MIAMI – Alex Muniz was recently behind a Miami-Dade County government building in Miami's Overtown neighborhood. He said he needs the drugs to function.
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Muniz had needles and the Kool-Aid he uses to taste the heroin when it hits his bloodstream.
"This is a whole other demon and you can't get it off your back," Muniz said.
The former tattoo artist said he first got addicted to Oxycotin, a prescription pain killer that helped him deal with chronic back pain.
But the drug stopped working. Muniz is among those who build up opioid resistance.
"Without it I get sick. I get withdrawals," Muniz said. "I don't even get high anymore. I just get normal."
Authorities believe that many heroin users may actually be getting the synthetic fentany laced with heroin and other substances, because it is cheaper. The combination of the drugs has proved to be deadly.
Muniz knows the dangers.
"People are dropping dead like flies," he said.
