THIRTEEN to Air MetroFocus Special: 'New York's Heroin Epidemic' Tonight

The award-winning series MetroFocus premieres new episodes in the New York and tri-state region weeknights at 5 p.m. on WLIW21, 5:30 p.m. on NJTV and 6 p.m. on THIRTEEN. All episodes are available at metrofocus.org following the broadcast.

The episodes description for tonight, Tuesday, May 10 follow below. Please note episode descriptions are subject to change. Please visit metrofocus.org for the latest information.

MetroFocus #1119
Tuesday, May 10 at 5:00 p.m. on WLIW21, 5:30 p.m. on NJTV and 6:00 p.m. on THIRTEEN

Heroin Killing More Suburban Teens - Statistics are showing that young Americans are dying at rates not seen since the end of the AIDS epidemic. What is the cause of these deaths? It may surprise you: drug overdose. It turns out that since 1999, deaths caused by drug overdoses have multiplied five-times among young, white Americans. The New York Times investigative reporter Sarah Cohen joins us with a look at the data she's been collecting, and explains the importance of geography in determining who is dying from the disease.

Addiction's Toll: From Federal Prosecutor to Federal Prisoner - Dragon, smack, dope. Whatever you may call it, heroin has made a big comeback across the nation, and the consequences are fatal. In New York City alone, over 400 deaths in 2013 were due to the drug, a number that outpaced all other drug overdoses and even the city's homicide rate. In his new book, Sheer Madness: From Federal Prosecutor to Federal Prisoner, Andrew McKenna details his own struggles with heroin and how he went from convicting criminals to living alongside them.

Road To Recovery: The Next Step - In many cases, the shrinking gender gap would be celebrated, but in the case of heroin use, the number of women who are heroin addicts has just about doubled in the last decade. In upstate New York, an Albany-based addiction treatment center called The Next Step has seen this growing trend first-hand, and is working to help recovering heroin addicts find their next step in life away from the drug. A group of women at the facility share their story with us about what their lives were like on heroin and the everyday struggle it takes for them to stay clean.

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