Page 2 - Inside Dana News Today

In the cold quiet of her jail cell, struggling without heroin and facing charges, dana realizes she has hit rock bottom. i had scholarship offers from, i mean, i cant even count how many universities. i mean, i could have basically played sports anywhere that i wanted to. stuart! stuart!

Your body goes through withdrawals. so even if the pimp is nowhere near them, the physical need for the drug overwhelms any urge to leave or to report that pimp, to go home, any of that. because they have this physical addiction, and its not like they can go up to a cvs and say please may i have some heroin? >> once i saw, you know, how much money, the drugs i had made from it, it was, that hushed any concern or any negative feelings i had toward it, you know, because there was no other way that...

Calling offering dana full athletic scholarships, but she says she started to rebel and chose to stay close to home. >> by the time i got to college, i was just like, you know, i want to hang out and have fun with my friends. it felt like a job almost at the time. the enjoyment was gone. the fun in it was gone. it was so serious, you know, because at that point, its all about paying for your school. >> after a shoulder injury and with her scholarship on the line, dana started self-medicating to ...

You know, my habit, it grew so out of control. >> with a $300 a day habit, its a battle shes losing. >> heroin, especially, especially heroin, i mean, it just changes your brain, you know, how you think. i mean, when you dont have it, you feel like youre dying almost. your body tricks itself. its like you have to have it, or else youre not going to live anymore. like youre dying. >> unusually articulate, educated, and self aware, officers are surprised to learn her downward spiral from honor stu...

The college studented admitted being addicted to heroin after a devastating sports injury. she told our cameras this was not the life she had planned. >> you know, i was just a really happy-go-lucky kid, you know, outgoing, had a lot of friends. you know, played a lot of sports. was really active. >> raised in rural michigan, dana personified the all-american girl. studious and athletic, dana wasnt just good. she was exceptional. >> i was always a bright child. very athletic. anything i picked u...

Any hurt in my life, anything negative when i did it, it was just gone. >> these are kids that grow up in great households. stable households. >> danas story isnt shocking to scott macy who says he counsels many high-achieving young women and men who have sold themselves for drugs. >> heroin addiction or opiate addiction is a physical as well as a mental. you know. its what we consider a brain disease. >> a former addict, scott macy knows firsthand the devastating impact of what is known as chas...

The woman says the need for crack cocaine keeps her out on the streets. >> you know what, if people werent so harsh, if they helped you get off it instead of trying to force you, maybe you could make it. i just dont -- my advice is dont ever try anything, not even a little. even if youre uncomfortable, just get to it. thank you so much. >> good luck to you. >> as the woman disappears into the downpour, we are reminded of dana who also walked these desperate streets, hungry for her next fix. but ...

>> says she has a bunch of heroin in there. >> thats probably heroin right here. >> inside danas car, police find what they say is $300 worth of heroin and three syringes. its just enough of a fix to get the young woman through the night. >> take the photo real quick, and well go from there. whats going on with you that youre getting so addicted to it? thats our main concern. you dont appear to be the girl that needs to be on that stuff. >> i know. thats why im doing this because im addicted to ...

>> these are kids that grow up in great households. stable households. >> danas story isnt shocking to scott macy who says he counsels many high-achieving young women and men who have sold themselves for drugs. >> heroin addiction or opiate addiction is a physical as well as a mental. you know. its what we consider a brain disease. >> a former addict, scott macy knows firsthand the devastating impact of what is known as chasing the dragon. like dana, he lived a double life going back and forth f...

Here. >> inside danas car, police find what they say is $300 worth of heroin and three syringes. its just enough of a fix to get the young woman through the night. >> take the photo real quick, and well go from there. whats going on with you that youre getting so addicted to it? thats our main concern. you dont appear to be the girl that needs to be on that stuff. >> i know. thats why im doing this because im addicted to it and, you know -- >> how long have you been out here? >> what do you mean...