Death by Heroin, Recovery by Hope

'You may think you love your lover,
but the drug is stronger.
You may think you love your mother,
but the drug is stronger.
You may think you love your father, brother, sister, child, but, be assured,
the drug is stronger.'

These lines open Death By Heroin, a passionate and constructive book about heroin addiction, prompted by a family tragedy. In December 1998, both of Mary Kenny's nephews died, three weeks apart, as a consequence of the drug.

A broad range of experience is described within these pages, the results of extensive research undertaken in England and Ireland; first-hand accounts of heroin addicts and their families feature alongside the detailed insights of professionals working within the various fields of drug rehabilitation and education - voices from across all the social divides.

In addition the author draws on her own past as a recovering alcoholic, while attempting to find answers to some of the myriad questions surrounding drug addiction, such as its roots, why some individuals are more susceptible than others, and what families can do to help prevent such tragedy.