Intervention

When she was young, Nikki’s mother and grandmother worked hard to give her a good life. Nikki excelled in school, but she was devastated when her grandmother died. She began hanging out with a rebellious crowd, skipping school, and using crack. Nikki eventually had two daughters, but has remained addicted to drugs. Her daughters desperately want to have a relationship with Nikki, and know that an intervention is their only hope of saving their mother’s life.

Although she has two loving children and an adoring husband, Danielle is dangerously addicted to Percocet. As a teen, Danielle felt neglected by her alcoholic father and began cutting herself. Now she spends each day hiding behind closed curtains, ignoring her children, and self-medicating with up to 40 Percocet a day. An intervention is the last chance Danielle’s children have to get their mother back.

With a terrifying addiction to heroin, Joey’s career as a tattoo artist is in jeopardy. His parents divorced when he was three. At 13, Joey started smoking marijuana and soon graduated to ecstasy, LSD, and heroin. When he stole his mother’s credit cards, she reluctantly filed charges and he went to jail. He has a daughter now, but the girl’s mother is afraid to let Joey be alone with her. An intervention is the only way to stop Joey from overdosing.

At 53, Gloria prides herself on being a good cook and an independent, fun-loving woman. But Gloria uses her cooking and charm to manipulate her family into letting her drink as much as she wants. Gloria had difficulty raising her children, and was married to an abusive man. At 42, Gloria got breast cancer and underwent chemotherapy and radiation but did not stop drinking. Now Gloria drinks and drives, misses work, and spends all her money on alcohol. Gloria’s family has had enough of her selfishness, and they’re ready for an intervention.

To outsiders, Marci’s family life seemed ideal. But while her mother worked, Marci was left home with her alcoholic father. She endured his abuse while her mother looked the other way. Marci began drinking and doing drugs. Her marriage failed, and she lost custody of her children. But her mother still denies that Marci has a bad problem. Can an intervention help Marci and her mother to stop their dangerous behavior before it’s too late?

Gabe and Allison return to tell their stories after they both faced interventions and treatment. Gabe used heroin to deal with the deep emotional scars caused by his adoption and Allison was addicted to inhalants.

A lot of people think that Humboldt County in northern California is an American paradise. Small towns in the county like Arcata look like they’ve been plucked right out of a Norman Rockwell painting. But the town has a dirty little secret–law enforcement officials say that over 1,000 homes there may be growing marijuana illegally. Capt. Mark Chapman and the Humboldt County Drug Task Force are determined to take back the town, house by house. Our cameras follow as they make busts and fly over forestlands searching for hidden marijuana groves.

This special looks at the gut-wrenching but hopeful stories of three Iraq veterans and their struggles with addiction caused by combat stress. Leia’s flashbacks to the terrifying things she saw in Iraq caused her to drink until she connected with a support group of fellow veterans. Paul saw some of the heaviest fighting of the war and turned to alcohol and cocaine when he returned home, but a detox program is helping him to cope and move on. And after Matt was discharged, he had vivid nightmares about being shot or burning, and he started drinking to calm himself down.