Harrowing pictures reveal the devastating effects of heroin on the minds and bodies of South Bronx addicts in a neighborhood with the highest rate of NYC overdoses (12 Pics)

The South Bronx in New York City has the highest rate of heroin-involved overdoses in the city

New York City had more than 1,370 deaths from overdoses last year, with 80 per cent being linked to heroin

Photographer Spencer Platt's photos show heroin users living on the street and shooting up in plain sight

Drug addicts in the neighborhood tend to be older and poorer than in the rest of the nation 

As the opioid crisis continues, drug overdoses are now the leading cause of accidental death in the US

Michael and Johnathan, two heroin addicts, rest in an encampment on the street that they call home in the South Bronx

The South Bronx in New York City has the highest rate of heroin-involved overdoses in the city

While the opioid crisis is sweeping the nation, residents of the South Bronx can't ignore it, as drug addicts line the streets

Photographer Specer Platt's photos show the arms of heroin users, which are badly scarred from years of drug abuse 

More than 1,370 New Yorkers died from overdoses last year, and 80 per cent of those deaths involved opioids

According to the New York Times, if the South Bronx were a state it would have the second-highest rate of drug overdose deaths in the country

34 out of 100,000 people die from drug overdoses in the neighborhood, with most deaths being linked to heroin

Opioid addicts in the South Bronx are older and poorer than in the rest of the country. Most of them are black or Hispanic and have lived on the streets for years

The South Bronx has struggled with heroin since the 1960's but it surged five years ago after leveling in the 80s and 90s

Brook, a heroin addict, has lived on the street for five years- since about the time the opioid crisis exploded in the country

Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of accidental death in the US, surpassing car wrecks

As in the nation at large, the opioid crisis in the South Bronx has recently worsened, as heroin has arrived in New York City laced with Fentanyl, a sedative normally used on cancer patients that is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine