Hooked

PART 1 OF SEVEN: SUNDAY, JUNE 20

In heroin's grip

Kristin Alexander shuffled into the basement courtroom, handcuffed to a line of worn-out-looking female prisoners. She was 27 but she had a teenager's face, with milky skin and red hair pulled into pigtails. A 20-something with plans But Kristin had no plans, only serious trouble.

Discuss: Families and addiction

PART 2 OF SEVEN: MONDAY, JUNE 21

So far, so good

Kristin Alexander leaned against the counter in the discharge area at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, filling out paperwork. It was mid-March, a month and a half since the last time she shot-up, injecting heroin and cocaine into her neck in the bathroom of a Holiday gas station.

Discuss: When jails are full of addicts

PART 3 OF SEVEN: TUESDAY, JUNE 22

Cravings come at night

A half hour ticked by as I waited for Kristin Alexander at a table in the Spenard Kaladi Brothers. The last time I saw her, the day she got out of jail the week before, photographer Marc Lester and I watched her throw her needles and heroin in a trash bin, her first step to getting clean.

Discuss: What part does choice play in addiction?

PART 4 OF SEVEN: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23

What can't be undone

Of all the wreckage Kristin Alexander left behind in five years of heroin addiction -- losing her job and her house, ruining her relationships, risking her life -- this had the biggest consequences. An accidental pregnancy.

Discuss: The public pays to care for addicts' children. Would it be better to pay for the parents' drug treatment?

PART 5 OF SEVEN: THURSDAY, JUNE 24

'You're gonna wake up one day and feel it'

Kristin Alexander looked great one morning in April when we met for coffee at our usual spot. Her eyes seemed clearer every time I saw her after she got out of jail, but that day she had on makeup and a new outfit. I noticed she had a new designer purse. Shopping helped take her mind off shooting up, she told me. She laughed. I laughed. But an uneasy feeling settled in my gut. Kristin didn't have a job.

Discuss: Should treatment for prostitutes be required?

PART 6 OF SEVEN: FRIDAY, JUNE 25

Four months clean, and finally some good news

Kristin Alexander stood in the hall outside the probation office downtown one afternoon in mid-May. She had a lot of good news that day. She moved out of her apartment and in with her mom. She started an outpatient drug treatment program a few days a week. She found some temporary office work. She was building strong connections in her recovery group. She saw her son every week and sometimes twice.

Discuss: Are there cheaper, better ways to handle drug addicts in the court system?

PART 7 OF SEVEN: SATURDAY, JUNE 26

Her darkest places

My cell phone rang on Memorial Day. Kristin Alexander's voice sounded warm. "I need to tell you something," she said. "I got high today."

FOLLOWUP

Treatment for addicts would be smarter than jail alone

After following Kristin Alexander through the courts, jail, the Office of Children's Services, probation and drug treatment, Julia O'Malley calls for a smarter, cheaper approach to dealing with addicts.

O'Malley blog: Readers respond to the 'Hooked' series

FOLLOWUP II

From treatment center, an update

Kristin Alexander took photographer Marc and me for a tour of Akeela House on Tuesday afternoon along with Rosalie Nadeau, the executive director of Akeela and some of the other managers of the house.