Hope After Heroin: The Epidemic in Our Backyard

Introduction

This WQED documentary delves into the opioid crisis and the widespread impact of heroin use in Western Pennsylvania. Individuals who have faced addiction—either personally or through someone they love—open up about their experiences of hardship, stigma, and loss. Yet, through their stories, they also reveal how their pain became a driving force for change, offering hope and inspiration to others.

Heroin’s grip on the nation is undeniable, and Western Pennsylvania is no exception. Today, there isn’t a single town, community, or county in the region untouched by the epidemic. It transcends generations, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and has become so widespread that overdoses are occurring in public spaces.

Stigma has long silenced the conversation. But that is beginning to change. More and more people are coming forward, breaking the silence, and sharing their journeys. Their voices are helping others realize that recovery is possible—at any stage, for anyone.

You can also watch a one-hour follow-up panel discussion on this topic.

Quotes

“There are more people addicted to heroin, more families devastated by it, and more people dying from heroin than any time in our history.”

“It started with the dramatic rise of prescription pain medicines, the opioids, the OxyContin’s, the Vicodin’s, the hydrocodone’s. There was also heavy marketing of pharmaceutical companies with some misleading information that these substances are not addicting, are safe. And a lot of well-meaning doctors started prescribing more and more of these with good intentions. But we’ve now learned that the pendulum swung too far.”

“When the pill habit becomes too expensive, users turn to the cheaper option – heroin. They go from pills to snorting heroin and then, after a couple of months, to get more for their money, they switch over to needles.”

“Heroin tricks the brain into thinking the drug is needed to survive. That, combined with intense physical pain, forces people back for more.”

“Heroin, in the beginning, made me feel euphoric. But whenever I didn’t have the heroin, it was the worst sickness that I could ever imagine in my life. Everything on you hurts. You can’t move, you can’t eat, you can’t sleep, you’re hot, you’re cold.”

“If you incarcerate a person with addiction and don’t get them treatment, there’s a very, very high likelihood they’re just going to come back out and continue to use.”

“Laura Propst started NOM (Not One More) Pittsburgh after both of her children became addicted to heroin. ‘We have a lot of families, parents, wives, children who are experiencing a lot of loss and grief and they just need a comfortable place to land.’”