Across America, officials are raising the alarm on a public health plague: Heroin abuse. Philip Seymour Hoffman’s tragic death recently brought national awareness to the problem of heroin-related overdoses and deaths. But experts in the field say they are seeing heroin take its toll on people from all walks of life, income levels and professions. In some cases, users may have had no prior drug history until falling into heroin use after getting hooked on painkillers after a surgery or accident.
And as the heroin problem spreads from cities to small towns—as in Vermont, where the governor recently spoke passionately about what he called a “full-blown heroin crisis” in his state—no community has gone unaffected.
NBC News wants to tell the stories of people who have been most intimately impacted by heroin—users and their loved ones. Have you or a family member ever battled a heroin problem, now or in the past? We want to hear from you. Submit your story via email by clicking on this address. We may be in touch for an upcoming report, so let us know how we can contact you.