the heroin dealerses moved in. >> with pain killers going for $80 a pill, heroin was a cheaper alternative. dealers saw a market in rutland recollects and major profit. >> we are near new york, near massachusetts, near connecticut. people can take a couple of hour trip down and score cheep heroin and sell it for more here. >> we didn't know she was using drugs until she was in the cocaine addiction around the age 15 to 16. that's when things got so bad, we had to admit something was wrong, and seek treatment. >> patrick's daughter started using drugs in high school. with treatment, her parents thought she was out of danger. she had pushed her life around and applied to college. >> martin's life shattered when police knocked on his door. it was devastating. i had loss before, but not a loss of mine child. no one should bury their child or figure out the clothe we'll put them in in a casket. >> martin ace his daughter bods body was dumped in a parking lot after she died from an overdose. the heroin was pure, and mixed with cocaine. >> she died a slow death at the apartment of the people she

died from a heroin overdose five or six years ago, it's around us. it starts with pills and transitions to heroin. we don't have a -- we have an addiction problem. we don't have one versus the other. we have an addiction problem. and when people can't get their hands on pills or its too expensive, they crave anything that can get away from withdrawal, has open yet high and they oftentimes turn to heroin. >> is there a sense though that people understand when the attorney general comes forward, we are thinking about law enforcement, about things that the grand scale of things. now do you have a sense that people are starting to get that message when you see something like adam's report when you have the kinds of experiences that you have had in your church and community that hey, this is not some sort of street drug urban crime problem, this is everybody. >> we hope so, but again, it starts in the home. >> in all cities? i mean do you see it across the country? >> absolutely. absolutely. open yet addiction, heroin abuse and addiction cuts across all 5

he wants two bags of heroin. each one costs just $10. >> this is a very, very, very dangerous place. i mean very dangerous. >> he tells me to keep quiet saying he'll introduce me as mike. this is how quick and easy it is to buy heroin in chicago. >> that's my boy, mike, man. > hey, mike. . the addicts cook the powder syringes are filled. preparing a drug that is he is same price as a six-pack of beer and cheaper than igarettes. chasing a high that is ever harder to reach. greg and stacy live rough here on lower walker drive, home to chicago's destitute for nearly a century. stacy first took heroin when she was just 11. now the two of them live like husband and wife in this sub trainan netherworld, partners, addicts, and the parents of three young boys. >> every day it's just hard, man. i love my kids. they just want mommy and daddy to love them, you know. and i can't be there in this state like this and that's the hardest thing being out here dealing with that. >> chicago's west side has been ground down by negle

i never did heroine. >> never did heroine? >> no. >> what about all the suboxone?-- it was there for a while. but -- i don't know, man. >> how -- how did you get the suboxone in? >> are they going to reduce my sentence? >> what sentence? >> my ten-day sentence. >> it's ten days. you already got freaking seven in. what are you worried about? >> because it's elaborate. it's very elaborate. >> one hand always washes the other. >> battaglia says strips of suboxone are lined to sheets of letters mailed to inmates and covered up with a matching strip of paper. >> put this in the middle page. because y'all never check the middle page. you just -- >> glued in. >> glued perfectly. >> so you've got to line up all the lines. >> perfectly. >> how much is coming in. >> eight -- eight suboxones a week. >> strips? >> eight milligrams. >> what does that go for? >> 50 a pop. >> 50 a pop. i was shocked. never expected him to admit he knew about it, but i was more taken back by the fact that he actually could be providing helpful information about the suboxone that's coming into the

the heroine -- heroin my son was on it.e one thing about heroin, if you do not know how people react to the drug themselves, you do not know what they are doing. was on it, he was giving me a lot of attitude, and i finally owned out -- found out what he was on, and between me him, and, we worked on got him into rehabilitation and he got off of it. he has been off of it for 3.5 or four years. host: will you do me a favor and turn down the volume on your tv. cost you to put him into rehab? caller: nothing. he did it himself. turned him on it. host: it cost you nothing? caller: they took care of it. we force them to do it. host: what did it cost? caller: it cost him quite a bit. it was not a stay-in rehab. they would give him little bottles of this pink juice that would counteract the effect of wanting to do the heroine, and theid not shoot it. he had snorted.at he >> what kind of research did you find the state of pennsylvania had available for someone in your situation. not find anything. i was working a lot at the time. i w

heroin at age 15.l on his way to completing the drug center's intensive day treatment program. recently he signed himself out in order to avoid being kicked out and is in general population. >> this is my cell. i'm really mad at myself because i only had three weeks left. so it's kind of a bummer. but i got to accept my consequences. >> michael parapar walked up to an inmate in the drc program and took all his commissary and decided to tell the guy that he needed to beg for him to get it back. >> i thought me and him were cooler than we were. i thought it was all fun and games. somebody else thought it wasn't. >> the next morning i came in, and i was aware of the incident and i brought him into the office and questioned him about the incident. and at that point he admitted everything he did. i thought that he was doing great. i mean, he was on his 68th day. the day before this incident, i was telling my sergeant that i can't believe the growth that he's made. he was doing everything, everything perfect

heroin abuse in the united states. when the actor philip seymour hoffman died of an overdose recently, his death drew attention to a national crisis. america is in the grip of a heroin epidemic. addiction rates haven't higher. it's growing everywhere. ian panel has been to chicago and he has seen how it's destroying families. here is his special report and a warning that you may find some of these images isturbing. >> a pretty hot area for crack and heroin. >> there is a dark scouring endeveloping the american midwest. >> put your hands up. >> every night drug agents take to the streets in a desperate fight against the rising flow of heroin from south of the border, a war on drugs that has no end, a battle even the police know can never be won. >> anything illegal in here?

that stem with heroin. really what it was was mixed with the heroin which could affect someone's heart. so i think we have a huge problem in this country. we have a huge culture where people will use these drugs and we have a huge problem with people selling the drugs to get people addicted to heroin when they don't know that they are addicted to heroin. >> absolutely. in fact the drug enforcement agency that i spoke with reiterated that. he said the people selling they don't care. they don't care about the families and they don't care about the communities. they are just out to make a profit and unfortunately they do. the other thing i think is important to add along with what you said is in terms of just marijuana now is no longer straightforward marijuana. it's often mixed with something as well and that increases the likelihood of leading to other things. so that's a good point. >> host: you quote anthony pettigrew drug enforcement administration agent saying the perception used to be that heroin was mo

deaths from heroin overdoses are on the rise. dorothy spencer spoke to a mother who is sharing her story for the first time, hoping to save other parents from heartbreak. >> every day just get up and -- his car is out front. i look at it and horrible. >> reporter: it's been six months since terry haffar lost her son to a heroin overdose. >> you just don't pick it up and use. they know because it will kill you. >> reporter: 20-year-old steven haffar, a volunteer firefighter in st. mary's county started abusing prescription painkillers after he lost his girlfriend. >> his girlfriend was killed in a car accident three years ago, and he was a first responder to the car accident. he went to pills for painkillers to relieve the pain. >> reporter: eventually, haffar got clean. but then in september in ocean city, he overdosed on heroin. he was in a coma for ten days before he died. >> there was just nothing that anybody could do to keep him alive. >> reporter: haffar broke down as she shared her story with hundreds of people at the firs

heroin every single time. i think it also begs the question too the coast what one person that i spoke with who works at a youth center said we actually have a huge problem now with legalizing marijuana for medical use. we are telling kids on one hands don't do this and this is bad and it can lead to other things and then there is that sense that it's medicine. that is what i have heard from a lot of doctors too. one specific doctor talked about the need for better education for doctors to have in terms of the opi -- opioid prescribing. they can't have -- i can't remember where i was going with this. there has to be that sense of what it is they are taking. it is not a medicine that is just taken lightly. i think that's the most important thing. >> host: kristina lindborg you report in your article more than 12 main americans report using prescription painkillers and 2010 without a prescription or just for the high that they cause. nearly three out of four drug overdose deaths are now caused by prescription pa

there is this problem of heroin. needles in finding uncommon places, like on beaches or playgrounds. in a neighboring town, a woman was found unconscious -- she was experiencing an overdose in a public restroom. this was coming out in a town or city that has never experienced anything like this. it is a very affluent seaside community. a lot of tourists go there. rich maritime history. i went to this meeting and i was surprised. i live in a neighboring town. i had never heard anything like this. i went back to my editor and i said, i think this is a bigger story than covering one of event. anduld like to pursue this talk to other neighboring towns. so did. it was amazing how consistently i heard the same stories, especially from on for spent. the same stories every time about the number of overdoses that they had to respond to. the coupling of the heroine with the painkillers. there was never an isolation. that was the beginning of what became -- for that organization, a three-part series. christian science monitor a

addiction experts warn these become gateways to the exploding heroin addiction problem in places like in rutland vermont, which has a stunning level of heroin addiction and addicts caught in a vicious cycle. >> kim, how long have you been clean now? >> 16 months today. >> today is 16 months. >> yeah. >> congratulations. >> thanks. >> how does it feel to say that, that you've been clean for 16 months. >> it's surreal. i never thought i'd ever say that. >> 25-year-old kimberly jones says she was one of the busiest heroin dealers in this vermont neighborhood. it's basically an open-air market. we witnessed children playing, as drivers pulled in to make a quick deal. >> i used to buy drugs from there and sell them. >> heroin? >> yep, pills, heroin, whatever. >> in the heart of new england ski country, rutland is ground zero. addiction services are swamped, overdoses leaving more dead and state leaders scrambling to stop it. heroin has become such a serious problem, the governor made it the primary focus of this year's state of the state address. >> every corner of our state, heroin and op

see that the heroin users are unusually close to their moms.all it the mama's boy drug. and the mom will give him money to buy heroin so he won't have to go on the streets to steal and rob for it. sometim sometimes i have heard of cases in here where the mother will drive them to the spot to get the heroin and that is why it is a mama's drug for me. >> and now at 22, michael may have boyish looks, and says that his mother may not have realized that he was injecting it into his arm. >> it is like a surgeon's needle and hit the same spot 100 times, and my mother never knew i was doing heroin, because i never had track markets. >> he says he started to use heroin at age 15. he was well on the way of finishing the intensive 90-day program, but recently, he signed himself out to avoid being kicked out, and he is back in general population. >> this is my cell and i'm really mad, because i had e three weeks left, and so it is a kind of bummer, but, i have to accept my consequences. >> michael walked up to an inmate in the drc program, and took all of

i never did heroin. >> never did heroin? >> >> what about all>> sentence? r >> what sentence? >> my ten r >> what sentence? r >> >> my te day sent? r >> what's ten days? yp you alreayou already go in. whrr >> it's elaborate. itr it's very elaborate. >> onp >> one hand always other.>> battagl> suboxop suboxone asuboxonl tor tto inmatepto inma r >> p>> put thip >> >> becaubecause y'all don't never the middle page. >> glued? >r >> glued perfectly. >> sr >> >> so you'v>> the lines. how much is coming p>> eig >> strips? >> strips. eight milligrr eight mi r >> what's that go fo? >> 50 a pop. >> 50 a pop. i waspnever expectnen knknew aboup knew about it taktakenrtaken abacpta helpful information about the suboxop suboxosuboxone tha jap jail ajail and suboxop suboxosuboxone tha jap jail ajail andhopefull coming in. r >> y>> you said once ? >> once a week. >> at >> once a week. >> a 50 a pop? >> 50 a pop.rso hep so tr the courp the cour tt tax free. >> that's a lot. >> the officer then presse battaglbattaglia battaglr battaglp bar> nicknap nickname written on withop without revealing t

she was hooked on the vicodin and chased that high through heroin. >> i used to inject heroin five to eight times a day. >> reporter: and it's a story that's spreading. >> between 2006 and 2010 the number of er visits from pain killer abuse jumped 112% to almost 180,000. according to the cdc all together in 2010, 12 million americans reported abusing painkillers. later that year, the federal government began cracking down. but it would lead to another kind of epidemic, growing heroin abuse. the dea says the number of new users increased from 142,000 in 2010 to 178,000 in just one year. and they are getting younger from an average age of 25.5 years down to 22.1 years two years later. definitely there's been more young people coming to access service. >> reporter: eliza wheeler works for oakland-based harmless addiction reduction. she says the abuse has spread to the suburbs, from marin to lafayette and walnut creek and the oakland hills. >> all kinds of places where we've never heard from before. >> calls for help on how to deal with a loved one who had become addicted to heroin after

the street using heroin. narrator: there are also health risks associated with using heroin. if it's injected, there's a risk of hepatitis, of aids, of hiv, of many infectious diseases that are transmitted by the needle. for both heroin and cocaine, many of the public health problems one sees are related to the illegality of the drugs, and the difficulty individuals have in getting it, and in self-administering it in sterile ways. so they're very high-risk of infection. narrator: people who are not caught in the web of addiction have a hard time understanding its power and depth. it's easy for us to say "just stop." unfortunately, in that state, when people are physically dependent to drugs like alcohol or heroin, their brain is saying, "danger, don't stop this drug." we can recognize that, because in animal studies animals will tend to self-administer the same drugs that humans self-administer and abuse. so we don't need to think that there's something biologically abnormal about drug abuse, or that only som

heroin has been called a crisis. nowhere is the pain of addiction felt more acutely than the communities of vermont, seeing the number of opiate deaths double. and where the number of addicts seeking treatment rose 800% sips of the year 2002. "america tonight"'s adam may reports on those addicted in vermont. >> people here do not make enough money to get buy. they'll get rid of food carts. they'll go without food, they'll steel from friends and family to get one mosh. >> heroin is spreading through rural america, striking small towns like rutland, vermont. >> no matter what, 24/7, you are plotting in your head on how to get the next high. it's an every day struggle, an every second struggle. >> vermont ranks number two in the country for people seeking treatment for opiate addiction. tucked away between the restaurants is seren itty house. there are addicts homing here to get clean. here are two hard core addicts going through recovery. >> how hard is it? >> it destroys you. mentally it's all over the place. you are

how they say heroin is ruining life for the residents there. ♪ >>> the mystery voushing the disappearancef malaysian flight grows more mysterious by the day. the families continue to wait in agony. lisa moments ago we heard from the president and ceo of boeing on capitol hill. what can you tell us about that. >> the bowing president was already scheduled to testify on another matter, but the first words out of his mouth were about this missing aircraft. the bowing 777 has a fabulous safety record, but boeing along with everyone else wants to know desperately what happened to this plane, and as the boeing president acknowledged, the families are in agony. >> i also want to express my condolences on behalf of boeing to the friends and family of the passengers and the crew. boeing has certainly joined with the national transportation safety board, we have a technical advisory team in the asia, and we have doing everything to maintain a sufficient, and efficient global transportation system. >> he declined to answer any questions into the investigation, but there were some promising leads lat

over the increasingly wide use of heroin. "america tonight"'s in-depth series over one of the states that is suffering the worst, addicted in vermont. on this series we look to a new generation, born addicted. "america tonight"'s adam may brings us their story. rg. >> that is quite the cry on him. >> it is. and it's constant. >> jessica says the guilt is overwhelming. every time she watches this video of her baby boy. >> hard to watch, it really is. >> jacks was built physically dependent on the heroin replacement drug, seboxin. >> he cried, he had all the symptoms. there's no subtlety to him. >> crying? >> oh yeah, crying. >> fidgeting. >> fidgeting, starting. the -- startling. the only time he seemed okay was when we were skin to skin, if he was lying right on my chest, that would settle him. >> jessica has lived her entire life in the picturesque town in vermont, the most drug addicted women in the entire country. by age 20 jessica was addicted to heroin and she stayed looked for ten years. when she found out she was pregn

heroin abuse and it's happening here in the bay area. but there's one drug health experts say will save lives. >>> noouf evidence suggesting that autism starts in the womb. the up expected discovery by california researchers. and why the tsa wants more guns in airports. the changes that could be on the way. we're back in one minutes. >>> the recent deaths of actors phillip seymour hoffman and cory montaf puts a face on herwin. how do you stop it? with the help of another drug. stephanie troung has the story that's new at 11:00. >> reporter: sending the kids off to jujitsu. picking up after them. just another day in the life of tracy mitchell. but this wasn't always life for the now mother of three. tracy used to sleep where there were no walls and no safety. on the streets of san francisco. >> as a child, i was -- what do you call? i was precocious. >> reporter: eventually she became the face for a heroin documentary. >> i was going in and out of jail. >> reporter: tracy said it began with getting her wisdom teeth pulled at 17. she was h

to take it and i die from that heroin, he's liable for murder, for killing me, by giving me that heroine right. >> if you were loaded up with oxycontin at the time. >> see, it's so interesting that you say oxycontin. i was just sitting here saying, i applaud this law enforcement officer for doing something creative. we have an epidemic, 105 people a day in the united states die. it's the third-largest killer of people in massachusetts, opium overdose. did you know that? it's crazy what an epidemic it is. i worry that you're just kind of barking up the wrong tree. and instead of sending this guy to jail for $30,000 a year, we have got to start to look at the wholesale problem of oxycontin, of treatment available, the fact that the fda just approved a drug that is ten times more strong than oxycontin, even when the medical board said they shouldn't. so i see that this is an act of desperation. i don't really like it. >> so danny, you know, rosa is talking about this spectacular effort in new jersey. but we've got a lot of states out there that have the same kind of problem, maybe not to t

two moms have a warning about the heroin epidemic. new video shows the moment that a deadly explosion wiped out two apartment buildings. and we'll show you a very special delivery when the cbs evening news continues. and you're talking to your rheumatologist about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain. this is humira helping me lay the groundwork. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage in many adults. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira, your doctor should test you

but she's kicking heroin. kind of like the other blonde. >> jessica arrived two days ago, still high on heroin and barely able to stomach the food. and though mcnaughton's gravitational pull in the dorm is strong, styx said she won't be sucked in. >> like kelley is, i guess, a pimp. she has everybody doing everything for her, which i'm not going to do. i don't like girls at all. >> you know what she said to me last night? she looked at me and she goes, he i'm not like you. i'm like good and i'm not in prison. >> oh, my god. >> she said i meant i'm not a hustler. is that what you meant? >> yeah. that's what i mean. [ bleep ] you looked at me and said i'm not like you. >> i meant i'm not a hustler. [ bleep ] because you hustle. >> how do you get pill money? >> what are the fake boobs for? if you're not hustling? >> because i had a good life one time. i just started doing heroin two years ago. i wasn't like this. i was a really normal person. i had two kids. i've never been a stripper. i've never got naked for an

of-- of heroin. >>> the baur of sandy hook elementary shooter -- the father of sandy hook elementary shooter, adam lanza, is breaking his silence. peter lanza spoke to the media about his son for the first time in an interview with "the new yorker" magazine. >> reporter: peter han za, the father -- lanza, the father of adam lanza, has broken his silence saying with hindsight i know that adam would have killed me in a heartbeat if he had the chance. in his first interview since the shooting, nearly 15 months ago, lanza tells the magazine, he has met with two families of his son's victims says a victim's family member said he forgave adam after we spent three hours talking. i didn't even know how to respond. >>> 20 little children, six adults. >> unimaginable horror grips the nation. >> reporter: han za says when he -- lanza says when he realized what happened he called his wife at work saying over and over, i think it's adam. it's adam. lanza said he knew his son had problems but he was difficult to treat. in his words, he did not want to talk about problems and didn't even admit he h

heroin use commonly begins with prescription opiate abuse. and heroin is a sad but not unpredictable symptom of the significant increase in prescription drug abuse that we've seen over the past decade. >> encouraging first responders around the country to carry the drug narcane that reverses the effects of opiate overdoses. >>> mexico thought they had killed moreno gonzalez, now they're certain they got him. >> reporter: the killing of moreno gonzalez comes after the arrest of joaquin el chapa guzman. now the government is trying to show that they clearly have control of this ongoing drug war that has been carrying on for several years. it's also a year to try to show the previous government of being inefficient. the previous government said they killed moreno in 2010. they never produced a body but said people involved in the fire fight and witnesses could assure it. now we see that was not the case. moreno was a mystical figure for many mexicans. he is the one who indoctrinated the templar knights cartel. and they said it was not guzman who

southern california senator introduced a law. >>> heroin making headlines in washington, d.c. today. u.s. attorney general eric holder called the drug an urgent public health crisis. >> adiction to heroin and other -- addiction to heroin and other pain killers is impacting the lives of americans in every state, and from every background and walk of life. >> the department of homeland security released -- the justdous apartment said heroin over dose deaths increased by 45%. >> the transition to and increase in heroin abuse is sad but not unpredictable system of the increase in prescription drug abuse you have seen over the past decade. >> the justdous apartment will increase its efforts to stop heroin use and at the same time provide treatment to addicts. statistics so the rate of use in the bay area remain the same the past few years and in this area methamphetamine is the most prevalent problem. >>> a boy who asked a science question was surprised to get a big answer in return. >> question, how does a -- >> simple question from the four-year-old. how many stars are there. he

growing heroin abuse.sed from 142,000 in 2010 to 178,000 in just one year. and they're getting younger. from an average age of 25.5 years in 2009 down to 22.1 years just two years later. >> definitely there's been more young people coming to access services. >> reporter: eliza wheeler works for oakland-based harm reduction coalition, leading the dope project, which aims to prevent overdose deaths. she said the abuse has spread to the suburbs. from marin to lafayette to walnut creek and the oakland hills. >> all kinds of places where we've never heard from before. >> reporter: calls for help on how to deal with a loved one who had become addicted to heroin after abusing pain killers. >> from prescription medications like oxycodone. >> reporter: philip kauffman is with the san francisco department of public health which began a partnership with the dope project to slash drug abuse by giving addicts another drug, naloxone. either injected in the muscle or under the skin or sprayed into the nose, the nonaddict

he's been a heroin addict for 17 years and has spent the last two months here. like most other jail inmates, white has not been convicted of a crime but is in custody awaiting resolution of his case. he's pled not guilty to charges of burglary, grand theft and dealing in stolen property. >> that's katie, my wife, and me getting married on the beach. we put together this whole thing ourselves. i mean, it was so cool. i baked my own cake and did everything myself, really. it turned out extremely good. very, very, very pretty. that was one of the happiest days of my life. i'm looking at that photo surrounded by this. it hits home. you know, i feel like i let her down, you know? >> white's wife, 21-year-old katie ellis, is in another wing of the jail. regulations prohibit them from seeing each other. ♪ i'm free believe me >> katie, who shares a heroin addiction with chad, is charged with burglary and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. she has not yet entered a plea. ♪ you smoked away your fears >> like chad's, katie's incarceration is largely due to a d

. >>> plus, parents voice their outrage after heroin, heroin was found in a grade school.n out here? the teacher's union has now decided that they're going to stonewall the police investigation on this. the needles were found in the teacher's lounge. >> tell me how it is not small town politics when there is no reason you can't put them on administrative leave. i'm not satisfied. point blank, i'm not satisfied. i want to know what is state law and what are your grounds for not putting these people on administrative leave. administrative leave. and everybody can disagree with good job! still runnng in the morning? yeah. getting your vegebles every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories. two full servings of vegetables she loves a lot of it's what you love about her. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis i

. >>> plus, parents voice their outrage after heroin, heroin was found in a grade school.t is going on out here? the teacher's union has now decided that they're going to stonewall the police investigation on this. the needles were found in the teacher's lounge. >> tell me how it is not small town politics when there is no reason you can't put them on administrative leave. i'm not satisfied. point blank, i'm not satisfied. i want to know what is state law and what are your grounds for not putting these people on administrative leave. and everybody can disagree with me. my kids are important to me. re. re. while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mcelebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for ny with arthritis pain d inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function celeex can be taken with or without food.

. >> reporter: heroin. >> pills, heroin what ever. >> reporter: staying clean in a state where heroinddiction step depositionic and rules on rehab may be making the problem worse. on al jazeera america ♪ a live look here at 5th avenue in new york city, a chilly 23 degrees here today. welcome back to al jazeera america, straight ahead help may be on the way for nearly 2 million americans who have been out of work for a while but first let's look at the forecast across the country and metrologist nicole mitchell is back. >> it might be 23 in new york by the winds are down and makes it feel better than the wind chills yesterday and a lot has quieted down and look at the eastern half of the country and how dry it is, the area in the midwest later today for great lakes and tomorrow in northeast could bring minor amounts of moisture and interested in the western half of the country and southwest and northwest and in the northwest there is rain on the coastline and parts of the olympics 3" and in the cascade maybe 6" of snow. but not as wet of a system as we have seen recently. in the southw

a troubling increase in the number of people using heroin. evidence suggests some users, will substitute heroin for prescription opioids since it is often cheaper than prescription drugs. a recent report from the mental health services administration found that while only 3.6% of people who had started using prescription drugs nonmedically ever initiated heroin use in the following five-year period, four-fifths of recent initiatives previously used prescription pain relievers nonmedically. these findings demonstrate that we need to take a comprehensive approach to addressing opioid drugs, including more widespread use and emergency oepiate reversal medication and as well as expanded access to medication assisted treatment. multiple studies show young people's attitudes towards marijuana use and nonmedical use of prescription drugs are soften. each day an estimated 4400 young people under the age of 18 initiate drug use for the first time. this can have a profound effect in the future. since research shows us in earlier a person begins to use

we are not seeing widespread heroin trafficking of heroin from afghanistan but clearly as a relates to instability in the country and the money it facilitates is a particular problem. we work with the department of defense as well as the department of state in terms of looking at how do we continue to aid counternarcotics efforts in afghanistan. clearly the next few months in terms of the election there are as well as kind of what are the resources after troop pullout is a particular concern in terms of looking at those issues of both poppy eradication as well as alternative development to take the place of those poppies. that said it doesn't diminish in terms of what we are anticipating for our counternarcotics efforts. we are looking to continue priorities that provide training and technical assistance to the counternarcotics police of afghanistan as well as vetted units within the afghan drug law enforcement as well as investing in sustainability and capacity building with the administrative counternarcotics. these are efforts in the international law enforcement division. clearly t

i've been doing heroin a little over ten years. >> reporter: espinoza said he sported his addictions by shoplifting and then would sell them in ethnic neighbors. >> i would grab jeans, grab like a rack of them, go to the italians, puerto rico for the clothes, go to the chinese for the electronics or watches. >> if convicted of his current charges, espinoza could face several years in state prison. >> sad to say but maybe it's what i need. >> while espinoza's legal future is still uncertain, his time in segregation is drawing to a close. he's about to be transferred to general population. >> tomorrow i get out thank god, get to play in the big box again. out of the little box into the big box. i hate the little box. >> like espinoza, daniel also aspires to be placed on the general population unit. >> because you get to mingle with the crowd. i've never been apart. only time i was there was in newman. i was in newman for like two weeks. >> what happened. >> fight? >> everybody fights, right? that's the only way you can handle situations in here. you've got to fight. if someone says som

and it eventually led to heroin. i've been doing heroin a little over 10 years. >> espinosa said he supported his addiction while shoplifting and would then sell the items in boston's ethnic neighborhoods. >> i would grab a rack of ed hardy jeans, fence the stuff, go to the italians, puerto ricans for the clothes. go to the chinese for the electronics that you can get you know, from watches. >> if convicted of his current charges, espinoza could face several years in state prison. >> sad to say, but maybe it's what i need. >> while his legal future is still uncertain, his time in segregation is drawing to a close. he's about to be transferred to general population. >> tomorrow i get out. thank god. get to play in the big box again. out of the little box, into the big box. hate the little box. >> like espinoza, daniel also aspires to be placed on the general population unit. >> got to mingle with the crowd. you get to get out. be with everybody else. i never been to pop. only time i was in pop was in newman. i've neve

. >> eric holder is calling the increase in heroin death a crisis. >> the cycle of heroin abuse begins with prescription opiate abuse. the transition to and increase in heroin abuse is sad but not inpredictable simply tom of the increase in prescription drug abuse that we have seen over the past decade. eric holder is encouraging first responders to carry a drug that will reverse the effects of an overdose. 17 states in the district of columbia allow it to be sold to the public. >> former olympic star oscar pistorius cried and threw up in court after hearing details of the autopsy. the testimony was so graphic the judge barred it from being broadcast. the defense maintains oscar pistorius mistook reeva steenkamp for an intruder. he faces life in prison. >> we have a warm-up on the way for the east. it is a cool down for the west. not only a cool down, but drying out as well. snow levels will come down, that will hold on to the snow pack that is in place. ice jams coming in. expect flooding to continue here. the primary focus is in montana where the ice jams are causing streams and cree