NASHVILLE, Tenn. - There is a rise in heroin use in Nashville. Metro Police say year to date they've already seized 49 percent more of the drug than last year.
Numbers show 2014 was one of the worst years ever.
We found drug addicts like Jessica Hoffman and a man who only gave us the name Tony, at the Davidson County Drug Court. Tony is a recovering heroin addict. They talked about their experiences and their addictions.
Tony said, "I couldn't even go to work unless I had some. So, that right there lets you know you’re going to do whatever you've got to do to get it."
Heroin is fast becoming a drug of choice in Middle Tennessee.
Hoffman said, "It wasn't around a lot five years ago, and now I can't hardly find pills anywhere it's just been heroin."
Hoffman had back pain and became addicted to prescription pain killers.
She started getting high on the pills.
Hoffman said, "It makes you feel good and you take it everyday and you build a tolerance. You have to take more and then by the time your prescription is out you realize you are sick like you have the flu, but you know that pill will make it better."
Prescriptions ran out and she couldn't afford the pills the dealer was selling on the street corner.
They both turned to an alternative. It was heroin.
Hoffman said, "I could pay $60 for one pill or I could pay $25 for one shot of heroin that will keep me unsick exactly like the pill would."
She said it changed her.
Hoffman said, "It took me to a whole other place. I started prostituting. I lost all my morals, all my values. I became a completely different person. I didn't care about anything or anyone. I just wanted to make sure that I had heroin to stay unsick."
Hoffman lost everything including her two children and fiance'.
She ended up in jail. Now, she's in the Davidson County Drug Court hoping to recover from the addiction.
Heroin is coming on strong. Tony told us he was once very familiar with crack and dope dealers in East Nashville.
That has changed.
Tony said, "Now it's heroin instead of crack. Heroin has become an epidemic man. It sure is. "
Epidemic is a word some lawmakers describe heroin addiction in Kentucky.
This spring the Kentucky lawmakers passed legislation to treat addicts instead of jailing them.
Health departments are allowed to set up needle exchanges, and more people can carry naloxone.
That's the drug paramedics use to save a person from an overdose.
