BIRMINGHAM, AL – FEBRUARY 16, 2018: Anna Lewis, 25, stands in a sober living apartment where she is in recovery for alcohol addiction. As a teenager, Lewis first encountered opiates through pain medication that was prescribed to her after a car accident in high school. Oxycontin, the social drug of choice at the time, was so prevalent in her hometown of Pensacola, Fla., that experimentation was easy. “I didn’t even have to look for it. It was just there – at my work, or my friends had it,” she said. “I didn’t realize I was addicted until I felt like I had the flu one day, and after using, I felt normal. That’s when I knew I had a problem.” Within a year, Lewis had switched to shooting heroine, and even moved to Atlanta where the drug was cheaper and easier to find. It took an arrest for possession while shoplifting books at a Barnes & Noble to finally realize she was an addict. “I’d spent all my money on dope,” Lewis said. “So those books were my friends. It’s hard to have real friends when you’re using. Dope is your priority. The people you’re around are sick too, so no one is looking out for you. Everyone’s focus is dope.” At age 19, Lewis finally kicked the heroine habit after checking herself into a detox program, but she soon turned to alcohol. “It only took about a year for me to become an alcoholic – needing it on a daily basis,” she said. Today, Lewis has been sober from alcohol for 3 months, but she says she’s painfully aware of the money her mother and grandmother have spent on rehab, and has felt obligated to pay back what she can. “My mom has always been there for me, and she still is,” Lewis said. “It’s been life saving to know that I’m able to call her anytime, and there will be love on the other end of the line.” The addiction crisis that is killing tens of thousands of Americans every year is also creating a financial crisis for many families, compounding the anguish caused by a loved one.

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