GLOUCESTER, MA - MARCH 22: A police officer holds a bag of heroin confiscated as evidence on March 22, 2016 in Gloucester, MA. Last June Gloucester created the Angel Program, which directs addicts to treatment centers, instead of jailing them, and the program has been increasingly copied by police departments nationwide. Communities across New England are struggling with an epidemic of overdoses and deaths due to addiction to opioid painkillers and heroin. On March 15, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), announced guidelines for doctors to reduce the amount of opioid painkillers prescribed nationwide, in an effort to curb the epidemic. The CDC estimates that most new heroin addicts first became hooked on prescription pain medication before graduating to heroin, which is stronger and cheaper. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
