SNL_20160613_0404_M
SILVER SPRING, MD, USA - JUNE 13, 2016 :
Alex shoots a look at Kyle. She and Kyle have decided to take end their relationship, because Alex felt he wasn't driven enough. "I've been given this amazing second chance, I need to focus on myself and taking every opportunity that comes to me," Alex said. "I can't be with anyone who isn't as focused as I am." It has been three years since she last used heroin, and a year since her felony record was expunged. She now works full time, and is working toward getting her college degree. She earned her GED while in jail. She says she wants to work toward becoming a drug counselor.
Heroin is a huge industry in Baltimore, as it is in many post-industrial towns and cities in the United States. It has seen a huge resurgence in popularity over the last decade, due in great measure to the availability of prescription opioids like oxycontin, which is often a gateway drug.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2002, 100 people per 100,000 were addicted to heroin but that number had doubled by 2013. Rates of addiction in the Northeastern United States have increased dramatically, only slightly outpaced by addiction rates in the Midwest, with the highest addiction increases being reported amongst 18-25-year-olds. The rate of heroin-related overdose deaths increased 286 percent between 2002 and 2013.
This photograph was unposed and undirected by the photographer and shot on assignment for Stern Magazine.