"Chicago’s heroin epidemic laid bare..."

[WhiskeyGirl]

Is this America's future?

A bloodied drug addict falls into a stupor as he injects a bags-worth of potent Mexican heroin into his foot.

Disturbing as it may be, this is an all-too-familiar sight on Chicago's West Side.

The addict, named Rico, is just one of hundreds of the city's homeless population in the grip of the city's heroin 'epidemic'.

And not all of them have grown up in inner city slums, as you might expect.

There has has been a rise in the number of 'suburban addicts' ending up on the streets too.

The problem has been blamed on Mexican cartels flooding the streets with, what local and national government officials say, is some of the highest purity heroin there has ever been.

This haunting project - titled Poison Brown - is the work of photographer Chuck Jines, 47, who has spent almost a year documenting the plight of Chicago's addicts.

His images show the squalid conditions in which they live - in cardboard boxes, under bridges and car parks - and how they will do anything to get their next fix.

Mr Jines, who started shooting documentary projects in 2008, said he was shocked by the level of drug abuse he found.

 

Read more and see pictures: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2596929/Chicagos-heroin-epidemic-laid-bare-Photographer-spends-year-homeless-capturing-harrowing-images-potent-Mexican-drug-sweeping-city.html

How has Obama uplifted these people?  More welfare dollars?  Increases in food stamps?  Free bus service to the voting booth?