'Pandemic within the pandemic': How America's deadly fentanyl crisis has been overshadowed by Covid
ITV News Correspondent Robert Moore reports on how the Fentanyl epidemic is impacting Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Warning: This report contains footage of drug use which some viewers may find distressing
In a lonely motel room an hour south of Nashville, Anna Bradburn tells me she desperately wants to live.And yet every few hours she takes a huge risk, she does something so dangerous it has killed 100,000 Americans over the last year. She knows she is dicing with death several times a day. Anna takes fentanyl, the synthetic drug which is 100 times more powerful than morphine and far more lethal than heroin.
Fentanyl has flooded the streets of Middle America, creating a crisis of alarming dimensions.
The only reason it hasn't seized the headlines is because it's been overshadowed by the other great public health emergency - Covid.
We spoke to four people in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, a city ravaged by the Fentanyl epidemic, about the scale and depth of the problem.
The addict
Anna Bradburn is the daughter of a doctor and trained as a paramedic, so she knows the risk.
Trauma, she says, was her gateway to Fentanyl. Her father died of cancer and months later she was diagnosed with cancer too. She went from painkillers, to street heroin, and then fentanyl.
During Covid, there has been no easy access to rehab clinics. Social support systems - which are so vital to addicts - have withered.
Anna had nowhere to turn and she is now in a dark, lonely and dangerous place, risking her life to satisfy her overwhelming addictive cravings.
She has already "died" twice, both times being saved only with the emergency use of Narcan, a medication that reverses the effects of an overdose.
'We deserve to live': Anna tells ITV News trauma has led her to her addiction to drugs
The expert
Michael Deleon is a former drug dealer and gang member, but he has now become a remarkably successful addiction expert, touring schools to educate a new generation about the risks of fentanyl.
He also helps addicts who are trying to recover. He warns by 2023 a quarter of a million Americans will die from fentanyl overdoses.
'It's the pandemic within the pandemic': Michael tells ITV News Covid has put a cover over the fentanyl pandemic
The grieving mother
Tonya Garton is a regular American mum, living near Nashville.
But like so many parents, she is now grieving for a child lost to the menace of ever-more potent synthetic drugs. Her son Quintenn died in March after a fentanyl overdose.
A star athlete and a popular young man, Quintenn had fought a long battle against addiction, with Covid restrictions making it far more difficult to access the support he needed.
Tonya sees fentanyl and Covid as co-conspirators in her son's death. She begs officials not to focus on Covid at the expense of the rapidly escalating addiction crisis.
'Isolation feeds addiction', Tonya says the Covid pandemic has played a part in her son's death
The police chief
Captain Don Fanning and his fellow officers are on the frontlines of the epidemic.
In many parts of Tennessee more people are dying from fentanyl overdoses than from Covid. And they see no sign of the fentanyl crisis ending.
The drug is pouring in across the border from Mexico; large quantities are being shipped from China; it is being sold via chat rooms and online.
It is consuming every demographic: Rich and poor; white, black, and hispanic; urban, rural and suburban - no part of America is untouched.
'It's like moths to a flame', a captain from Murfreesboro Police Department tells ITV News an addict is not thinking about the dangers of the drugs
If any of these issues have affected you, here's who you can contact in the UK to get help and advice:
CADAS Addiction Helpline freephone number: 0800 2 54 56 58 - people can also request a call back by emailing contact@cadas.co.uk.
Alcoholics Anonymous: 0800 9177 650
Narcotics Anonymous: 0300 999 1212
Drinkline: 0333 230 9472