LAS VEGAS -- The drug heroin often conjures up images of junkies with needles in back alleys or worse. It doesn't conjure up images of kids in southern Nevada school yards. But the experts say that's exactly where dealers are hooking a new generation of smack addicts.
Heroin use in southern Nevada is the on the rise. According to local law enforcement, seizures of the drug have jumped more than 1000 percent since 2007. Overdose deaths are up and local drug treatment centers report more heron-related admissions.
Like the young men you're about to meet on the path away from addiction. The leader of this pack, we'll call him Jesse, finds humor in the circumstance of his television debut. The 20-year-old and his companions 18-year-old John and 17-year-olds Adam and Justin are recovering heroin addicts ascending Mount Awareness as part of their drug rehabilitation.
"I don't think I could've done what I did up here down at any program in town," Jesse said. He graduates this night following a six-month stint at the Harris Springs Ranch, a drug treatment program for men and boys, strategically located high in the Spring Mountains.
Like most here, Jesse arrived by court-order. His trip down the rabbit hole was fueled first by a prescription drug habit. "I started smoking it and when that got too expensive, it went to heroin, smoking that, and it went to shooting heroin. And it wasn't long before I started doing things I didn't want to do," he said.
Like Jesse, a needle served as Mike's moral compass.
"I've been locked up a bunch," said heroin addict Mike. The tattoo on his hand is a permanent reminder of his days as a teenage cocaine dealer. His drug of choice -- until heroin.
"Oh my gosh, it's like you've never wanted something in your life so much. Every single day I sit there and think about it and fiend for it. I think about putting it on foil and smoking it or putting it in a rig and shooting it up," Mike said.
Even 40 days clean, Mike's cravings still control. "He's the lost one," Jesse said.
"The downside of heroin is it's so addictive, so quickly addictive," said Jennifer Hilton, who is the director of men's and adolescent treatment services for Westcare Nevada.
This year alone, Hilton estimates a 15 percent increase in her juvenile heroin admissions. An exponential jump from five years ago. "It had to do with the Oxycontin coming back and the high that came with that and it became easier to get and when they were having such a hard time getting Oxycontin, the dealers made it acceptable. They put a spin on it. 'Hey this is the new great way to get high, just like that but it's just a little cheaper.'"
According to police, one tablet of Oxycontin can cost up to $80 while a balloon of heroin averages $10. Jesse says he got his first taste from a girlfriend. Both were students at one of the valley's most prestigious private high schools.
"Before I know, it's been 13 months. I lost a great job, let a lot of people down and pretty much said 'screw you' to my parents one more time," Jesse said.
Now on the eve of his return to reality, instead of a chasing a high, Jesse runs toward awareness.
"It's been a huge wake up call for me and I wouldn't change that experience for the world. I wouldn't trade going to jail, I wouldn't trade what I did," Jesse said.
Jesse calls himself one of the lucky ones and if you look at the numbers he is. Overdose deaths from heroin jumped 50 percent this year over last year in Clark County. Nevada ranks third highest in the nation for all deaths from drug overdose.
