Black Tar Heroin: The Dark End of the Street (NR)

synopsis

"Black Tar Heroin" examines two years in the live of five young heroin addicts, chronicling the daily lives of Jake, Jessica, Tracey, Oreo and Alice as they face the ever-present perils of hard-core drug addiction-crime, prostitution, rape, incarceration, AIDS, overdoses and death. Over the past few years, black tar heroin (chiva) smuggled up from Mexico-cheap, abundant and deadly potent-has transformed San Francisco's drug scene. In ten years, the heroin-caused death rate in the City has doubled: more people now die from drug overdoses than from guns and knives. Despite its tolerant reputation, San Francisco is considered by many addicts to have the cruelest, most dangerous drung scene in America.