All language subtitles for Louis.Theroux.Dark.States.S01E01.Heroin.Town.1080p.WEBRip.x264-CBFM[EZTVx.to]

So your grandparents are at church now?
Mm -hmm. So they don't know we're here?

No.

No. And they don't know you're using?

No. That's weird, isn't it? It's super
weird. Nobody knows.

How did you get started?

Well, I was in a car accident, and I
broke my neck, so I kept having all this

pain, and I was going to doctors, and
they just kept handing me pain pills,

literally throwing them down my throat.
How did that lead to you being addicted

to heroin?

I told the doctor. I said, look.

I'm addicted to these, 100%, no doubt
about it. I'm sick, I'm puking, I can't

anything. You've got to help me. The
doctor cut me off cold turkey.

He says, I don't know what to tell you.

Have a great day.

Shut the door and walked out.

In Huntington, West Virginia, I was
spending time with heroin users.

I've heard you can OD on that.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

If I did that right there by myself,
dude, I would drop.

The city's been swept up in the most
deadly drug epidemic in US history.

And for several weeks, I've been trying
to get to grips with why.

You responded to Brenda's call?

Yeah, we did. And you found Brenda,
what, OD'd?

I just want to say thank you.

And not all of us want to be like this.

Honestly, at this point, as far as this
addiction has gone and to lying to my

family about having a job and going to
meetings and doing this and that, I'm

exhausted.

I'm tired.

I'm really tired.

Really tired.

Huntington lies at the intersection of
West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky, an

known as Tri -State.

Once home to factories and steel mills,
it is now a hub for heroin use.

Through the city's needle exchange, I'd
made contact with

25 -year -old Catilia and her boyfriend
Alvin.

You okay, Cotilia?

Yeah, I'm fine.

I just need to go to the restroom real
quick.

I don't want to sound paranoid, but is
she shooting up in there?

No, I don't think she's shooting up.

You okay?

Yeah, I'm fine. Did you ask if I was
shooting? Yeah, she's shooting.

Are you doing it now?

Yeah. Yeah, it's not, it's not. It's
just, it's like a rant.

I've already done my morning shot. It's
something that kind of has a little bit

of something in it that will kind of
relax me.

Do you use as well, Alvin?

No, I don't use.

Not at all?

That's why it's so difficult to be with
somebody that has an addiction, because

you always, you love them, but you don't
want, it's like a tool of evil, you

know what I'm saying?

You love them, but you wish they'd get
off, but it's hard.

You would rather Cotilia was not using?

Yes, absolutely.

How many times do you shoot up a day,
then? I mean, it's at least six, seven.

in a day, how much would you typically
say, what money value would you be

I can give at least $150 to $200.

Does that sound right to you, Cotilia?

Oh, yeah. Actually, that's probably
less.

That's actually the minimum.

Are you able to keep down a job,
Cotilia?

No. No, I've never been able to get a
job.

Have you ever? You've never had a job?
I've had jobs, yeah. What kind of work

have you done?

Jobs that take taxes has been just fast
food.

I've stripped.

I have tricked.

I have robbed.

Tricked is prostituted. Yes. Do you
still do that?

I don't. Not since I've been without.

Because he's providing?

Since we've been around each other, I've
been able to find better quality of the

drug, too, to where I can not use as
much.

So did I understand, Ketelia, to mean
that you've been able to hook her up

better quality product?

Yeah. I would rather go out and find her
something that's going to be what she

wants than something somebody put
together that's going to kill her. Would

consider yourself a dealer?

Sure. No, I can see myself in her
situation.

I know people, and I'll be like, okay,
well, they got something good that you,

because I know she's going to get it,
you know what I'm saying?

How old were you when you first got
involved in a serious way with opiates?

Serious way?

When I was about 17.

Was there anything going on in your
life? I mean, were you just partying in

normal way, or was there something else
going on?

Well, growing up, my family does a lot
of manual labor work.

A lot of people would take medicine here
and there that would kind of keep

them... Keep them... Functioning. Yeah.

I've seen them as being strong and...
You were trying, you saw guys around

taking it, you thought, what's that all
about? You tried it and you felt... I

don't know why I'm...

Don't worry. Maybe it's hard to express.

Are the questions making you nervous?

No.

No.

If he would walk in here, and I can talk
to you guys for a second, and you can

just do what you do. Okay. That man
would help you. Jesus.

He just makes me feel that easy.

Yeah. Yeah.

Because I notice...

We've just been together for, you know,
within the first two weeks of being

together. He had already bloodied my
face and taken control of me with

the drugs.

He was able to, sometimes he likes to
joke and say that he owns me.

So pretty much as you can tell, I'm
almost like a pet to him, like an

for the drugs.

I wouldn't, this is, I wouldn't, this is
not where I would be. I wouldn't be

here.

At all.

It's your deal.

Yeah. Yeah.

That's all I'm adding.

Hi there.

Uh -huh.

I'm starting to think now I want to get
into town.

The more you talk about it, the more you
want to do it.

A little later, I was invited along on
an outing to a trap house

where Alvin would be attempting to
rendezvous with one of his connections.

We were being chauffeured by a neighbour
called Petty Betty.

It was all a little odd.

I wasn't quite sure what we were getting
into.

Wow.

Looks like it needs an extreme makeover.

Petty Betty?

What should I call you? Petty or Betty?
Or something else?

My name's actually Jessica.

And everybody knows me as Petty Betty.
Yeah.

Do you have a job, Patty?

No.

You're not in work at the moment?

No. You use?

Yes. Do you? For how long?

I'll be 26 in three months, and I've
used since I was 12.

Since you were 12.

What did you start using when you were
12?

Loratabs. Huh? Pain pills, painkillers.
Where did you get them from?

Medicine cabinets from my grandparents,
from my mom.

Anywhere I could find them, really.

Why?

Everybody else was doing it.

I was raised as a spoiled little brat,
honestly. I had anything and everything

ever wanted, but I don't know. I guess I
just wanted to fit in with everybody.

And then it becomes, you know, the
sicknesses and the pains.

You've got to find something to get rid
of it, basically.

They took all the pills away from
everybody here, so then you've got to

something else to cope with.

It's a bad habit.

It really is.

It's picking up the call, isn't it?

I hope.

Let me see that. Can I hit that? What
happened? Let me see.

He wants to see.

That is it.

That is it.

It's so nothing.

How much was that?

Forty.

Is that a... But I would have had to pay
probably 180 for it. Is that a gram?

No, it ain't a gram.

Is it less?

Less. What would happen if I snorted
that right now?

I guess you'd be on her level.

You're probably... Well, I don't know.
That's what I'm about to find out.

No, this has a smell to it. So usually
that either means they've recut it or

it's a decent decent quality It's got a
Smell

it's got it like a vinegar II This is
weird

Vinegary

there's no other word for it.

Have you ever smelled that before?

I've smelled it before and then I woke
up with an overdose.

Uh -oh.

I feel weird watching you do something
so dangerous.

And also that I feel like you're going
to slightly disappear after you've taken

it. You're going to become dopey and
sleepy.

There's nothing I could say that would
persuade you not to do that.

I'll have to add a lighter to that.

How will I know if you're in trouble?

I'll lose consciousness pretty much.

I'll even start to probably change
color.

It's what I call a creeper. It's a slow,
a slow, a

slow rush.

It's not bad.

I've had better.

It's not bad.

How long were you good for now, do you
think?

Probably with this, maybe a couple
hours.

If I had something stronger, I mean,
that's a good six.

About three, four hours at least. Just a
couple hours.

Like, I'm probably going to go in there
and tell him how it is and see if I can

get more, depending on if I'm supposed
to do a bigger shot.

Probably end up getting in my way.

I always usually do with him.

Is he still physical with you?

Mm -hmm.

Where do you see the relationship going?

Well, I can down the drain, but right
now it's going to be like this

until I can try to overpower my

addiction.

He's the only way right now to get what
I want.

It's been estimated that in Huntington,
as many as one out of four adults is

addicted to heroin or some other form of
opiate.

The rate of fatal overdose is 13 times
the national average.

Bearing the brunt of the problem are the
city's emergency services and in

particular the fire department.

Increasingly... Their job revolves
around reviving overdosing users.

Hey, honey.

All right.

He's breathing, but not... He sees
actually his color's coming back a

bit. We popped him once. You want to go
ahead and give him another Narcan?

Thank you.

What does the Narcan do, Jen?

It reverses the effects of the opiate
that they took, the heroin.

Does it stop them from overdosing? Yeah.

Hey, buddy.

Hey, honey,

it's cold out here. I'm going to pull
your shirt down for you, OK?

Jan Rader is the city's fire chief.

Could he have... Died just then? Oh,
yeah. Did you see his face when we

up? He was very, very pale, almost blue.

Great. Now, he was breathing, but not
sufficiently. The first dose of Narcan

increased his breathing rate just a
little bit, but he probably had heroin

was laced with fentanyl, and so it took
a full two milligrams more intravenously

to get him to wake up.

What is fentanyl?

Fentanyl is a synthetic opiate,
typically made in China and shipped to

and that's where it's cut with the
heroin before it's sent here.

And it's strong.

It's 100 times stronger than heroin.

Now he's in withdrawals.

He's got, is he vomiting?

Yep, he is.

That's what the Narcan has done.

the opiate off the receptors in his
brain, and now he's dope sick.

So tell me about Huntington.

Huntington, West Virginia, is a town of
49 ,000 people.

Last year, we had over 1 ,100 overdoses,
and probably

80 % of the people that we deal with
started out with a legal prescription to

either Lortab or Percocet Oxycontin.

From a doctor? From a physician for
legitimate pain.

It's sad. Once they can't get their
prescription, they turn to heroin

it's cheaper and more readily available.

Addiction in Huntington is in some ways
a legacy of its industrial past.

Doctors, influenced by pharmaceutical
companies, prescribed pain pills for

workplace injuries.

From early 2011, when authorities
realized that drugs were being abused in

quantities, they began cracking down,
passing new laws against over

-prescription.

Combined with disappearing employment,
the unintended result was a massive

to heroin use.

Alongside the emergency services, A
variety of community and religious

volunteers are attempting to address the
problem.

It's a battle every day, no matter where
you're at. I struggle just as much as

you do every day.

No matter what, I still got to wake up,
turn it over to God and do the right

thing every morning, no matter where I
live.

Whether I live down here or I live in a
house.

Jan had told me about an ex -user with a
criminal past whom the fire department

had had to Narcan back to life many
times, Mickey Watson.

He was helping a new arrival find a spot
in an encampment by the Ohio River.

How old are you, Edwin?

I'm 42.

42? I mean, I have my degree and
everything.

I mean, I owned a business up until six
months ago.

What sort of business?

A computer business. I was doing network
auditing and penetration testing.

That's a good living.

It's a great living. I made a lot of
money at it. Did you? How much?

At one point, I was making over...

At least over 200 ,000 a year. Are you
serious?

Yeah. Do you hear that, Mickey?

Edwin's a computer buffin'. Yeah. You
know, it kills movie stars, man. It

doesn't discriminate on who you are.

Getting off of it, it's always waiting
around the corner for you to stumble.

Absolutely it is. And there's no
chemical solution for a God -sized

man. There is not.

You might fill this hole inside you with
anything other than God. That hole,

man, that's what I hear a lot of people.
That hole is there.

There is a big hole.

Right now, I'm in the winter and I feel
that big hole in my chest.

I ain't going to sit in here and
bullshit y 'all. If it wasn't for God, I

wouldn't be here right now.

God knows who I am and understands what
I am.

God didn't plan for me to live down
here. He don't have that plan for him

either.

Right now, what he's got planned for him
is this is a stepping stone to get him

where he wants him.

Should we do it? Yep, let's do it.

What were your convictions?

I've only been convicted of second
-degree robbery.

Dude had something of some value and ran
up and snatched it from me. What was

it?

He had a nice -looking laptop in his
hand.

You just snatched it? I snatched it and
ran, and they caught me.

And why had you done that?

I was high, and I wanted some more
money.

so I can keep getting high.

I'm a completely different person when
I'm high.

My wife tells me that's the very devil
himself that crawls out of my skin.

I'm very violent.

I don't care who I hurt or what I take
from who I take it from.

I've stolen from my own kids to get
high.

I've let guys suck my dick to get high.

I mean, you'll do whatever it takes.

Have you ever sucked a dick to get high?
I have never sucked a dick, but I've

let a guy suck my dick to get high.

So you do have some boundaries.

Yeah, I have some boundaries, you know.

I'm beating away. We'll measure it.

Heart rate is 151.

That's not you.

At Cabell Huntington Hospital, Alicia
Phillips and Ronnie Rowe were having a

baby scan.

We have some hair.

Oh, all that fuzzy stuff you do.

A recovering heroin user, Alicia had
weaned herself onto a synthetic opiate

called Subutex that is thought to be
less harmful to babies.

It was part of a programme run by Dr
David Chafin.

All that together, we're at the 26th
percentile. So baby's growth is good,

fluid's good.

OK. How much does he weigh?

Well, I realised this was a guesstimate.

Yes, OK.

But four pounds, 12 ounces.

So, good size.

Yeah.

Dr Chafin, you know, in the scenario in
which Alicia was still using or

abusing... either heroin or prescription
opiates.

What does that look like for the baby?

In that case, I have several concerns.

Number one, there is an increased risk
of growth restriction.

Babies just don't grow when they're
being exposed to those opiates. And then

what's really scary in the case of
heroin is the withdrawal can come on

quickly if you miss a dose, and acute
sudden withdrawal is dangerous for the

fetus in utero.

And so sometimes those babies don't
survive that withdrawal.

Any questions about what you just heard?

I've read lots about it.

Last year in Huntington, one out of ten
babies was born dependent on opiates.

It's hideous, the idea of a baby being
born addicted to an opiate, isn't it?

Whether it's Subutex or heroin.

Let's not use the word addicted. They're
going through withdrawal because

they're physically dependent.

Everything that is warm and tingly and
brings a smile to your face when you

think of snuggling up with a baby, a
newborn, is absent in these babies. And

yes, it is difficult to deal with these
babies.

But they are feeling irritable. They
don't want to be touched. They're

Correct. The good news is there is an
end.

We are weaning them off of this
medication and there will be an end to

In her 16 -year dalliance with opiates,
Alicia had been in and out of rehab and

had picked up multiple drugs charges and
a conviction for forgery.

She'd met Ronnie 10 months earlier when
they were still using, now both in

recovery. They were renting space in a
friend's house.

Our programme is about misuse of opiates
and heroin, which has ravaged this

area. Can you tell me how it's affected
your lives?

It ruined my life. Yeah.

It ruined my life. How do you mean? I
dropped out of college and then I

getting arrested and going to jail and
not being able to keep a job.

You dropped out of college? What were
you studying?

Library science.

Library of Science?

Yeah. So how did you get involved in
opiates? My stepdad was a welder, a

maker, and he had had a lot of surgeries
on his back, and he was receiving the

Oxycontin. And he didn't take his
prescription that often, really, so he

stockpile of pills.

And I would, you know, take them. You
would dip into it without him knowing?

It took him about two years to realize.

You know, I really was addicted by the
time I was 16.

Yeah. I didn't understand.

Like, I had seen, you know, movies about
heroin, you know, like people getting

sick.

And I didn't understand that it was the
same thing.

You thought because it's a pill from a
doctor, it can't be that bad. And you

know how all the commercials on
television for...

All the big pharmaceutical companies,
antidepressants and pills for this,

for that, you know. How did it progress
from there?

I started experimenting with heroin too.

Because at that time they were starting
to close the doctors down.

Started to drive drug dealers around,
trafficking drugs back and forth to say

hi.

I would get paid in crack and heroin to
drive and I could have ended up, you

know, doing 10 years in prison.

So when did you sort of stop abusing
drugs?

When me and her got serious, when she
found out she was pregnant.

That's been a motivator for you to sort
yourself out. It's been a life changer.

So where do you keep your subutext?

Usually just in the bathroom, but if I
have certain people coming over, I hide

them. There are people who will steal
them from me. For real? Yeah.

Why? Because they're addicted to them
too.

You take one of those in the morning.

One in the morning.

And one in the evening.

And really at this stage, that's all
your addiction is.

Yeah. And would the aim be to taper off
that at some point?

Yeah. Yeah.

I was back with Catilia.

She'd suggested we visit the house she
grew up in and the great -uncle who

raised her.

I'd been thinking about her and the
strangeness of her relationship with

I was hoping the trip might be a chance
to talk.

I'm actually really excited.

This is the first time that I've been
able to be home since I've been with Al.

Are you serious?

Yeah.

The impression I had the other day was
that it was almost like he'd almost

holding you hostage using the drug.

Actually, I used to be scared. I used to
be scared of him.

Aren't you scared now?

I'm scared. I'm not scared of him as
much as I'm scared of what he's

capable of doing whenever he gets angry
or gets in one of those bad moods.

Yeah, this is Al.

Cotilia's great -uncle lives an hour
outside Huntington in Wayne County, West

Virginia.

It's kind of idyllic, isn't it?

He's the retired owner of an oil well
drilling company.

Louis. Louis?

Yes. Mike.

Mike, nice to meet you. Mike Davis.

Can we come in?

Mm -hm, yeah. Thanks for having us.

You're actually Cotilia's great -uncle
by blood. That's right. That's correct.

But she calls you Dad, and you raised
her.

Right. We raised her from the time that
she was 15 months old.

What was Cotilia like growing up?

Well, she was a happy child.

We went on trips, we went camping.

She used to be handy around the place
and liked helping out? Oh, yeah, yeah. I

would let her drive bulldozers and
things like that.

Cotilia seems to me to have lots of
potential.

She has.

And that she would be someone who, if
she put her mind to it, could, you know.

She's very intelligent.

Do what she wanted.

Yeah. So why did she get caught up?

Well, she got caught up because of
basically back when we

was, when my wife got sick and I was
spending so much time in the hospital

with her, with my wife.

and could tell you basically had too
much freedom to do as she pleased.

Maybe I've been an enabler.

In a lot of ways, that's why I blame
myself for that. I've been an enabler.

And right now, she's at a point that she
depends on.

I can tell you if I'm telling this
wrong.

I'm not making you feel bad.

You're okay, Dad. I'm just telling you
what I think.

I just don't want you to blame yourself.
I feel like you had any part or any

reason of me picking up a needle.

I'll see that as that you would love me
to death.

I'd rather say it like that than I would
say enabling.

You said that you thought you might have
enabled.

I had enabled her.

After she got already on drugs, she'd
come to me and say, Dad, can I have 50

bucks?

And she'd say, I want to go down there
and buy me some shoes.

Instead of buying shoes, she'd buy
drugs.

The whole situation must have caused you
a lot of stress and anxiety.

A lot of times I go to bed and I think,
well, am I going to get a phone call

that she's dead?

But you gradually learn to live with
that, you know.

Do you have rules for her when she's
here?

Oh, yeah.

But, hey.

Rule don't count if you break the rules
or if you sneak.

Does he not realize when you're doing
heroin? Would he be upset?

Yeah, yeah.

Actually, one of the rules is to keep
any drugs or paraphernalia out of the

house.

But you can sort of run rings around
him.

Yeah.

He's going to give me the money today to
get a vehicle or money to put on a

vehicle. He is?

Today? How much?

It's $800 to go towards a used vehicle.

You'll just spend it on dope, though,
won't you?

I mean, I'm kind of looking at it as I'm
wanting to, I really want to get a

vehicle, but I really do want to buy
drugs with it.

I do.

But I can have so much more with a
vehicle.

He said, no, don't spend it. Don't waste
it.

But God help you if you do.

And I told him to not worry, that I
really didn't have to spend money like

anymore.

Things were a little bit easier on that
aspect, and I should get a vehicle.

I made him a promise, and I hate to
break promises.

All right, so I'll say bye -bye.

Everybody take care.

God bless y 'all.

You okay?

Yeah.

What's the matter?

I'm just hurt believing.

Go back into town to... ..a place that
I'm

not as happy as I am here.

I just can't break the chain long enough
to stay here and... I don't know,

I can't talk right now.

I've got to take a seat.

Leaving Mike's farm, I began to suspect
that Bucatilia, The main point of our

visit had been to get money from her
great uncle.

I felt torn, seeing her evident love for
him, but also the way her dependency

was causing her to deceive him.

I just want to be okay right now.

So I just go around this little circle,
round and round.

I'm trying to get here.

I'm constantly going back there.

Heroin addiction is notoriously
tenacious and treatment very difficult.

In the wake of the epidemic, the city
has opened rehab centres, but there are

long waiting lists for beds.

One of the biggest facilities is
Recovery Point.

It offers 11 months of residential
treatment structured with military

discipline.

God, grant us a serenity.

to accept the things we cannot change,
the courage to change the things we can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Less than 10 % of its intake make it to
the end of the program.

Among its small cohort of successful
graduates is Mickey.

How long have you been clean?

November of last year, I picked up my
one -year coin.

One year of sobriety? One year of
sobriety.

How'd that feel?

Like I never thought in a million years
I could do that.

Where were you? What was the little
sequence of events?

I was at my apartment on the West End
down there, man. I overdosed again.

How many times have you overdosed?

I don't know. Somewhere up towards 100.

Come on.

I'm not kidding, dude.

You were hospitalized?

Like 10 times over it, yeah.

I woke up with hoses down my throat.

I had my stomach pumped.

And then on the last time, what was
different?

It got to the point that any more than a
couple hours, I was already starting to

shake. I couldn't even pass out because
my body wouldn't allow me to sleep

without craving alcohol and drugs.

And I just had enough, man.

Called and got help, and I told my wife,
bye. I said, I hope to see you again.

If I see you again, we'll get married.

If it's meant for us to be together,
then we'll be together. If it ain't,

love you, and thanks for everything.

I've got to save my life, so I had to
leave. Was she using at the time? Yeah,

she was using right along with me.

And she said the same thing to me.

We are talking mainly to people who are
active in their addiction, okay?

Right.

Who are in many ways similar, very
similar to the person you're describing

you were.

Yeah.

But recovery seems so out of reach for
them.

So what I'm wondering is whether there's
anything you can say that

would explain how someone makes that
leap.

When the pain of change becomes less
than the pain of staying the same, then

you'll change.

But if they're locked into a physical
state in which, you know, it's like

telling them they have to...

crawl across broken glass to get to what
they needed. It's damn right I'd crawl

across that broken glass.

I wouldn't hesitate.

I feel like life's going the way it's
supposed to, man. I got a full -time

I pay my bills.

I got my kids back in my life. I got
family that cares now.

It's amazing, man.

May I come in? For sure, man. Should I
take my shoes off? No, no, no. You're

more than welcome, man. For sure. I was
with a friend of Mickey's called Nate

Walsh.

You've got quite a bit of space in here.
Quite a bit of space, yeah.

It's tight.

And you've got your glass coffee table.

Yeah, you like that.

A three -year veteran of the riverbank,
he was also a dealer and something of a

connoisseur of heroin.

I've definitely got some dope. I got the
best dope in the city. Best dope in the

tri -state.

That right there is that fire.

You know what I'm saying?

Wow. See how it's kind of pink? Like
it's pinkish looking. Yeah, tiny bit.

pinky gray.

Because it's not straight heroin. It's
fentanyl.

Because I've heard you can OD on that.
Oh, yeah.

Fuck yeah.

If I did that right there by myself,
dude, I would drop dead.

You know what I mean? And I do. I have a
tolerance higher than most people in

the town.

Did you, you know, a lot of people
migrate from dabbling with pain pills,

That's what happened to me. I mean, it
happens to everybody.

That's what happens to... Go on, how did
it work in your case?

I got hit by a car, and that almost
killed me.

How old were you?

It happened September 26th of 2010.

So this is seven years ago. You were
about 26?

Yeah, exactly.

The first time that I took them tabs, I
mean, fuck, I ate like 10 of them. You

know what I mean? And it rocked my
world.

I don't know. I mean, I wouldn't like go
back in the day and like, you know,

become a heroin junkie, you know, as
soon as possible.

But I mean, it's not as bad as I made it
out to be and how I felt about it back

then. You know what I'm saying?

You're almost, that's kind of
interesting and paradoxical. A lot of

heroin say they want to get off it and
they loathe the addiction. I had a wrong

opinion about it. But I feel like you
seem to be, you seem to have made your

peace with having a dependency on
heroin.

Because I'm different from your average
junkie in the street. You know what I'm

saying? I don't spend most of my time
dope sick and broke and robbing

motherfuckers and struggling to get my
fix on. You know what I mean?

I spend more of my days just fucking
high and making money and just

and fine with it, you know what I mean?
Then I don't, you know what I'm saying?

Have you ever done rehab?

No, I haven't, because why would I?

You got the air of someone who had
opportunities growing up.

But yeah, I mean, it's kind of like how
it all fell into place, though, is

because... I had a baby with this girl
over in Ohio,

and she ended up snatching my kid up and
taking off and leaving with him and

disappearing. At the time, I had a nice
job welding.

How many children have you got?

I got the one.

Just got one.

How old? It's a boy, did you say? Little
boy, yeah. How old is he now? He will

be 12 on the 4th of July.

And do you see much of him?

Not. Really, but I do see him every now
and then. I don't want to be judgmental,

but what's stopping you from being more
involved, would you say?

That's definitely the heroin and the
dope and all that shit like that.

I've missed so much of my son's life
when he was really young because, I

definitely wanted to be there. I mean, I
loved my son. I mean, fuck, I enjoyed

having my kid, you know, and when she
took off like the way she did.

It fucked me up, man. Like, I was tore
up about that.

I've got to do this dope, bro. I mean,
you're killing me, bro. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Go ahead. I'm sorry.

I mean, when I... Why are you putting it
in that gap?

That's where I shoot.

You've got like a... It looks like that
because that's the only spot I've been

using for a long time.

Yeah, that's that.

Anyways. How do you feel now?

I feel exactly the same, bro. It hadn't
even pumped through my veins yet. I

mean, it takes a second to get there,
you know what I mean?

I can start to feel it now, a little
tiny bit. I know it's coming. I got that

feeling of anticipation because I know
it's coming.

I mean, you know, I love it. I mean,
it's hard to explain.

What could you compare it to?

I don't know. I'm starting to feel it
now.

It's kind of like a stick of dynamite
that's just going to do

absolutely nothing in the world except
make you feel as good as you can

feel. And you light that fuse and you
see the fuse burning and you know

any second it's going to fucking blow
your mind. You know what I mean?

It's a good thing, man. It's not bad,
you know what I mean? Like, that's what

say. I mean, why would I want to go to
rehab and why would I want to get

straight and clean my life up and shit?
Because I enjoy it too much, man. Like,

who wouldn't, you know?

How much would you say is the street
value of that heroin?

About 3 ,000 possibly, and the heroin
maybe more.

But you can see how much money's there.

We're seeing so much dope that to us,
that's not that big a deal.

I mean, that's how bad our problem is.

By now, I was several weeks into my
stay, and throughout the city, the

of heroin were apparent on a daily
basis.

Riding on the back of the over
-prescription of painkillers, heroin has

the heart out of Huntington, destroying
lives indiscriminately.

While the overstretched city workers do
their best to turn the tide.

Do you have a problem with

opiates or heroin?

Yeah, I struggled with it.

Yeah.

Like a contagion, it has left almost no
one's life untouched.

Hello. Hi. Can I come in? Yeah, sure.

I was with Alicia Phillips.

She'd had her baby, but Ronnie, her
other half, was back in prison on an old

warrant and she'd had to move in with
her father, Pete.

How was the birth?

I had a C -section.

I mean, it wasn't bad. They had me kind
of restrained a little bit.

He's called Archer.

Archer, David, Ivan, Roe.

But he's not home yet.

No. And he's ten days old. So what's
going on?

So they watch them for a minimum of
seven days anyway.

He's on methadone.

So at the moment, he's going through a
tricky phase of basically kind of

himself off the methadone.

He's getting diarrhea, mottling, just
like red skin, excessive sucking,

sneezing. You've met Archer, have you,
Pete? Oh, yeah. He got to hold Archer

before I did.

Yeah, I handed him right to me.

Came out, I was the one that went in,
wasn't I? No, because Ronnie couldn't be

there. Right.

When did you first become aware there
was a problem?

You know, I didn't know exactly what she
was doing, but I did know that things

were disappearing from the house and
getting hocked.

What was going missing?

Guns, anything that she could hock.

So your attitude was?

Hit the door.

Because, I mean, you could see she was
in trouble.

You didn't want to. What was your
thinking? I mean, it's a big decision.

There's nothing that you can do to help
them more than stop.

What's the word?

Tough love.

Tough love, yeah.

One of the last things we had to do was
go through an intervention.

I had to write her a letter.

That was awful.

Yeah, it was awful.

Saying what?

It was a bad day.

Just saying, like, how, you know, bad I
had hurt him over the years and stuff.

It hurts you thinking about the stress
and all the anxiety and anguish you went

through. Oh, yeah, and her.

You know, couldn't do anything with her.

Do you have a sense of what it was that
made her vulnerable to this?

Not really.

The frightening truth at the heart of
Huntington's epidemic may be that anyone

can get caught up.

One bad choice can wreck a life.

Hey, Alvin.

With Cotillia, her early promise had
been overtaken by a litany of crimes and

glaring gulf between what she might have
achieved and the harsh reality.

We finally got to do some good stuff.

And today's needle exchange day, some
fresh needles and good dope. We're doing

good.

Oh, well, hi, Dad.

How are you doing?

Dad, how are you?

We were on an outing to Huntington's
Needle Exchange.

I couldn't help noticing that despite
the cash gift from Cotilia's great

there was no sign of a new vehicle, and
Petty Betty's car had gone AWOL.

This time, I was driving.

In messages, Cotilia had continued to
allege that Alvin was abusing her

physically, and that she only stayed
with him because of her addiction.

She'd given me permission to raise the
issue with them both.

You were a couple, right?

Yes, sir. And would you say, like,
you're in a good spot as a couple?

Yeah. You can have your ways.

But for the most part, pretty much,
yeah.

Life happens. Ain't nobody perfect.

Did you break Atelier's nose?

No.

She said you did.

I didn't break your nose.

Your nose been broke?

Your nose been broke?

Has it been broke?

It hasn't.

Now, put that on camera. Now, put that
one on camera.

I wasn't talking about the fight at
Diaz. You wasn't talking about the

You're lying. Stop lying.

Your nose ain't getting broke by me.

Everything ain't what you read in the
book.

If it was all that, why be here?

You ain't no prisoner.

You ain't hell captor.

From my perspective, there's never a
good reason to be physical.

It's not a good reason.

It's not a good reason.

You don't just wake up in the morning
and say, I'm going to haul it off and

something. Nobody does that.

You can't do that. There ain't no way of
thinking at all. You can't do that.

That's what you were talking about last
night.

I ain't talking about nothing.

You came around, you and me.

Okay? Yeah.

You went to hospital while we were away?
Yes, I did.

Why?

Well, there was another, me and Al got
in another argument.

I was wanting to leave. I'd had my bags
packed, and he said some really mean

things. But I pushed the grill over, his
barbecue grill. It's something, though,

to him that means a lot. He likes to
grill and cook.

And after he's seen that I've done that,
he pushed me and kind of slammed me.

He didn't intend for my back to break,
but it did.

You know, with as much as being in a car
accident.

Are you aiming to leave the
relationship?

I don't see myself.

It really is not helping.

But, of course, now I have to say I'm
happy and think it's okay for me to

continue to get my dust. Because if I
don't, then I'll be back on the street

doing things that I probably this time
wouldn't make it alive.

What's stopping you from getting clean?

I'm complacent right now. I'm
comfortable with being able to not have

steal or trick or do anything for drugs,
and it's just right there.

So 158?

How are you? I'm good. Let me borrow
your paper.

So you got any needles for me? Oh, yeah,
definitely. Definitely do.

So I'm going to get you some spoons.
They're not sharing anything with

right?

It wasn't easy to see a way out for
Cotilia.

Fifteen years of using had left its mark
on her body, but perhaps more indelibly

on her sense of who she was and what she
deserved.

I was with Jan on another call.

A former nurse had overdosed in a known
drug house.

Hey, Mellie, what did you take, honey?

Nothing. No, that doesn't work. We gave
you some medicine that only works if you

took something.

So, did you do heroin?

Yeah.

Did you snort it?

No. Did you shoot it?

It's been busy, hasn't it?

Yes, we're on pace to be 1 ,000 runs
higher in 2017 than

we were in 2016, and the majority of it
is overdose calls.

You know, addiction exists everywhere.
People are addicted to all kinds of

things. Absolutely. Do you think if it
weren't heroin and opiates, it would be

something else?

Maybe, but this is an unprecedented
area.

The majority of the addiction that we're
dealing with now came about in a legal

manner. You know, I think the intent of
developing synthetic opiates was good,

but it quickly turned bad.

What do you think the pharmaceutical
companies can do at this point? Do you

think they're doing enough?

I don't think they're doing enough. I
don't think they're doing hardly

They certainly don't seem to be willing
to stretch out a hand and to help us in

our plight.

And that's very sad because they've made
billions of dollars on this addiction.

Even for those who are sober.

In Huntington, life isn't always easy.

For Mickey, less than 12 months out of
rehab, his new routine revolves around

work. Thank you.

You're welcome.

His charitable trips to the riverbank
are like a little taste of his old life.

Hello.

Hello. Anybody home?

Come on.

Got some snacks and some goodies for y
'all.

You want some ravioli?

Yeah, bud. I figured you would, man.
You're welcome.

There's times in my life to this day I
still miss living down here. If you'd

unlimited money for substances, would
you have quite liked to have stayed down

here? No. Now I'm a part of something
that's unimaginable that I wished every

individual down here could get. Which is
what?

Peace of mind.

You okay in there, Nate?

How you doing? Huh? How you doing? I'm
alright. Give me just a second. Should

wait? Just for a minute. Okay, cool.
Thank you.

How you doing, Nate? I'm good, man. How
you doing? Good. Oh, he's really good

right now. Yeah, hell yeah. Are you
high?

I'm high as fuck, man. How are you?

Have you got a friend in there?

Yeah, man.

It's not your girlfriend.

No, she's not my girlfriend, you know
what I'm saying? He don't have one of

those. I don't have no girlfriend.

Are you leaving, baby girl? Don't leave
me.

Y 'all go ahead. I'm going to speak to
her for just one second. I've been doing

it for two years. I don't like... I did
it for 25. I don't keep myself up, you

know what I mean? Like, I still eat,
make sure I keep myself healthy.

How old are you?

20. I've been using you for about two
years.

And, uh, yes.

I'm sorry. I got to go. I'm in a hurry.

I'll be right back.

Two seconds.

That's not the person I was expecting to
come out of there. Me neither.

That is not what I was expecting to come
out of a tent.

She won't be looking like that very
long.

It's going to be bad.

It's kind of sad. It's real sad. I see
these girls all the time. They'll start

on the street. You can see them. They're
real pretty.

They got all their teeth.

Three months later, six months later,
they're covered in bruises and fucking

teeth are missing.

Damn, she's good looking.

I'm trying to tell her she ain't going
to be very good looking very long. I was

going to say it was kind of sad to see
her in this situation in a way.

How so?

I think it's just absolutely amazing to
see her any time in any situation.

God.

Because I'm assuming she's in a high
-risk lifestyle from her being down

That's why she trusts me, that I'm not
going to ever, you know, try to hurt her

in any way. You know what I mean? She
puts her life in my hands.

A lot of people do.

You like each other, don't you?

Absolutely. We've been good friends for
a long time. Absolutely, yeah.

And we were sort of talking about it,
and you were saying, well, Nate's

quite a happy dude.

He's happy.

Maybe he doesn't really maybe not even
know he's miserable. That's what I was

telling you. You think he doesn't know
he's miserable.

Maybe, is he miserable?

In a certain way, yes.

In what way? In the way that he's
delusional. He doesn't know right now

state of misery he's really in because
he's delusional under the influence.

I mean, he is correct about that
because, I mean, like... This is not a

bro. You know that.

Exactly. You know what I'm saying? Like,
I've had nice stuff.

I've had a crib.

I've had, you know... Everything.

I've had it all.

You know what I'm saying? And I give it
all up.

And I don't really care about anything.

You know what I'm saying? Like, I don't
even give a shit about myself no more.

You know what I mean?

Because getting high is important to me.
And your son?

Exactly. Like, mom and child and
everything. You know what I'm saying? I

everything on the back burner because, I
mean, none of that shit even matters

once you start getting high and letting
it control your life.

What do you think you'd be doing if you
hadn't got onto those pills and then

onto heroin?

I don't know.

It's hard to say, bro.

I bet my life would be a lot better,
though.

You know? I wouldn't have fucked up.

I mean, shit.

Do you think you did fuck up?

Eh.

Yeah, but not really. Because, I mean, I
didn't really have no control over it.

The fact that a drunk driver swerves off
the road and, like, hit my ass and

knocked me in the street and all that
shit, that was completely out of my

I had to do something because I was
hurting.

I still hurt. I hurt every day.

If I ain't got nothing, I hurt.

It hurts bad.

I mean, you ain't never seen me hurt,
bro.

Every time you see me, I feel good.

Because I try to stay feeling good. You
know what I mean?

Yeah. Just remember, man, if you ever do
say the word, bro.

Oh, I already know. I mean, I can get
help anytime I need it. But I have to

welcome all that pain back into my life.

I mean, shit.

Just know that if I can do this, bro,
you can too.

I got you, bro. I love you.

Huntington is just one out of the
growing number of places across America

gripped by heroin.

The city is attempting to sue the
distributors of the most abused

opiates for tens of millions of dollars.

In the meantime, with overdoses
continuing to rise, each small victory

dear as an uncertain omen of hope and
rebirth.

He looks like a healthy little chap,
doesn't he? Yes, he is. Pretty happy

You know what time it is. Open your
eyes.

Come on.

Take that from me.

Come on.