Heroin's Children
The opioid epidemic has many victims, including the abusers, the friends and family members who love them, and the fabric of the communities in which they live. It has also created a generation of orphaned or severely neglected children. The grim and heartbreaking documentary Heroin's Children tells their story.
Set in Chillicothe, Ohio, a community that has been decimated by heroin addiction and overdose deaths, the film introduces us to several figures who struggle on the front lines of the crisis.
A young mother of two recalls her harrowing existence as a heroin user. She missed many of her children's milestones as they were growing up, and she regrets that her little boy witnessed her in the death throes of an overdose. After that experience, she got herself clean and continues to rebuild her life. She's one of the rare and lucky ones.
Another interview subject realized both of her parents were hooked on opioids as she entered the sixth grade. Narcotics abuse eventually killed her father, and led her mother to prison. She, like many other children of drug abusers, was sent to live in foster care before settling into her grandparent's home.
The film profiles one of these grandparents, an elderly woman in a one-bedroom house who has assumed custody of her daughter's four small children. She is ill equipped to properly care for the large brood, and she's afraid that her own ailing health will compromise her ability to see them through adulthood.
At a treatment and counseling facility, a group of pregnant women share their own horror stories of addiction, and the fears and feelings of remorse they carry for their unborn babies. These children will likely be born with the quivering physical effects of their bad choices. In interviewing these haunted women, the filmmakers attempt to understand the moment when the pull of addiction becomes more important than the welfare of their children.
"Heroin is the devil incarnate," explains one of the film's participants. Whether or not society finds an effective means of defeating this devil, its insidious impact will remain with us for many decades to come. Heroin's Children is a sobering reminder of this.
Very well done! Thanks so much! Are there anymore like this?
Ayy Mark be quiet with that christ talk. You sound like a delusional fool, BTW. Amazing documentary, keep up the great work!
I have watched hundreds of heroin documentaries and this is BY FAR THE BEST one I have EVER seen!! So real and raw
To Mark Gaboury: Opioids are not a drug you can PRAY or PAY away. That’s why it’s called an ADDICTION. Christ himself can appear while an addict is getting high and that addict will continue to get high. Fact is if we’re not willing to blame and hold accountable Not the ghetto hoodie wearing black guy running to the car with a baggie, but the LEGAL DRUG DEALERS that STARTED this EPIDEMIC (Doctors & Pharmaceuticals) why bother with films and treatment centers. They’re still pumping this stuff out. Reality is the only way to combat this nonsense not wishes and hopes. Addicts LOVE getting high.
Faith in Christ is stronger then the pull of a lowly drug? Said the non-addict. This documentary is heartbreaking and shows the ripple effect stemming from an addict(s) in the thrawls of their addiction. I’m social worker specializing in substance abuse with 9 years of sobriety. Addiction is a tragic lifelong mental disease which is not CHOOSEN by someone. These families have paid the ultimate price but the addict lost any and all control over their using. They are guilty of the pain they have caused, but they can’t stop and get help without access to affordable treatment programs.
Either you love your kids more or your high more. And faith, if it's real faith in Christ, not the sham you see in charismatic circles, is much stronger than the pull of a lowly drug. I would love to adopt those six girls: the four little ones, the older one, and the grandmother.
I was almost 16 when I asked someone to shoot me up with heroin. After years of horror, the loss of all my family except my brother, my daughter given/taken at age 2 by family, losing a baby, watching people OD, almost getting killed and shame, guilt, at the age of 35 I stopped. I started in the mid seventies. I was hopeful the quieting of the heroin problem would last in the mid 90s. Then came pharma and now this. It breaks my heart to see and remember the pain from the past. I now work managing a women's drug program. For years it was meth amphetamines, horrible but not deadly as heroin. I thank all who participated in this documentary as not saying anything at all is..... I sometimes forget how fortunate I am to be here walking on this Earth but recently feel it more so.
The question is why.. Big pharma greed and Afghanistan...
So heart breaking....our society needs to be aggressive in treating addiction as the horrible disease it is. Yes, at first its a choice, but once addicted and the physical dependency sets in, its pure hell...heroin is so awful...my beautiful daughter is 24 and is an IV heroin user. She has gone through 7 inpatient detoxs, one rehab, tried output suboxone with addiction Drs 5 times, has tried about 5 self detoxes and never one time ever even came close to getting off, maybe 2 days tops....all her peripheral veins are collapsed and is now using her neck. She is the sweetest girl and this is just so so awful I can't find the words to describe how really awful it is....