NBC News “Hooked: America’s Heroin Epidemic” In a wide-ranging series of reports across all the platforms of NBC News, a team of producers and reporters led by National Correspondent Kate Snow set out to explore the depth of the heroin epidemic in the United States. The number of heroin users in America nearly doubled from 2007-2012, and every other leading indicator has increased sharply, as well – from arrests and drug seizures to treatment populations to deaths. We wanted to put a face on the problem, search for potential solutions, and challenge outdated assumptions about the crisis in this country.
Our series began in New England, where Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin made national headlines in early 2014 by devoting his entire State of the State address to the drug’s impact in his state. Heroin deaths in Vermont doubled in just one year (2012-2013) – and quadrupled in Maine (2011-2012). Needle exchange programs, methadone clinics and parental support groups are all struggling to keep up with demand.
The problem is so widespread that the son of two addiction specialists we met turned to heroin without his parents’ knowledge. Research psychologist Thomas McLellan told us his story, too – the former deputy drug czar lost his son to a drug overdose, and is on a mission to reform rehab. In an extensive online feature, McLellan detailed the barriers to access faced by addicts seeking treatment, and told us about his forthcoming consumer’s guide to rehab facilities.
Our powerful photo essay on opioid-addicted mothers in Vermont documented the struggles faced by the women and their children – the youngest victims of the epidemic. Like so many addicts, many of these mothers had gotten hooked first on prescription painkillers, and switched to heroin when they realized it was cheaper and easier to get. 29-year-old Kayana Pearson of Burlington told us: “A lot of people have no idea. They think that you’re a drug addict and that’s it, there’s no ifs, ands or buts, but we’re people too and we’re just not junkies, we’re not just drug addicts.”
A school teacher named Michelle in upstate New York proved that point, telling us on Today that she used to shoot up in the school’s bathroom between classes. She is the new face of heroin: suburban, middle class users who make up the majority of the growing number of addicts. Michelle got clean thanks to her involvement in a drug court where heroin users now account for 60 percent of the participants. Now in its twenty-fifth year, the drug court program helps addicts avoid jail by undergoing court-ordered treatment and regular drug tests. We were given rare access to the court’s proceedings.
We also reported extensively on the availability of a drug called naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan. It’s been called a “miracle drug.” According to the Centers for Disease Control, naloxone had already reversed more than 10,000 overdoses by 2010. But while it’s widely used in emergency rooms, the legality of Narcan outside hospital settings varies from state to state. In Massachusetts, it is legal for first responders and non-medical personnel to administer the drug – and we found a support group for parents of heroin addicts that distributes Narcan to its members. One mother chillingly recounted using the drug to revive her own son.