Second Place
Joe Amon
The Denver Post
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"FALLEN ANGEL'S / HEROIN IN DENVER"
An explosion in opiate painkiller abuse is leading in turn to a terrifying growth in heroin addiction and overdose in America. In Denver, pain pills may be everywhere, but heroin as an opium-delivery vehicle is far cheaper. Addicts discover this when they’ve finally burned through all the pills their friends give them, or the ones they steal from their parents’ medicine cabinets: Percocet on the street costs $1 per milligram. A 100mg balloon of potent black tar heroin in Denver sells for $20. A heroin habit for a homeless addict is possible because of the drug's availability and price. They ‘fly a sign’ begging for money up to 12 hours a day, rain or shine. Generous or oblivious drivers and good Samaritans hand them up to $100 a day, hoping against their better judgment that the money will be used well. They are constantly proved wrong.
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With her lips bright red, Angel Gamboeck stops licking the wounds and lets the blood flow from so many missed attempts at finding a vein in her hand. Angel was shooting up two full bags of heroin and cocaine mixed together under a bridge in Denver. Angel, a homeless heroin addict, flies a sign on the streets in order to support her habit.
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