officials in the state investigating concerns about the drinking water. that spill contaminated water for 300,000 people. those are your headlines. "consider this" is next. "consider this". here is more of what is ahead. >> oscar winning actor philip seymour hoffman was found dead in his manhattan apartment. >> the tragedy bringing to light the growing epidemic of use. >> done.

>> a big reason for that is the gene that dominates the parties decides who will run. >> as long as they wanted music they couldn't put us in the gas chamber. i'm not interested in anything. i'm full of joy. >> we begin with heroin. the tragic death of actor philip seymour hoffman comes as heroin made a comeback across the united states. the number of users has doubled since 2007. but as al jazeera reports, today's epidemic looks different to the one that affected urban communities in the "70, and the '80s. >> you probably imagine heroin addicts to look like this. this weekend's death of philip seymour hoffman shows stereotypes do not hold true. this is the new face of heroin.

>> i was so anti-drugs. before drugs people relied on me. you could pick up the phone and say "i need your help", a middle class young mum of four from long island. >> it was the wonder drug. you didn't have pain, you know. you were doing a lot more. >> it started 10 years ago when a doctor prescribed angela with viko din. escalated. >> i was going flow my prescription quickly. that's when i started doctor shopping, going to four different doctors and getting a prescription for 120 pills each time i went to a doctor >> like others, angela could no longer get prescriptions. a friend suggested a cheaper option - heroin. she went for it. >> for me to go from roxycotin to heroin was huge. now it's not a prescription drug.

this is a hard - in my head this is a hard core drug. >> angela hit rock bottom, watching her toddler. >> i was in the bathroom. my 2-year-old - i didn't think he could open the door. i was sitting there, i was sniffing my line. he walks in and i cupped it like that thinking, you know, i am safe, i'm good. it was not too long after that i shoed him out, put my stuff away and he came out and there was a play table. he was drawing and took the pencil and put it in his nose. done." >> 132 days clean, angela is on a mission to warn others. >> you have to think you will handle it. with. >> for more we are joined by jeff deane, a recovering adick,

a social worker and freelance writer. and sam who covers immigration, drug trafficking and gangs for the "new york times," and is writing a book on the surge of heroin in the u.s. and joins us from los angeles. show. you celebrated 10 years lean. you are saying that it's a bad time to be injecting heroin. what was your experience and why is it a bad time now? >> i think it's a bad time right now because all the stuff that was ever bad about being an injection during user is still out there - hiv, hepatitis c, overdose potential, but there's new things in terms of the tainted drug supply, in the black market, more frequent bouts of fentanol, heroin, that is potent and easy to die.

and new ways for addicts to get sick, like drug recystant bacterial infections that are easy to acquire in the community needle. >> we saw in janice's piece, we saw her heroin use being an unintended consequence on the pain pills, people taking oxycontin, moving to heroin. and the dea says in new york city one ochly coatin on the street is $30, but you can get six parts of heroin for the same price. it's cheaper. i know you looked at this, behind the price, the attraction of going to something cheaper, there's export heroin marketing. >> heroin is a commodity. the way you sell heroin, there

is no difference largely between types of heroin, except for the way it's cut. the marketers - heroin traffickers really have to become expert marketers. in new york city, philadelphia, d.c., you get the stamps and it was reported that philip seymour hoffman had a heroin glass een was stamped with the ace of spades. you don't see that in other parts of the country. the folks in new york and philadelphia, and baltimore don't control their own heroin supply. the folks that i write about from mexico, who traffic in 22 states, this one group i'm talking about, they have developed their own marketing technique, and that is to provide convenience. they deliver, like pizza. like the domino's pizza of his honour. you call a number, they deliver it. they don't put marks on it, they sell it in ball oops.

you can see -- balloons, the traffickers have to pay attention to marketing. it's not like marijuana, where you have various kinds of heroin, very similar to napper valley wines, you have good quality and bad quality. heroin is really a commodity, and promotes marketing and promotion on a different scale. what that means is you get aggressive heroin traffickers. they are not simply intent to sit back and let them - you come to them. they will go to you. at least the guys that i'm covering do that a lot. >> what is the psychology. as you say, there are so many dangers from heroin, as opposed to ochly codin or other pain killers. i understand the attraction of the cheaper price. you know what you are getting, here you have no idea what might happen to you. >> no, you don't. not

only that, but nothing moves a batch of dope on the streets faster which is twisted, i understand, but that is -- >> because people think if philip seymour hoffman died because of an overdose from that heroin, that it's strong heroin and we want some of that. >> yes, that's a good bag, i've got to get some of that. absolutely, that is part of the deal, and why these fenton ill batch outbreaks flare-up and disappear. the display goes dry and pops up somewhere else. last year you saw it move from - quickly from camden to philadelphia out to western pennsylvania, and down in baltimore. it pops up all over the place. it's unpredictable.

you don't know when it will come around again. for addicts who are not heavy habituated users, catching a bag unexpectedly is almost guaranteed to lead to an overdose. whereas however, if you are a habituated users, who needs a lot of heroin to get through the day, when you hear on the streets that, you know, the bag down the block knocked out 14 people, they want to know what the brand stamp on the bag is, first of all, getting back to the marketing piece, and once you know what that is, you can figure out which corner it is sold on. intentionally. >> it's incredible that that is going on. you called it a quiet epidemic, it's under the radar. there's a remarkable statistic. deaths have been rising steadily and become the leading cause of injury or death in the united

states. i have to say, i was surprised when i read that. >> that is a standing statistic signs the rise of the automobile. drug overdose, principally to opiates took the place of that, and the thing is that this is a very different drug plaig than we have had for a lot of years. first of all, it's rooted in prescribing practices by doctors, prescribing these strong opiates. it's a quiet thing. if you remember the crack epidemic there was drive by shootings, along roads of crack heads and dealers. it was a public scourge, the columbians, the murder rate went sky high. none of that happened with heroin. it's all been a quiet thing that has to do with the fact that

doctors are legitimized. they are selling - prescribing a drug stamped by the f.d.a. also, across the country the people - the families of the people who are skying are siig metized -- siig metized, this is a nightmare situation. a lot the parents grow up in the '70s, they consider heroin the lowest form of drawing use. they don't speak out. they are ashamed of the whole thing. their beautiful son was found dead in mcdonald's bath room. all of this creates a silent surrounding this. that's changing. there's a lot of new parent groups that are forming, and i talked to a number of them for the book i'm writing. by and large this is quiet. the only notoriety it gets, is when someone famous dies or enters rehab.

but that is the nature of the plague. it's not the same as the crack or the heroin epidemic of years ago, which was very public, and it leads to this kind of quiet spread. so it's a quiet virus. it's lamb as if the -- almost as if the drug itself nar cotized the country. thousands are dying where they are the leading cause of accidental death. it's stunning. >> let's hope it gives the drug plague needed attention. appreciate you taking the time to come on the show. thank you. >> turning to the olympics with opening ceremony set to start in sochi on thursday, the president of the international olympic committee thomas bok took a swing at world leaders, accusing them of playing politics at the witht naming names, it was at

president obama, and european leaders, signalling disappointment at anti-ga laws. >> sports can only add to peace if it's not used as a stage for political dissent or trying to score points in internal or external political contests. have the courage to address your disagreements in a peaceful direct political dialogue and athletes. >> for more, i'm joined by jules boycott, author of "activism and decent." we are joined by james, sports editor at "the nation", host of, "edge of sports radio", and author of the book "game over", and commentator on al jazeera.

>> shame on thomas bok. first of all his ipp sin use that u.s. -- insinuation that u.s. athletes are the puppets of pa president obama when the opposite is drew. shame on thomas bok. it's not political to have the games in sochi, which is near the chechen war zone at a cost of $51 billion. this masquerade that we are seeing is not a political accident of itself with the ioc. >> your reaction to the bigger comments that bok made. >> scoping back a little, when people argue that the olympics transcends politics, typically those people are milking the olympic cow with both hands. it's someone from the international committee or someone from a corporation who is a sponsor. >> bok said the ioc has to be neutral, and athletes not use

the olympic venues and village for political demonstrations, but said olympic values are against discrimination, but they gave it to sochi, was that a russia. >> absolutely, it was because vladimir putin wowed the committee by speaking about remaking a region of russia. when the ioc hears statements like that, thinking about an olympics that costs more, that puts stars in the eyes of the ioc. now, the ioc is well aware that the athletes are the ones that will be speaking out. you have quoted a new zealand skater who came out and said he's gay and you guys said in your piece that: >> what would you like to see?

>> i wouldn't prescribe anything to athletes. part of being a top tier athlete is being creative. i leave it to them to come up with an act that will challenge the laws. i'd step back. thomas bok said that athletes could speak out at press conferences about equality. it's a step in the right direction. he said they could not do anything inside of a venue, at a competition, on the metal stand. that's baked into the olympic committee's charter. >> am i right to assume that you guys would prefer something at news conferences. >> it's less about what i would prefer and more about what i would expect. i have been stunned and inspired by the number of athletes who committed themselves to say something is going to happen at the games. there's too much injustice, it cannot stand. >> let me be the devil's advocate.

munich was the most terrible games. politics got in the way of 1980 when we boycotted moscow, and the russians retaliated and boycotted the united states. >> we can do this argument. i never supported a boycott. it's not a way of showing fairness. you have to show up, otherwise it ruins it for the athletes that put a life line of commitment in there. >> there's politics from above and below. athletes have bodies, muscles and mind, and we are disingenuous if we expect them not to use their minds if they feel there's something they need to speak out about. >> also written is that the u.s.

has a tradition of punishing athletes if they push for change this their prime, only to prays them later. do you think if athletes today. >> we argued hope and history rhyme in this instance, and history's tanneda lying - the traj ectory of history is out there for us. people from the united states know that equality is on the way. people. >> one thing though, athletes will risk a lot if they speak out in terms of their relationship with the international olympic committee. as far as praise at home, that's something they could effect. >> should the ioc not award games to controversial venue. >> no, they shouldn't. they should think long and hard about who they gave the olympics to.

if a place is undemocratic or has a finger snap like russia, they should think hard about it. >> it's not complicated. they have principal six. you will see athletes with the number six. approximately be on the uniforms. it will be on the principal six campaign, that is that you do not believe in any country to host the games if they discriminate against citizens. >> human rights released this. >> what we see in the video is criminal offenses happening in the context of impunity. the most agreegeous case of violence that we have seen so far and document. a migrant was lured and abducted by a group who burnt his clothes, but a gun to his head

and threatened him with violence. and forced him to say gay. >> the head of the ioc said that vladimir putin assured him there would be no problems in russia during the games. after seeing the video, what is the ioc smoking. >> seriously. since vladimir putin and the russian parliament passed the laws. 436 to nothing, the amount of hate crimes are on the rise. there's is number called "the iron closet", he details it, goes to the club and talks to kids and it is harrowing. the idea that the ioc is blessing russia with the games and giving vladimir putin an international platform is disturbing. >> final word. >> i agree what is happening in russia is hore ied and demands a moment of courage. i hope an athlete will stand up and show that courage.

>> let's hope they have a positive effect on what is going on, and help those that suffer as a result of those laws. good to see you both. >> coming up, if you think hillary clinton's president hopes are the best, you are behind the times. social media producer harmeli stories. >> we talked about silk road. police got worse for the man authorities believe created the site. what do you think. join the conversation on twitter or on our facebook and google+ pages.

to the continuation of the abuse

>> the list of armed conflicts troubling the world is growing, so are the numbers of refugees. among the millions who managed to flee their country for safety and millions who are displaced and trapped inside the borders.

according to the united nations high commissioner from refugees syria's civil war produced more than 6 million refugees, including 2.5 million that escaped the fighting - turkey, jordan, lebanon and iraq. ethnic fighting created over half a million refugees, some in camps in uganda. conflicts between christian and muslims led to 430,000 refugees, as the fighting began in march. many are dying in desperate attempts to find a better life. more more i'm joined from washington d.c. by jeff chris senior developer for policies and advocacy for refugee international. it's good to have you with us. it's a worldwide problem. i found

hund dreads of thousands. it's brutal conflicts in africa, the middle east, syria dash gash which is the deadliest, creating the largest number of refugees. has any recent conflict created so much havoc for so many. >> looking at the global picture it looks grim. all of my time working with refugees, i can't remember a time when there has been so many conflicts creating large and southern movements of people. you mentioned syria. it's the situation which is preoccupying most of us in the humanitarian world at the moment. the conflict is not three years old. the first year there was little displacement. in the past two years, up to 2.5 million left syria to go neighbouring countries, as you mentioned a large number have been displaced and i'm unable to get out because they are trapped

in conflict zones. i don't think we have seen a refugee exodus of this scale, speed or magnitude. this is something which is concerning to us. it threatens to get worse. not so long ago the united nations high commissioner made a public statement where he said at the current rate of departure from syria there could be four million refugees. it's a serious situation. it's not the only conflict taking place which is generating large-scale displacements. we looked at a map. looking at the number in lebanon, it's like putting the population of canada and moving it to the united states. >> the situation in lebanon is extraordinary. i had the opportunity to go there.

physically you can see refugee settlements and villages. they dispersed throughout lebanon. it's equivalent to the number of canadians moving to the yates. one of the things we are beginning to appreciate in lebanon, it's not just of the refugees, it's the local populations because when a large number of people flood across the border, settle in local towns and villages, they place a drain on resources and infrastructure. whereas the humanitarian community focussed efforts on the refugees, now we are looking at the host populations and see what we can do for them. that is a challenge. way. >> to get a sense of how big the problem is, there's some 10 million long-term refugees. that's including palestinians.

there's 30 million that are internally displaced. we are talking 1.7 million afghans, pak stance. 100,000 burmese. are the u.s. and world powers doing enough to help. >> i think the response is different according to the country concerned. the international response, and the u.s. response to the syrian crisis has been extraordinary. there has been a large amount of resources devoted to the operation. the middle east is volatile. it's the great interest to the united states and other western countries. if we take, for example, the central african union, it's difficult to raise funds for a country that

doesn't have global importance like lebanon. >> some are fleeing otherwise. as far as australia we have seen hundreds in the past year dying in the mediterranean when the overcrowded boats sank. oftentimes when they get to the places they are trying to get reception. >> on the other hand some places give refugees a good reception. i watched al jazeera america before we came on air, and i saw a feature about a somali ice hockey team playing in sweden where they integrated well. australia is, unfortunately, a good example that gives hostile reception to asylum seekers and refugees, intercepting the boat, detaining them, sending them to remote pacific i would say. if they are recognised as

refugees, without a prospect of a long-term future in australia. there are generous countries, but there are some disturbing trends in other countries. >> so many people suffering in so many places. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> we'll continue the discussion and turn to growing connections between refugee camps and terror groups, including al qaeda. refugee camps throughout the world breed misery, dest it use and hopelessness and are providing grounds for ideologies, and for some a way out. >> jj green and contributor returning from the west and sahara where he interviewed refugees, prisoners and security official on the threats that come from the camps. good to have you with us. how big of a problem is this? >> big enough for people in the west to start getting nervous about it. they recognise that within the

next 10-15 years this could be the source of all the terrorists or most of the terrorist attacks against the west and because of the fact that west africa is a place you have an extreme amount of wealth, you have a lot of diversity, weak borders, and you have a significant conglomeration there of terrorist ideologies, you have in western north africa, i've been told by security officials in the last couple of weeks, some insurgent groups from as far away as china represented in that region. they are scram bling for the wealth, resources, including the human resources to build ideologies and platforms. >> how big a threat is that for the west? how much attention are western intelligence agencies and the military paying for this.

>> it's an enormous threat. the director of national intelligence james clapper said last week while testifying for congress, that this area is a hot house, pretty much a breeding ground. you have terrorist organizations, insurgent and militant groups popping up. many looking to fly the black flag to become popular in the eyes of the disaffected. when you look at the population, you look at the amount of people that are cut off from the economy that they'd have to engage in the black market to feed their families. al qaeda represents to them, many of them, a good alternative. al qaeda recognises as well - they can find a lot of good candidates for their plan, for their operations in refugee camps, many of which are popping up as well in west africa, north

africa. talking about james clapper. africa is a hot house for the emergence of extremist and rebel groups which launched deadly asymmetrical attacks in which government forces cannot counter. how do the refugee situations vary between the middle east, the western sub-sahara and other parts of the world. are any particular others more movements? >> absolutely. anywhere that you have what is a permissive environment, or what they call in the intelligence world ungoverned space, you'll have these organizations going there. they'll go and look for a place where they can operate out of site. whether people know it or not, refugee camps are prime targets. they can slip into the camps. they can hide themselves in the camps amongst people.

what happened in marley once the french came and ran the fighters out. they disappeared to the desert. many are thought to have gone to refugee camps. that's what they do in this ungoverned space, sit there, plan, communicate as best they can and in some cases they are able to collect arms and all sorts of resources that help them plan their next attack attack. >> thank you for joining us and bringing our tension to the problem. >> time to see what is trending. aregawi. >> the man authorities believe created silk road. prosecutors are accusing 29-year-old ross all brict of creating a website that allowed other users to buy and sell drugs.

he has been charged with: >> if convicted he faces 30 years in prison, and a maximum life sentence. according to the indictment in september, it contained 13 thoz listings for drugs and offered document forgeries for drivers' licence, passport and other forms of identification. attorney said he would plead not guilty. check out the website aljazeera.com for more information. it's been agented that all brict paid for the murders of time people. there's no indication that the murders were carried out but charms. >> it's an incredible story with different consequences. why has the gender gap remained

prevalent in politics. the congress woman joins me about how to bring more women into politics. >> how music saved a concert pianist's life during an ugly event in history.

>> into can women break the glass ceiling of pol sticks? in new hampshire they have, they lected women to all top political offices. in the seats of representatives,

78 out of 338 are healed by women. why does the gender gap in politics persist. we are joined by mains first district congress woman, and spoke at new founding mothers, women's changing paths to political power. you addressed the issue of the say? >> i think one of the biggest challenges for women is what goes on in our heads. i gave you reasons why it wouldn't go over well in my family and community. many would say, "you can't do this, what would happen to your family?", >> a study confirms what you say, men think they are more qualified than women. do you think that's changing? >> i do think the next generation thinks about this a

little differently. my daughter ran for office and succeeded and was one of the major speakers in the house in main. you can tell from the gender gap that a lot of women do not visualise themselves in office, they worry about children and family and whether they are adequate. i told a story when i ran almost 20 years ago, i'd go into a town hall meeting, my opponent was older. he'd walk in in a trench coat, i would be in cord roy pants and he looked like a politician, i'd think, "what am i thinking?", i won by 62% of the vote. i had to convince myself i could do it. >> you would think that the 2008 canned daisies of hillary clinton and

sara pailin would have encouraged women, but it did the opposite because of the sexism that clinton and palin faced. how bad is that problem. >> you saw it in the cam pains. you see it in the media. going back to the race, i had a debate with my opponent. i was a small business owner. he said to me - he was a business opener saying "you're not a business i knower, you're analize in wonderland and it backfired and it does. but it's amazing how often men say the things about their opponent or the press will misquote something. i think the women are sensitive. we have tough skins. when we get in the race we are desperate to win. a lot think how will it affect

my family and the people around me. >> you are dealing with comments about your appearance and clothes in a way men rarely have to. alexandra star had this to say about another obstacle that women face im. >> when you looks at massachusetts, and states like new jersey, pennsylvania - they are - female representation in those states is terrible. a big reason for that is that this hold boy machine that dominates the parties decides who gets to run. >> how big of a problem is that in this day and age, and how can you fight back against it? >> it's interesting. it dominated many of the states. you talk about new hampshire with an all-women delegation. an interesting thing is they have a 400 person member legislature and are paid about

$100 a year. it's thought of as women work. you won't get paid much, it's not a substantial career. in pennsylvania you make a decent wage. that's why men dominated, so you don't have to go to someone to ask for permission. i was not actively engaged in the political party this will i cas engaged. i set off on my own. i didn't worry about the rules, about who would say could be in or out. i talked to women. many times they start from a sideways position. sometimes they beat the chosen one. that's how they get there. >> a congressional colleague had this to say. >> women get things done. if you look at the budget breakdown and the shutdown of the government. voters, male and female think

that congress is broken. what you saw in shelley's colleague, and my colleague is that it was the women that came together and said we have to take care of this, we have to fix this. >> women have played an important role in the middle of some of these seemingly intractable conflicts in congress, looking past partisanship. how important, beyond the equitable distribution would it government. >> i think, of course i have a bias. if we had 50/50 in congress, the public would have a different opinion. we'd probably get more work done. i don't mean to say hull women are good and male colleagues bad, there's positive-thinking members, but many women come in - are used to raising children, taking care of families and parents. they are the ones bringing about compromise in the family. a lot of women come into office

because they want to change things, not because of individual stature or their ego, they say "i want to fix something, i want to change it", that's a different motivation. you think about, "how am i going to get the job down", not how am i going to appear better. there's a lot of women that work to find compromise. >> let's go to harmeli aregawi. >> viewer gordon says, "there would be fewer wars if women ruled. i guess this is not the first time you heard that. what is your take?" >> everything is not absolute. let's face it, traditionally women are the ones that send their sons to war, who thought about the consequences about what this means to our family, what - you know, the challenges and the obstacles. we think about if differently. it's not necessarily about making our country look like a

powerful nation, it's what will be the consequences of going after this. i have to agree. >> great to have you on the show. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> straight ahead - the farm bill has passed and you won't

sclz >> today's data dive focuses on pork in the farm bill. the senate passed the bill on tuesday. it is readdressed every five years, it's subsidies and food stamps. the representative manages to attach other pet projects. for example, the bill finances a lot of experiments, more than 100 pilot programs and has 200 million for an advertising program for big agro businesses. why do they need that money. lawmakers are quick to claim there has been a $23 billion cut

in excess spending. if you adjust for inflation, it means $250 billion in new spending. it includes a $0.15 tax on christmas trees. and there are billions in subsidies and research money. public interest groups are fuming because 4% of agribusiness collects 74% of farm bill subsitize. -- subsidies. >> there's a million for farms in remote locations. there's money for catfish inspection, when there's already a program for that in the f.d.a. it's better. there was money allocated for a reality show in india to promote cot job. welsh food got a wrap. it's produced they say lan sales.

this is 949 pages, a billion per beige. talk about excess. coming up, the oldest living hollow caused survivor.

>> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ hello welcome to the news hour, i'm jane dunton, in doe ho. the un condemns the catholic church over decades of child abuse and demands of fenni fenninger -- of oh offenders are handed over for chiel. i'm in london. among the