Alex, 20, lives in Baltimore, MD. Like many others in „Charme City“, she ist a heroin addict. Addiction runs in her family: her mother was an alcoholic, and her father becameaddicted to crack and abandoned Alex and her mother when she was 10-years old. She has not heard from him since.. Alex has been using for the past three years, introduced to

the drug by a roommate, and has been steadily increasing her usage since her mother hung herself almost two years ago.

Alex began working as an exotic in order to support her habit. She has also began occasionlly prostituting herself to customers she meets at her club, saying the money is better andeasier.

Alex tries not to nod off in the smoking lounge at the club.

Alex struggles to find a vein in a bathroom stall at the club where she works. While she gets often high at work, she is often reprimanded for her drug use and will eventually lose her job at the club, which touts itselfe as catering to upscale clientele and frowns upon obvious drug use.

Alex counts her money and texts during a smoke break.

Alex stands outside of a Narcotics Anonymous meeting.

„It feels like injecting heaven into your arm. It feels like all the loneliness, all the sadness, it just goes away. And you just feel good. I hate not being high. I think about mymom, I think about my choices. I think about how my friends don´t really care about me, they just want someone to get high with. When I´m high, I don´t feel lonely

anymore.“

Alex sits in a motel room with Twon after getting high.

Shooting up before going on stage is a requirement; Alex says she can´t dance without being high.

Alex has retreated to the bathroom of her club to get high. She often shoots heroin several times in the course of one shift.

Alex dresses after work and laughs while her friend Mary drunkenly entertains her. Mary, another heroin user, is one of Alex´s few friends at the club. Tey often rentmotel rooms in Baltimore to get high together.

Between jail time and rehab. Alex was able to stay sober for a year, a major achievement for those in recovery. She has since gone back to using, and is trying to get clean again.

Good luck, Alex

A Photo reportage by Sara Naomi Lewkowicz