louis? 419 00:26:59,010 --> 00:26:59,989 Yes. Mike. 420 00:26:59,990 --> 00:27:01,710 Mike, nice to meet you. Mike Davis. 421 00:27:02,010 --> 00:27:02,869 Can we come in? 422 00:27:02,870 --> 00:27:04,470 Mm -hm, yeah. Thanks for having us. 423 00:27:05,330 --> 00:27:08,870 You're actually Cotilia's great -uncle by blood. That's right. That's correct. 424 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:13,800 But she calls you Dad, and you raised her. 425 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:18,680 Right. We raised her from the time that she was 15 months old. 426 00:27:18,980 --> 00:27:21,040 What was Cotilia like growing up? 427 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:23,980 Well, she was a happy child. 428 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:27,340 We went on trips, we went camping. 429 00:27:27,580 --> 00:27:31,860 She used to be handy around the place and liked helping out? Oh, yeah, yeah. I 430 00:27:31,860 --> 00:27:34,900 would let her drive bulldozers and things like that. 431 00:27:35,340 --> 00:27:38,720 Cotilia seems to me to have lots of potential. 432 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:40,159 She has. 433 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:45,760 And that she would be someone who, if she put her mind to it, could, you know. 434 00:27:45,900 --> 00:27:46,920 She's very intelligent. 435 00:27:47,360 --> 00:27:48,259 Do what she wanted. 436 00:27:48,260 --> 00:27:50,300 Yeah. So why did she get caught up? 437 00:27:50,580 --> 00:27:57,440 Well, she got caught up because of basically back when we 438 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:03,480 was, when my wife got sick and I was spending so much time in the hospital 439 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,160 with her, with my wife. 440 00:28:06,540 --> 00:28:11,140 and could tell you basically had too much freedom to do as she pleased. 441 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:14,680 Maybe I've been an enabler. 442 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:20,400 In a lot of ways, that's why I blame myself for that. I've been an enabler. 443 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:27,120 And right now, she's at a point that she depends on. 444 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:29,480 I can tell you if I'm telling this wrong. 445 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:34,000 I'm not making you feel bad. 446 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:36,700 You're okay, Dad. I'm just telling you what I think. 447 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:41,300 I just don't want you to blame yourself. I feel like you had any part or any 448 00:28:41,300 --> 00:28:45,980 reason of me picking up a needle. 449 00:28:47,100 --> 00:28:51,280 I'll see that as that you would love me to death. 450 00:28:53,100 --> 00:28:56,020 I'd rather say it like that than I would say enabling. 451 00:29:03,820 --> 00:29:05,860 You said that you thought you might have enabled. 452 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:08,060 I had enabled her. 453 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:15,760 After she got already on drugs, she'd come to me and say, Dad, can I have 50 454 00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:16,760 bucks? 455 00:29:17,020 --> 00:29:20,120 And she'd say, I want to go down there and buy me some shoes. 456 00:29:21,060 --> 00:29:23,260 Instead of buying shoes, she'd buy drugs. 457 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:28,300 The whole situation must have caused you a lot of stress and anxiety. 458 00:29:29,180 --> 00:29:32,580 A lot of times I go to bed and I think, well, am I going to get a phone call 459 00:29:32,580 --> 00:29:33,580 that she's dead? 460 00:29:35,700 --> 00:29:39,180 But you gradually learn to live with that, you know. 461 00:29:47,460 --> 00:29:49,940 Do you have rules for her when she's here? 462 00:29:50,660 --> 00:29:51,660 Oh, yeah. 463 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:54,840 But, hey. 464 00:29:56,100 --> 00:29:59,100 Rule don't count if you break the rules or if you sneak. 465 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:04,640 Does he not realize when you're doing heroin? Would he be upset? 466 00:30:05,020 --> 00:30:06,340 Yeah, yeah. 467 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:12,800 Actually, one of the rules is to keep any drugs or paraphernalia out of the 468 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:13,800 house. 469 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:16,440 But you can sort of run rings around him. 470 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:19,200 Yeah. 471 00:30:19,900 --> 00:30:24,060 He's going to give me the money today to get a vehicle or money to put on a 472 00:30:24,060 --> 00:30:25,440 vehicle. He is? 473 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:27,620 Today? How much? 474 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,380 It's $800 to go towards a used vehicle. 475 00:30:33,700 --> 00:30:35,720 You'll just spend it on dope, though, won't you? 476 00:30:36,060 --> 00:30:40,420 I mean, I'm kind of looking at it as I'm wanting to, I really want to get a 477 00:30:40,420 --> 00:30:42,820 vehicle, but I really do want to buy drugs with it. 478 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:44,200 I do. 479 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:49,660 But I can have so much more with a vehicle. 480 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:55,400 He said, no, don't spend it. Don't waste it. 481 00:30:56,020 --> 00:30:57,420 But God help you if you do. 482 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:05,080 And I told him to not worry, that I really didn't have to spend money like 483 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:06,080 anymore. 484 00:31:06,380 --> 00:31:11,140 Things were a little bit easier on that aspect, and I should get a vehicle. 485 00:31:12,380 --> 00:31:14,680 I made him a promise, and I hate to break promises. 486 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:18,640 All right, so I'll say bye -bye. 487 00:31:20,170 --> 00:31:21,230 Everybody take care. 488 00:31:21,430 --> 00:31:22,650 God bless y 'all. 489 00:31:23,310 --> 00:31:24,310 You okay? 490 00:31:24,470 --> 00:31:25,470 Yeah. 491 00:31:37,650 --> 00:31:38,650 What's the matter? 492 00:31:40,950 --> 00:31:43,610 I'm just hurt believing. 493 00:31:48,430 --> 00:31:55,370 Go back into town to... ..a place that I'm 494 00:31:55,370 --> 00:31:56,790 not as happy as I am here. 495 00:32:01,030 --> 00:32:07,970 I just can't break the chain long enough to stay here and... I don't know, 496 00:32:08,050 --> 00:32:08,989 I can't talk right now. 497 00:32:08,990 --> 00:32:09,990 I've got to take a seat. 498 00:32:14,010 --> 00:32:19,010 Leaving Mike's farm, I began to suspect that Bucatilia, The main point of our 499 00:32:19,010 --> 00:32:21,270 visit had been to get money from her great uncle. 500 00:32:23,430 --> 00:32:28,050 I felt torn, seeing her evident love for him, but also the way her dependency 501 00:32:28,050 --> 00:32:29,870 was causing her to deceive him. 502 00:32:38,830 --> 00:32:40,990 I just want to be okay right now. 503 00:32:41,550 --> 00:32:45,070 So I just go around this little circle, round and round. 504 00:32:45,330 --> 00:32:46,610 I'm trying to get here. 505 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:48,700 I'm constantly going back there. 506 00:32:49,300 --> 00:32:54,260 Heroin addiction is notoriously tenacious and treatment very difficult. 507 00:32:55,680 --> 00:33:00,240 In the wake of the epidemic, the city has opened rehab centres, but there are 508 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:01,480 long waiting lists for beds. 509 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:06,160 One of the biggest facilities is Recovery Point. 510 00:33:06,740 --> 00:33:11,240 It offers 11 months of residential treatment structured with military 511 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:12,240 discipline. 512 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:16,040 God, grant us a serenity. 513 00:33:16,620 --> 00:33:22,020 to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, 514 00:33:22,220 --> 00:33:24,320 and the wisdom to know the difference. 515 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:29,460 Less than 10 % of its intake make it to the end of the program. 516 00:33:30,700 --> 00:33:34,780 Among its small cohort of successful graduates is Mickey. 517 00:33:37,220 --> 00:33:38,660 How long have you been clean? 518 00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:41,300 November of last year, I picked up my one -year coin. 519 00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:44,020 One year of sobriety? One year of sobriety. 520 00:33:46,570 --> 00:33:47,570 How'd that feel? 521 00:33:48,190 --> 00:33:50,630 Like I never thought in a million years I could do that. 522 00:33:51,450 --> 00:33:54,150 Where were you? What was the little sequence of events? 523 00:33:54,650 --> 00:33:58,490 I was at my apartment on the West End down there, man. I overdosed again. 524 00:33:58,970 --> 00:34:01,070 How many times have you overdosed? 525 00:34:01,270 --> 00:34:02,790 I don't know. Somewhere up towards 100. 526 00:34:03,530 --> 00:34:04,449 Come on. 527 00:34:04,450 --> 00:34:05,830 I'm not kidding, dude. 528 00:34:06,410 --> 00:34:07,510 You were hospitalized? 529 00:34:07,910 --> 00:34:09,270 Like 10 times over it, yeah. 530 00:34:09,530 --> 00:34:11,909 I woke up with hoses down my throat. 531 00:34:12,110 --> 00:34:13,110 I had my stomach pumped. 532 00:34:13,630 --> 00:34:15,670 And then on the last time, what was different? 533 00:34:16,900 --> 00:34:21,120 It got to the point that any more than a couple hours, I was already starting to 534 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:24,139 shake. I couldn't even pass out because my body wouldn't allow me to sleep 535 00:34:24,139 --> 00:34:25,820 without craving alcohol and drugs. 536 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:29,840 And I just had enough, man. 537 00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:35,440 Called and got help, and I told my wife, bye. I said, I hope to see you again. 538 00:34:35,500 --> 00:34:36,800 If I see you again, we'll get married. 539 00:34:37,639 --> 00:34:41,360 If it's meant for us to be together, then we'll be together. If it ain't, 540 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:43,620 love you, and thanks for everything. 541 00:34:44,600 --> 00:34:48,360 I've got to save my life, so I had to leave. Was she using at the time? Yeah, 542 00:34:48,420 --> 00:34:49,880 she was using right along with me. 543 00:34:50,860 --> 00:34:52,480 And she said the same thing to me. 544 00:34:55,100 --> 00:35:00,020 We are talking mainly to people who are active in their addiction, okay? 545 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:01,320 Right. 546 00:35:01,900 --> 00:35:06,660 Who are in many ways similar, very similar to the person you're describing 547 00:35:06,660 --> 00:35:07,359 you were. 548 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:08,360 Yeah. 549 00:35:09,460 --> 00:35:12,560 But recovery seems so out of reach for them. 550 00:35:13,290 --> 00:35:20,250 So what I'm wondering is whether there's anything you can say that 551 00:35:20,250 --> 00:35:24,090 would explain how someone makes that leap. 552 00:35:25,210 --> 00:35:31,330 When the pain of change becomes less than the pain of staying the same, then 553 00:35:31,330 --> 00:35:32,330 you'll change. 554 00:35:33,090 --> 00:35:37,790 But if they're locked into a physical state in which, you know, it's like 555 00:35:37,790 --> 00:35:38,990 telling them they have to... 556 00:35:39,370 --> 00:35:43,010 crawl across broken glass to get to what they needed. It's damn right I'd crawl 557 00:35:43,010 --> 00:35:44,070 across that broken glass. 558 00:35:44,610 --> 00:35:45,650 I wouldn't hesitate. 559 00:35:48,250 --> 00:35:52,130 I feel like life's going the way it's supposed to, man. I got a full -time 560 00:35:52,430 --> 00:35:53,610 I pay my bills. 561 00:35:53,850 --> 00:35:58,590 I got my kids back in my life. I got family that cares now. 562 00:35:59,370 --> 00:36:00,470 It's amazing, man. 563 00:36:11,549 --> 00:36:15,790 May I come in? For sure, man. Should I take my shoes off? No, no, no. You're 564 00:36:15,790 --> 00:36:19,650 more than welcome, man. For sure. I was with a friend of Mickey's called Nate 565 00:36:19,650 --> 00:36:20,650 Walsh. 566 00:36:21,710 --> 00:36:24,530 You've got quite a bit of space in here. Quite a bit of space, yeah. 567 00:36:24,750 --> 00:36:25,609 It's tight. 568 00:36:25,610 --> 00:36:28,350 And you've got your glass coffee table. 569 00:36:28,550 --> 00:36:29,550 Yeah, you like that. 570 00:36:29,610 --> 00:36:34,750 A three -year veteran of the riverbank, he was also a dealer and something of a 571 00:36:34,750 --> 00:36:35,950 connoisseur of heroin. 572 00:36:36,850 --> 00:36:40,370 I've definitely got some dope. I got the best dope in the city. Best dope in the 573 00:36:40,370 --> 00:36:41,370 tri -state. 574 00:36:41,870 --> 00:36:44,190 That right there is that fire. 575 00:36:44,530 --> 00:36:45,530 You know what I'm saying? 576 00:36:45,590 --> 00:36:49,850 Wow. See how it's kind of pink? Like it's pinkish looking. Yeah, tiny bit. 577 00:36:49,850 --> 00:36:50,769 pinky gray. 578 00:36:50,770 --> 00:36:53,470 Because it's not straight heroin. It's fentanyl. 579 00:36:54,250 --> 00:36:56,850 Because I've heard you can OD on that. Oh, yeah. 580 00:36:57,050 --> 00:36:57,868 Fuck yeah. 581 00:36:57,870 --> 00:37:00,850 If I did that right there by myself, dude, I would drop dead. 582 00:37:01,350 --> 00:37:04,910 You know what I mean? And I do. I have a tolerance higher than most people in 583 00:37:04,910 --> 00:37:05,910 the town. 584 00:37:06,010 --> 00:37:11,030 Did you, you know, a lot of people migrate from dabbling with pain pills, 585 00:37:11,270 --> 00:37:13,650 That's what happened to me. I mean, it happens to everybody. 586 00:37:13,910 --> 00:37:16,410 That's what happens to... Go on, how did it work in your case? 587 00:37:16,690 --> 00:37:20,490 I got hit by a car, and that almost killed me. 588 00:37:20,710 --> 00:37:21,710 How old were you? 589 00:37:22,130 --> 00:37:24,430 It happened September 26th of 2010. 590 00:37:25,410 --> 00:37:27,850 So this is seven years ago. You were about 26? 591 00:37:28,850 --> 00:37:29,850 Yeah, exactly. 592 00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:34,860 The first time that I took them tabs, I mean, fuck, I ate like 10 of them. You 593 00:37:34,860 --> 00:37:36,640 know what I mean? And it rocked my world. 594 00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:41,740 I don't know. I mean, I wouldn't like go back in the day and like, you know, 595 00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:44,260 become a heroin junkie, you know, as soon as possible. 596 00:37:44,500 --> 00:37:50,260 But I mean, it's not as bad as I made it out to be and how I felt about it back 597 00:37:50,260 --> 00:37:51,340 then. You know what I'm saying? 598 00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:54,880 You're almost, that's kind of interesting and paradoxical. A lot of 599 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:57,740 heroin say they want to get off it and they loathe the addiction. I had a wrong 600 00:37:57,740 --> 00:38:01,660 opinion about it. But I feel like you seem to be, you seem to have made your 601 00:38:01,660 --> 00:38:04,920 peace with having a dependency on heroin. 602 00:38:05,140 --> 00:38:10,180 Because I'm different from your average junkie in the street. You know what I'm 603 00:38:10,180 --> 00:38:15,680 saying? I don't spend most of my time dope sick and broke and robbing 604 00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:18,940 motherfuckers and struggling to get my fix on. You know what I mean? 605 00:38:19,530 --> 00:38:24,510 I spend more of my days just fucking high and making money and just 606 00:38:24,510 --> 00:38:30,330 and fine with it, you know what I mean? Then I don't, you know what I'm saying? 607 00:38:30,610 --> 00:38:31,750 Have you ever done rehab? 608 00:38:32,450 --> 00:38:36,310 No, I haven't, because why would I? 609 00:38:37,050 --> 00:38:40,710 You got the air of someone who had opportunities growing up. 610 00:38:42,690 --> 00:38:46,270 But yeah, I mean, it's kind of like how it all fell into place, though, is 611 00:38:46,270 --> 00:38:52,260 because... I had a baby with this girl over in Ohio, 612 00:38:52,580 --> 00:38:57,580 and she ended up snatching my kid up and taking off and leaving with him and 613 00:38:57,580 --> 00:39:00,500 disappearing. At the time, I had a nice job welding. 614 00:39:00,900 --> 00:39:02,320 How many children have you got? 615 00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:03,640 I got the one. 616 00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:04,680 Just got one. 617 00:39:04,720 --> 00:39:08,540 How old? It's a boy, did you say? Little boy, yeah. How old is he now? He will 618 00:39:08,540 --> 00:39:10,100 be 12 on the 4th of July. 619 00:39:11,380 --> 00:39:14,460 And do you see much of him? 620 00:39:15,440 --> 00:39:20,500 Not. Really, but I do see him every now and then. I don't want to be judgmental, 621 00:39:20,500 --> 00:39:23,440 but what's stopping you from being more involved, would you say? 622 00:39:25,580 --> 00:39:29,820 That's definitely the heroin and the dope and all that shit like that. 623 00:39:30,700 --> 00:39:35,740 I've missed so much of my son's life when he was really young because, I 624 00:39:35,740 --> 00:39:39,520 definitely wanted to be there. I mean, I loved my son. I mean, fuck, I enjoyed 625 00:39:39,520 --> 00:39:44,440 having my kid, you know, and when she took off like the way she did. 626 00:39:45,180 --> 00:39:48,500 It fucked me up, man. Like, I was tore up about that. 627 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:52,040 I've got to do this dope, bro. I mean, you're killing me, bro. Oh, yeah, yeah. 628 00:39:52,060 --> 00:39:53,060 Go ahead. I'm sorry. 629 00:39:53,980 --> 00:39:57,500 I mean, when I... Why are you putting it in that gap? 630 00:39:58,120 --> 00:39:59,540 That's where I shoot. 631 00:39:59,900 --> 00:40:03,280 You've got like a... It looks like that because that's the only spot I've been 632 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:04,280 using for a long time. 633 00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:09,060 Yeah, that's that. 634 00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:12,020 Anyways. How do you feel now? 635 00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:17,280 I feel exactly the same, bro. It hadn't even pumped through my veins yet. I 636 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:20,420 mean, it takes a second to get there, you know what I mean? 637 00:40:22,140 --> 00:40:26,380 I can start to feel it now, a little tiny bit. I know it's coming. I got that 638 00:40:26,380 --> 00:40:29,440 feeling of anticipation because I know it's coming. 639 00:40:29,700 --> 00:40:33,420 I mean, you know, I love it. I mean, it's hard to explain. 640 00:40:33,780 --> 00:40:35,960 What could you compare it to? 641 00:40:37,740 --> 00:40:39,700 I don't know. I'm starting to feel it now. 642 00:40:42,380 --> 00:40:48,820 It's kind of like a stick of dynamite that's just going to do 643 00:40:48,820 --> 00:40:53,000 absolutely nothing in the world except make you feel as good as you can 644 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:59,880 feel. And you light that fuse and you see the fuse burning and you know 645 00:40:59,880 --> 00:41:03,540 any second it's going to fucking blow your mind. You know what I mean? 646 00:41:04,660 --> 00:41:08,440 It's a good thing, man. It's not bad, you know what I mean? Like, that's what 647 00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:12,220 say. I mean, why would I want to go to rehab and why would I want to get 648 00:41:12,220 --> 00:41:18,420 straight and clean my life up and shit? Because I enjoy it too much, man. Like, 649 00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:20,380 who wouldn't, you know? 650 00:41:40,509 --> 00:41:43,530 How much would you say is the street value of that heroin? 651 00:41:43,830 --> 00:41:46,250 About 3 ,000 possibly, and the heroin maybe more. 652 00:41:46,630 --> 00:41:48,570 But you can see how much money's there. 653 00:41:49,290 --> 00:41:52,690 We're seeing so much dope that to us, that's not that big a deal. 654 00:41:52,990 --> 00:41:54,650 I mean, that's how bad our problem is. 655 00:41:57,170 --> 00:42:03,470 By now, I was several weeks into my stay, and throughout the city, the 656 00:42:03,470 --> 00:42:05,870 of heroin were apparent on a daily basis. 657 00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:19,620 Riding on the back of the over -prescription of painkillers, heroin has 658 00:42:19,620 --> 00:42:23,760 the heart out of Huntington, destroying lives indiscriminately. 659 00:42:24,680 --> 00:42:28,500 While the overstretched city workers do their best to turn the tide. 660 00:42:31,940 --> 00:42:38,560 Do you have a problem with 661 00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:39,660 opiates or heroin? 662 00:42:40,220 --> 00:42:41,340 Yeah, I struggled with it. 663 00:42:41,720 --> 00:42:42,720 Yeah. 664 00:42:43,020 --> 00:42:47,580 Like a contagion, it has left almost no one's life untouched. 665 00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:09,040 Hello. Hi. Can I come in? Yeah, sure. 666 00:43:10,350 --> 00:43:11,710 I was with Alicia Phillips. 667 00:43:13,790 --> 00:43:18,870 She'd had her baby, but Ronnie, her other half, was back in prison on an old 668 00:43:18,870 --> 00:43:21,570 warrant and she'd had to move in with her father, Pete. 669 00:43:22,030 --> 00:43:24,170 How was the birth? 670 00:43:25,090 --> 00:43:26,170 I had a C -section. 671 00:43:26,570 --> 00:43:30,530 I mean, it wasn't bad. They had me kind of restrained a little bit. 672 00:43:30,790 --> 00:43:31,790 He's called Archer. 673 00:43:32,090 --> 00:43:35,110 Archer, David, Ivan, Roe. 674 00:43:35,490 --> 00:43:36,750 But he's not home yet. 675 00:43:37,030 --> 00:43:39,630 No. And he's ten days old. So what's going on? 676 00:43:40,090 --> 00:43:44,890 So they watch them for a minimum of seven days anyway. 677 00:43:45,150 --> 00:43:46,170 He's on methadone. 678 00:43:47,050 --> 00:43:53,490 So at the moment, he's going through a tricky phase of basically kind of 679 00:43:53,490 --> 00:43:54,990 himself off the methadone. 680 00:43:55,190 --> 00:44:02,050 He's getting diarrhea, mottling, just like red skin, excessive sucking, 681 00:44:02,350 --> 00:44:06,510 sneezing. You've met Archer, have you, Pete? Oh, yeah. He got to hold Archer 682 00:44:06,510 --> 00:44:07,468 before I did. 683 00:44:07,470 --> 00:44:08,990 Yeah, I handed him right to me. 684 00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:13,320 Came out, I was the one that went in, wasn't I? No, because Ronnie couldn't be 685 00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:14,320 there. Right. 686 00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:19,500 When did you first become aware there was a problem? 687 00:44:19,900 --> 00:44:24,480 You know, I didn't know exactly what she was doing, but I did know that things 688 00:44:24,480 --> 00:44:26,960 were disappearing from the house and getting hocked. 689 00:44:27,320 --> 00:44:28,340 What was going missing? 690 00:44:29,300 --> 00:44:31,360 Guns, anything that she could hock. 691 00:44:32,420 --> 00:44:33,940 So your attitude was? 692 00:44:35,980 --> 00:44:36,980 Hit the door. 693 00:44:38,960 --> 00:44:41,360 Because, I mean, you could see she was in trouble. 694 00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:45,800 You didn't want to. What was your thinking? I mean, it's a big decision. 695 00:44:46,100 --> 00:44:51,260 There's nothing that you can do to help them more than stop. 696 00:44:52,340 --> 00:44:53,340 What's the word? 697 00:44:53,520 --> 00:44:54,459 Tough love. 698 00:44:54,460 --> 00:44:55,460 Tough love, yeah. 699 00:44:56,020 --> 00:45:00,680 One of the last things we had to do was go through an intervention. 700 00:45:00,920 --> 00:45:02,440 I had to write her a letter. 701 00:45:02,800 --> 00:45:03,800 That was awful. 702 00:45:03,900 --> 00:45:04,900 Yeah, it was awful. 703 00:45:06,440 --> 00:45:07,440 Saying what? 704 00:45:20,140 --> 00:45:22,000 It was a bad day. 705 00:45:22,660 --> 00:45:29,600 Just saying, like, how, you know, bad I had hurt him over the years and stuff. 706 00:45:35,780 --> 00:45:41,080 It hurts you thinking about the stress and all the anxiety and anguish you went 707 00:45:41,080 --> 00:45:43,260 through. Oh, yeah, and her. 708 00:45:43,760 --> 00:45:46,360 You know, couldn't do anything with her. 709 00:45:47,880 --> 00:45:52,640 Do you have a sense of what it was that made her vulnerable to this? 710 00:45:55,720 --> 00:45:56,780 Not really. 711 00:46:00,980 --> 00:46:05,980 The frightening truth at the heart of Huntington's epidemic may be that anyone 712 00:46:05,980 --> 00:46:07,300 can get caught up. 713 00:46:09,340 --> 00:46:12,260 One bad choice can wreck a life. 714 00:46:14,200 --> 00:46:15,240 Hey, Alvin. 715 00:46:16,720 --> 00:46:22,960 With Cotillia, her early promise had been overtaken by a litany of crimes and 716 00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:27,120 glaring gulf between what she might have achieved and the harsh reality. 717 00:46:28,300 --> 00:46:31,080 We finally got to do some good stuff. 718 00:46:33,220 --> 00:46:37,520 And today's needle exchange day, some fresh needles and good dope. We're doing 719 00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:38,520 good. 720 00:46:39,680 --> 00:46:41,080 Oh, well, hi, Dad. 721 00:46:41,340 --> 00:46:42,279 How are you doing? 722 00:46:42,280 --> 00:46:43,280 Dad, how are you? 723 00:46:44,240 --> 00:46:46,860 We were on an outing to Huntington's Needle Exchange. 724 00:46:48,200 --> 00:46:52,320 I couldn't help noticing that despite the cash gift from Cotilia's great 725 00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:57,240 there was no sign of a new vehicle, and Petty Betty's car had gone AWOL. 726 00:46:57,900 --> 00:46:59,580 This time, I was driving. 727 00:47:01,100 --> 00:47:05,420 In messages, Cotilia had continued to allege that Alvin was abusing her 728 00:47:05,420 --> 00:47:08,460 physically, and that she only stayed with him because of her addiction. 729 00:47:10,160 --> 00:47:13,300 She'd given me permission to raise the issue with them both. 730 00:47:13,840 --> 00:47:15,020 You were a couple, right? 731 00:47:15,420 --> 00:47:20,700 Yes, sir. And would you say, like, you're in a good spot as a couple? 732 00:47:21,960 --> 00:47:24,040 Yeah. You can have your ways. 733 00:47:24,940 --> 00:47:27,320 But for the most part, pretty much, yeah. 734 00:47:28,100 --> 00:47:29,580 Life happens. Ain't nobody perfect. 735 00:47:30,760 --> 00:47:32,520 Did you break Atelier's nose? 736 00:47:33,100 --> 00:47:34,100 No. 737 00:47:34,300 --> 00:47:35,440 She said you did. 738 00:47:35,740 --> 00:47:36,740 I didn't break your nose. 739 00:47:37,640 --> 00:47:38,640 Your nose been broke? 740 00:47:40,600 --> 00:47:41,680 Your nose been broke? 741 00:47:42,420 --> 00:47:43,420 Has it been broke? 742 00:47:44,460 --> 00:47:45,800 It hasn't. 743 00:47:46,860 --> 00:47:50,400 Now, put that on camera. Now, put that one on camera. 744 00:47:50,720 --> 00:47:54,440 I wasn't talking about the fight at Diaz. You wasn't talking about the 745 00:47:54,480 --> 00:47:55,480 You're lying. Stop lying. 746 00:47:56,320 --> 00:47:57,880 Your nose ain't getting broke by me. 747 00:47:59,780 --> 00:48:01,300 Everything ain't what you read in the book. 748 00:48:02,020 --> 00:48:03,620 If it was all that, why be here? 749 00:48:04,140 --> 00:48:05,140 You ain't no prisoner. 750 00:48:05,660 --> 00:48:06,800 You ain't hell captor. 751 00:48:07,300 --> 00:48:11,540 From my perspective, there's never a good reason to be physical. 752 00:48:12,460 --> 00:48:13,460 It's not a good reason. 753 00:48:13,700 --> 00:48:14,740 It's not a good reason. 754 00:48:15,200 --> 00:48:17,880 You don't just wake up in the morning and say, I'm going to haul it off and 755 00:48:17,880 --> 00:48:18,940 something. Nobody does that. 756 00:48:19,160 --> 00:48:22,180 You can't do that. There ain't no way of thinking at all. You can't do that. 757 00:48:22,280 --> 00:48:23,280 That's what you were talking about last night. 758 00:48:23,420 --> 00:48:24,500 I ain't talking about nothing. 759 00:48:24,820 --> 00:48:26,080 You came around, you and me. 760 00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:27,760 Okay? Yeah. 761 00:48:29,600 --> 00:48:32,680 You went to hospital while we were away? Yes, I did. 762 00:48:32,880 --> 00:48:33,880 Why? 763 00:48:34,340 --> 00:48:39,840 Well, there was another, me and Al got in another argument. 764 00:48:41,370 --> 00:48:46,490 I was wanting to leave. I'd had my bags packed, and he said some really mean 765 00:48:46,490 --> 00:48:50,930 things. But I pushed the grill over, his barbecue grill. It's something, though, 766 00:48:50,930 --> 00:48:53,790 to him that means a lot. He likes to grill and cook. 767 00:48:55,310 --> 00:49:01,730 And after he's seen that I've done that, he pushed me and kind of slammed me. 768 00:49:02,530 --> 00:49:08,230 He didn't intend for my back to break, but it did. 769 00:49:11,070 --> 00:49:13,830 You know, with as much as being in a car accident. 770 00:49:14,930 --> 00:49:17,110 Are you aiming to leave the relationship? 771 00:49:17,630 --> 00:49:19,210 I don't see myself. 772 00:49:20,170 --> 00:49:21,690 It really is not helping. 773 00:49:22,770 --> 00:49:25,890 But, of course, now I have to say I'm happy and think it's okay for me to 774 00:49:25,890 --> 00:49:29,710 continue to get my dust. Because if I don't, then I'll be back on the street 775 00:49:29,710 --> 00:49:35,610 doing things that I probably this time wouldn't make it alive. 776 00:49:37,060 --> 00:49:38,940 What's stopping you from getting clean? 777 00:49:39,260 --> 00:49:46,040 I'm complacent right now. I'm comfortable with being able to not have 778 00:49:46,040 --> 00:49:49,620 steal or trick or do anything for drugs, and it's just right there. 779 00:49:50,620 --> 00:49:51,760 So 158? 780 00:49:52,240 --> 00:49:54,780 How are you? I'm good. Let me borrow your paper. 781 00:49:55,040 --> 00:49:58,300 So you got any needles for me? Oh, yeah, definitely. Definitely do. 782 00:49:59,400 --> 00:50:03,220 So I'm going to get you some spoons. They're not sharing anything with 783 00:50:03,380 --> 00:50:04,380 right? 784 00:50:05,450 --> 00:50:08,430 It wasn't easy to see a way out for Cotilia. 785 00:50:09,870 --> 00:50:15,250 Fifteen years of using had left its mark on her body, but perhaps more indelibly 786 00:50:15,250 --> 00:50:18,930 on her sense of who she was and what she deserved. 787 00:50:29,610 --> 00:50:34,270 I was with Jan on another call. 788 00:50:35,120 --> 00:50:38,020 A former nurse had overdosed in a known drug house. 789 00:50:38,260 --> 00:50:39,720 Hey, Mellie, what did you take, honey? 790 00:50:40,040 --> 00:50:45,980 Nothing. No, that doesn't work. We gave you some medicine that only works if you 791 00:50:45,980 --> 00:50:46,839 took something. 792 00:50:46,840 --> 00:50:48,320 So, did you do heroin? 793 00:50:49,240 --> 00:50:50,240 Yeah. 794 00:50:50,460 --> 00:50:51,600 Did you snort it? 795 00:50:51,940 --> 00:50:53,660 No. Did you shoot it? 796 00:51:01,300 --> 00:51:02,880 It's been busy, hasn't it? 797 00:51:03,740 --> 00:51:10,560 Yes, we're on pace to be 1 ,000 runs higher in 2017 than 798 00:51:10,560 --> 00:51:16,280 we were in 2016, and the majority of it is overdose calls. 799 00:51:16,740 --> 00:51:19,560 You know, addiction exists everywhere. People are addicted to all kinds of 800 00:51:19,560 --> 00:51:24,700 things. Absolutely. Do you think if it weren't heroin and opiates, it would be 801 00:51:24,700 --> 00:51:25,700 something else? 802 00:51:25,760 --> 00:51:28,360 Maybe, but this is an unprecedented area. 803 00:51:29,150 --> 00:51:33,230 The majority of the addiction that we're dealing with now came about in a legal 804 00:51:33,230 --> 00:51:39,010 manner. You know, I think the intent of developing synthetic opiates was good, 805 00:51:39,190 --> 00:51:43,070 but it quickly turned bad. 806 00:51:43,310 --> 00:51:49,730 What do you think the pharmaceutical companies can do at this point? Do you 807 00:51:49,730 --> 00:51:50,730 think they're doing enough? 808 00:51:51,260 --> 00:51:54,620 I don't think they're doing enough. I don't think they're doing hardly 809 00:51:55,060 --> 00:52:00,880 They certainly don't seem to be willing to stretch out a hand and to help us in 810 00:52:00,880 --> 00:52:01,759 our plight. 811 00:52:01,760 --> 00:52:08,200 And that's very sad because they've made billions of dollars on this addiction. 812 00:52:17,680 --> 00:52:19,240 Even for those who are sober. 813 00:52:19,740 --> 00:52:21,800 In Huntington, life isn't always easy. 814 00:52:24,020 --> 00:52:29,320 For Mickey, less than 12 months out of rehab, his new routine revolves around 815 00:52:29,320 --> 00:52:32,240 work. Thank you. 816 00:52:32,580 --> 00:52:33,359 You're welcome. 817 00:52:33,360 --> 00:52:38,240 His charitable trips to the riverbank are like a little taste of his old life. 818 00:52:39,160 --> 00:52:40,160 Hello. 819 00:52:40,660 --> 00:52:42,500 Hello. Anybody home? 820 00:52:43,240 --> 00:52:44,240 Come on. 821 00:52:44,300 --> 00:52:46,500 Got some snacks and some goodies for y 'all. 822 00:52:46,910 --> 00:52:47,910 You want some ravioli? 823 00:52:48,050 --> 00:52:50,170 Yeah, bud. I figured you would, man. You're welcome. 824 00:52:50,850 --> 00:52:55,170 There's times in my life to this day I still miss living down here. If you'd 825 00:52:55,170 --> 00:53:01,270 unlimited money for substances, would you have quite liked to have stayed down 826 00:53:01,270 --> 00:53:05,750 here? No. Now I'm a part of something that's unimaginable that I wished every 827 00:53:05,750 --> 00:53:07,830 individual down here could get. Which is what? 828 00:53:08,110 --> 00:53:09,110 Peace of mind. 829 00:53:10,750 --> 00:53:11,970 You okay in there, Nate? 830 00:53:17,339 --> 00:53:21,300 How you doing? Huh? How you doing? I'm alright. Give me just a second. Should 831 00:53:21,300 --> 00:53:23,880 wait? Just for a minute. Okay, cool. Thank you. 832 00:53:25,500 --> 00:53:30,980 How you doing, Nate? I'm good, man. How you doing? Good. Oh, he's really good 833 00:53:30,980 --> 00:53:32,940 right now. Yeah, hell yeah. Are you high? 834 00:53:33,340 --> 00:53:34,920 I'm high as fuck, man. How are you? 835 00:53:36,820 --> 00:53:38,940 Have you got a friend in there? 836 00:53:39,220 --> 00:53:40,220 Yeah, man. 837 00:53:41,520 --> 00:53:43,580 It's not your girlfriend. 838 00:53:44,609 --> 00:53:47,070 No, she's not my girlfriend, you know what I'm saying? He don't have one of 839 00:53:47,070 --> 00:53:48,070 those. I don't have no girlfriend. 840 00:53:48,350 --> 00:53:50,970 Are you leaving, baby girl? Don't leave me. 841 00:53:51,370 --> 00:53:53,710 Y 'all go ahead. I'm going to speak to her for just one second. I've been doing 842 00:53:53,710 --> 00:53:57,450 it for two years. I don't like... I did it for 25. I don't keep myself up, you 843 00:53:57,450 --> 00:54:00,490 know what I mean? Like, I still eat, make sure I keep myself healthy. 844 00:54:00,710 --> 00:54:01,710 How old are you? 845 00:54:01,870 --> 00:54:04,650 20. I've been using you for about two years. 846 00:54:05,230 --> 00:54:06,230 And, uh, yes. 847 00:54:06,710 --> 00:54:08,970 I'm sorry. I got to go. I'm in a hurry. 848 00:54:09,930 --> 00:54:10,828 I'll be right back. 849 00:54:10,830 --> 00:54:11,830 Two seconds. 850 00:54:12,540 --> 00:54:15,660 That's not the person I was expecting to come out of there. Me neither. 851 00:54:16,140 --> 00:54:18,120 That is not what I was expecting to come out of a tent. 852 00:54:18,340 --> 00:54:20,100 She won't be looking like that very long. 853 00:54:24,680 --> 00:54:25,680 It's going to be bad. 854 00:54:25,800 --> 00:54:28,980 It's kind of sad. It's real sad. I see these girls all the time. They'll start 855 00:54:28,980 --> 00:54:30,820 on the street. You can see them. They're real pretty. 856 00:54:31,080 --> 00:54:32,080 They got all their teeth. 857 00:54:32,220 --> 00:54:35,300 Three months later, six months later, they're covered in bruises and fucking 858 00:54:35,300 --> 00:54:36,300 teeth are missing. 859 00:54:36,820 --> 00:54:37,900 Damn, she's good looking. 860 00:54:38,710 --> 00:54:41,390 I'm trying to tell her she ain't going to be very good looking very long. I was 861 00:54:41,390 --> 00:54:45,410 going to say it was kind of sad to see her in this situation in a way. 862 00:54:45,830 --> 00:54:46,749 How so? 863 00:54:46,750 --> 00:54:50,890 I think it's just absolutely amazing to see her any time in any situation. 864 00:54:51,590 --> 00:54:52,590 God. 865 00:54:52,850 --> 00:54:57,510 Because I'm assuming she's in a high -risk lifestyle from her being down 866 00:54:57,570 --> 00:55:03,870 That's why she trusts me, that I'm not going to ever, you know, try to hurt her 867 00:55:03,870 --> 00:55:06,690 in any way. You know what I mean? She puts her life in my hands. 868 00:55:07,160 --> 00:55:08,160 A lot of people do. 869 00:55:08,540 --> 00:55:09,880 You like each other, don't you? 870 00:55:10,240 --> 00:55:13,360 Absolutely. We've been good friends for a long time. Absolutely, yeah. 871 00:55:13,680 --> 00:55:17,920 And we were sort of talking about it, and you were saying, well, Nate's 872 00:55:17,920 --> 00:55:18,920 quite a happy dude. 873 00:55:19,160 --> 00:55:20,160 He's happy. 874 00:55:20,360 --> 00:55:24,680 Maybe he doesn't really maybe not even know he's miserable. That's what I was 875 00:55:24,680 --> 00:55:26,040 telling you. You think he doesn't know he's miserable. 876 00:55:26,260 --> 00:55:27,560 Maybe, is he miserable? 877 00:55:28,340 --> 00:55:29,620 In a certain way, yes. 878 00:55:30,140 --> 00:55:34,340 In what way? In the way that he's delusional. He doesn't know right now 879 00:55:34,340 --> 00:55:37,800 state of misery he's really in because he's delusional under the influence. 880 00:55:38,160 --> 00:55:42,840 I mean, he is correct about that because, I mean, like... This is not a 881 00:55:42,920 --> 00:55:43,920 bro. You know that. 882 00:55:44,080 --> 00:55:46,720 Exactly. You know what I'm saying? Like, I've had nice stuff. 883 00:55:46,940 --> 00:55:48,180 I've had a crib. 884 00:55:48,480 --> 00:55:49,920 I've had, you know... Everything. 885 00:55:50,140 --> 00:55:51,240 I've had it all. 886 00:55:51,440 --> 00:55:53,100 You know what I'm saying? And I give it all up. 887 00:55:53,360 --> 00:55:55,260 And I don't really care about anything. 888 00:55:55,680 --> 00:55:58,360 You know what I'm saying? Like, I don't even give a shit about myself no more. 889 00:55:58,440 --> 00:55:59,069 You know what I mean? 890 00:55:59,070 --> 00:56:01,410 Because getting high is important to me. And your son? 891 00:56:02,510 --> 00:56:05,510 Exactly. Like, mom and child and everything. You know what I'm saying? I 892 00:56:05,510 --> 00:56:10,630 everything on the back burner because, I mean, none of that shit even matters 893 00:56:10,630 --> 00:56:13,790 once you start getting high and letting it control your life. 894 00:56:14,050 --> 00:56:17,590 What do you think you'd be doing if you hadn't got onto those pills and then 895 00:56:17,590 --> 00:56:18,590 onto heroin? 896 00:56:18,630 --> 00:56:19,630 I don't know. 897 00:56:20,230 --> 00:56:21,230 It's hard to say, bro. 898 00:56:22,010 --> 00:56:23,910 I bet my life would be a lot better, though. 899 00:56:24,410 --> 00:56:26,290 You know? I wouldn't have fucked up. 900 00:56:28,080 --> 00:56:29,080 I mean, shit. 901 00:56:30,000 --> 00:56:31,500 Do you think you did fuck up? 902 00:56:35,640 --> 00:56:36,640 Eh. 903 00:56:37,900 --> 00:56:42,980 Yeah, but not really. Because, I mean, I didn't really have no control over it. 904 00:56:43,040 --> 00:56:47,640 The fact that a drunk driver swerves off the road and, like, hit my ass and 905 00:56:47,640 --> 00:56:52,500 knocked me in the street and all that shit, that was completely out of my 906 00:56:54,100 --> 00:56:56,200 I had to do something because I was hurting. 907 00:56:56,680 --> 00:56:58,240 I still hurt. I hurt every day. 908 00:56:58,520 --> 00:57:00,060 If I ain't got nothing, I hurt. 909 00:57:00,480 --> 00:57:01,480 It hurts bad. 910 00:57:01,920 --> 00:57:05,120 I mean, you ain't never seen me hurt, bro. 911 00:57:05,880 --> 00:57:07,320 Every time you see me, I feel good. 912 00:57:07,720 --> 00:57:10,260 Because I try to stay feeling good. You know what I mean? 913 00:57:11,160 --> 00:57:14,320 Yeah. Just remember, man, if you ever do say the word, bro. 914 00:57:14,920 --> 00:57:18,520 Oh, I already know. I mean, I can get help anytime I need it. But I have to 915 00:57:18,520 --> 00:57:20,960 welcome all that pain back into my life. 916 00:57:21,480 --> 00:57:22,960 I mean, shit. 917 00:57:25,680 --> 00:57:27,900 Just know that if I can do this, bro, you can too. 918 00:57:29,920 --> 00:57:31,380 I got you, bro. I love you. 919 00:57:41,740 --> 00:57:45,480 Huntington is just one out of the growing number of places across America 920 00:57:45,480 --> 00:57:46,980 gripped by heroin. 921 00:57:47,980 --> 00:57:52,160 The city is attempting to sue the distributors of the most abused 922 00:57:52,160 --> 00:57:54,640 opiates for tens of millions of dollars. 923 00:57:55,790 --> 00:58:01,570 In the meantime, with overdoses continuing to rise, each small victory 924 00:58:01,570 --> 00:58:05,330 dear as an uncertain omen of hope and rebirth. 925 00:58:06,350 --> 00:58:11,170 He looks like a healthy little chap, doesn't he? Yes, he is. Pretty happy 926 00:58:25,360 --> 00:58:27,220 You know what time it is. Open your eyes. 927 00:58:27,480 --> 00:58:28,480 Come on. 928 00:58:29,680 --> 00:58:30,700 Take that from me. 929 00:58:31,980 --> 00:58:32,980 Come on.