it's the deadliest drug crisis in american history. opioid addiction. stealing parents from children. >> he was on the bus and he got unconscious. >> how come? >> he was smoking heroin. >> from the shadows. >> she was so good at hiding it. >> killing at least 91 people every day. we're on the front lines of a battle being lost. with the dea s.w.a.t. team raiding a suspected drug trafficking ring. >> this is worth over $1 million. we'll get thousands of individual doses out of this. thousands. >> and e. many s.kers people in? >> what's behind this growing

epidemic? what can be done to stop it? this special edition of "nightline." one nation overdosed will be right back.

one nation >> the word epida lot these days but it may be the case that word is not strong enough to discuss this country'

additonight we team up to show one week in the life of america's w drugsis ever. here's abc's senior justice correspondent, pierre thomas. >> reporter: there's a true epidemic sweeping america. striking without warning. on a public bus outside philadelphia on, a street in detroit. opioids bringing thousands of americans to the brink of death. aying social media. people having to berevived. even by their own children. >> dad! >> and theeart results, an innocent little b dead. >> a 10-year-old boy isx@ being called the youngest victim. >> and little girls like lilliana in newshire. >> he was on the bus and he got

unconscious. >> how come? what did he do? >> he was heroin. >> now without a father. at least 91 americans die every day from an opioid overdose. drug overdoses now kill more people than guns or car acci>> the opioidncy.eceiving e levels. >> for week, knight lionel partnered with our affiliates across the country. >> evil beast l out in the country. >> thed.e.a. >> victi have the parents - >> she was as they struggl to ge on t deadliest drug crisis in americanhistory. we begin in phoenix where we're without the d.e.a. and the tempe policetrying to take down an of drug dealers with ties to the sinaloa

cartel. >> how would you describe what they have operating? >> we're the sportation back. we've got thousands of affiliates. >> and according to the d.e.a., the ctels now sell their product in almost every state. authorities stay crisis is worsening because americans continueoveruse painkillers with illicit supplies in mexico and china have boostedly of fen opioid 50 times more powerful th small amount can kill sup ma delivery. >> we've been following him mos. right time to

strike. >> agents quickly am rebehind one of the suspects. >> we already found a large supply of money. we'll tear down vehicle down. >> you'll watch the rest d.e.a. investigation unfold later. but 1,500 miles away in kentucky it is too late for onemily. >> 22-year-old jennifer was young and full of life. but like so many young peopln americ veronica experimented witpills. unbeknownst to her res, eventually turned >> she was s this is the first time we've heard heroin and veronica's name mentioned.ills. >> in the last year she kindled away. >> like countless others, veronica wasn and o

>> we thought this was the start of our getting better. her recovery. >> but she checks herself out of rehab for a weekend to see a friend. >> what's your emergency? know. i just woke a call around 7:00 7:15, and all they would tell me was hospit. alive? is she okay? is shebreathing?m, i'll sorry, you to come here. 2:30 pom day week, veronica is pronounced agreed a heroin overdose. >> she was gone. our daughter, she was gone. >> veronica leas behind her own 4-year-old daughter raylynn. today it was veronica. her parents warn tomorrow it could be your kid. >> i want to tell her story. if i can save one mother from having to go through this pain of burying your child, i'll do it.

>> .with expert who said, it's the closest thing he's seen to the loss of free will. because of the chemistry change in the brain. is that true? >> yeah. it's a physical addiction, psychological addiction. which means people are spending their time constantly thinking about getting the drug. and their body is addicted. if they stop using the drug, they withdraw and feel miserable. >> ohio date two. police officer chris green is trying to prevent that kind of tragedy from happening on his streets. >> we've got a warrant. don't run from me. >> we'll go an entire shift. all we're doing is s. it's devastating on the crystal photos. taken in officer green's town last year. the driversenger erhile the passenger's 4-year-old grandson watches from the back seat. ohio has been one of the hardest hit states in this epidemic.

in east liverpool, a nefls where three he states meet has become a hub where drugs flow in and tfreely. during seven days ofion, at lea people in ohio ended up in the overdose opioids. live now houses are boardedup.there'. growing up here and seeing what breaks your heart. >> for officer green -- every drug bust is a step in the right today special response team is executing a search warrant on a house suspected ofining drugs. >> what's mdisheartening is juvenile. he's been exp to kid should. >> daddy. children's services will be notified. >> suspected about 20 grams

here. street value about$200 a gram. >> officers need to take extra precautions becausef the now, police cannot bring charges unless the labts confirm the make-up of the powder. n of ten, individuals will sell even after this drug bust. that whole system takes forever. >> because of the lag, he says nearly every day he has to people back on the streets who he believes will dealagain. >> in the meantime, they'll continue to wre hav neighborhoods. it's a >> some of the blame lies with doctors. during week we three doctors stood accused ille prescribing in physical medicine andrehabitation. ording to the indictment, his actions resulted in the overdose deaths of sev of h patients. he's pled not guilty to all charges. lame the doctor if people you are misusing their

prescriptions. the allegations of the sev people died happene the last five years. thousands of patients over that time. with diamond no longer -- >> painful. mike is concerned. he's been coming to dr. diamond for prescription painkillers fon the job a decade ago. >> i've been rationing medicine. >> now he wor where his next refill will come from. >> i have five pain pills left. >> what happens after that? >> i don't to get >> we've been talking about this for of years that you it is getting worse.ot of peopl prescribed opioids for surgeries, broken bones. now you have all these people he addicted to prescription opioids so there's a culture change toward making sure that we're

not pscribing too many d.e.a., in this neighborhood about to take down the suspecte multimillion-dlar police draw their weapons. with the s.w.a.t. team in the way. finding exactly w they're looking for. >> the product, most of which wie here, ts is going t extremely successful. >> meanwhile agents across town >> it's not sophisticated but are in aoshe headquarters with this alleged drug trafficking ring. >> they'reetting ready to go in. >> the operating out of this typical american home in a workinglass neighborhood, suspected of

pushing out 15 pounds of het is. you never know what's behind the door. >> go around the back. >> when we come back, a manhunt. >> this would be worth$1 million. >> in florida, the ems rushing to save the life of this young woman. >> is she breathing normally?g . >> will they be able to save her? to severe psiasis, does psoriasis ever get in the of a touching montte u can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. is proveyotou a chance at completely clear skin. with taltz, up to 90% of patients had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. in fact, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. do not use if you are allergic to taltz.

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we're hitting the main houses. >> arizona and three in our emic.long look at the opioid they're looking at the multimillion-dollar drug ring. one of the suspects, joel lopez, and others in the house, run. senting agents on achase. neighbors are cleared from the scene. as the chopper arrives to help police find ru >> the main suspect is in the winds. the suspect runs anyway. >> he's not only scared of us but the cartel he's getting this dope from as well. he owes them the money. >> within seconds, the sound of the chopper faith away. lopez is caught. >> he's the main guy behind the particular cell transporting and trafficking in all this. >> jackpot.

>> we pulle 15 pounds of heroin. >> the street value? >> over $1 million. >> how many individual doses might they get out of this. >> wow! thousands. >> this is tip of the iceberg according to the d.e.a., this organization is selling 40 to 50 pounds a month, hundreds of thousands of doses. >> so a multimillion-dollar operation out of that little house. >> the d.e.a. believes it is helping to fuel the overdose deaths but there's no way of knowing just how many. that's in part because the most recently confirmed numbers are from 2015 which is why the asking for a database of s real-time tracking. on day five, we're with the tee. >> we're responding to a possible overdose call. >> an area so hard hit by the

opioid epidemic, that now every overdose call gets answered by police, thee.m.s. and fire department. they said almost half the money they spend on medication this year gone to narcan to reduce they've already administered 1,222 doses in the first six months of this year. >> the human toll comes with no price tag and does not discriminate. >> heroin epidemic should be viewed as like alcoholism. it is a very tough struggle. >> whichs why the manatee county paramedics now follo one the people they've treated. >> what do you think is going to help you be successful this time? >> well, i do stay around a different culture. it's a lot easier.

>> early tuesday last time used an m o centers to a new drug court. >> mental health counseling services -- >> during the week, several governors singned bills. this will help to us save lives. >> back in manatee county -- >> 911. tell me exactly what happened. >> i just came across thisgirl. she's overdosing. >> is she breathing normally? >> no. >> we arrive to find a young woma >> you sd has>> she's a dose of

narcane. the one thing standing between herdeath. and then even though we can't show you, she opens her eyes. >> overdose, okay, you can breathe. has this happened before? we're going to take you to the hospital and get you checked out. okay? do you think you can sit a little bit? >> one,o,ree. >> tonight she's been given another chance at life. in kentucky, veronica's parents are saying goodbye to their daughter. but for her parents, there's one silver lining. veronica was an organ donor. she gave three other people a chance tol live. >> there would have been not one good thing that would have come

out of this. it made little sense of a senseless situation. >> during the week we tracked, she was one of 28 overdose victims who also donated their organs, according to the united. it tushls orns out there are no adverse effects. more than 33,000 america from overdose every year. we've never seen anything quite like this. i'm pierre thomas. in phoenix, arizona. >> simply extraordinary reporting for pierre thomas. i know you've been covering this story for a long time and there's one aspect that has really haunlth you. >> tre case from last december, a little girl 5 months old who died her because parent they weren't and she died.

if that doesn't bring home how serious and lethal this ongoing epidemic crisis is, i don't know what does. >> and reporting helps even people up. thank you very much. pierre thomas. we'll be right back. >> this special edition of "nightline" is brought to you by geico. , long time. reminds me of how geico has been saving people money for over 75 years. uy guess yr we sure, why not. 12 ounces! sorry, mate. four ounces. i've been y. you win, big guy. sorry, 'scuse me! oh, he looks so much mo real on tv. yeah... over 75 years of savings and service. get your rate quote today. this this this is my body of proof. proof of less joint pain

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our thanks to pierre and our affiliates across the country fo tonit's for a deep into the ooid crisis visit our "nightline" facebook >> hey, everybody. get ready, because in the next 30 minutes, you may be watching someone walkut very, very rich. "who wants to be a millionaire." [cheers and applause] [dramatic music] ♪ he everybody. the show. are you guys ready to play "millionaire" today? [cheers and applause] as an archaeologist, today'sis y

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