Rosecrance will be featured on “NBC Nightly News” with weekend anchor Lester Holt at 5:30 p.m. CST Sunday, Sept. 7, as the network continues its in-depth coverage of the nation’s heroin crisis. A story on Saturday’s “Nightly News” also looks at the heroin issue, and that report leads into the Sunday story featuring Rosecrance.
NBC reporter Mark Potter and producer Erika Angulo, both veteran award-winning journalists, traveled to Chicago recently to talk with law enforcement officials and others about the problem. The team traced the routes by which heroin is trafficked from Mexico to America’s cities, primarily to Chicago. The Windy City has become the epicenter of the nation’s heroin crisis, making the often-deadly drug cheap and easily accessible here.
From a treatment perspective, Rosecrance is in the eye of the heroin storm. Admissions of adolescents and young adults for treatment of heroin addiction have risen dramatically in recent years.
Potter interviewed Rosecrance Chief Medical Officer Dr. Thomas Wright, along with 24-year-old Wes T., who’s in recovery after receiving treatment at Rosecrance, and Deb L., the mother of a boy who went through our residential program for adolescents.
Dr. Wright talked about the nature of heroin addiction and how Rosecrance treats people for heroin dependence. Wes and Deb both debunked the notion of the “Heroin Highway,” which had referred to interstate routes from the suburbs into the inner city, routes used by young people to buy heroin from street dealers. They said heroin is easily obtainable with a phone call in any of Chicago’s suburbs, and no one needs to go to the city anymore to get it.
Producer Angulo said the report featuring Rosecrance is set to air on Sunday, barring other news that could force NBC to reschedule it.