It’s highly addictive and ruins lives.
The Center for Drug Free Living reports that heroin use is on the rise and they want the community to be aware.
They said the problem that is killing more people in Central Florida and speaks with a former addict.
Thirty-nine-year-old Rob Liese said being addicted to heroin was terrible.
"You physically cannot get out of the bed without that first fix,” said Liese.
Leaders from the Center for Drug Free Living said they’re seeing a scary trend, more people seeking help for heroin addiction.
“We’ve made efforts to close the pill mills and educate doctors on prescription shopping, those individuals who were addicted to those opiates and prescription pills are searching for another drug to fill that need,” said Center For Drug Free Living Director Todd Dixon.
He said the drug their filling that need with is heroin.
"Without knowing the purity of the heroin, the overdose chance increases dramatically,” Dixon said.
In fact, more people are dying from it in Orange and Osceola counties.
The number of deaths from prescription drugs went down by 20 percent with 117 deaths in 2012 compared to 146 deaths in 2011.
But there was a 37 percent increase in heroin deaths with 26 deaths in 2012 compared to 19 in 2011.
More people dying and more people engaging in dangerous behavior, according to Dixon.
“They are not going to a doctor to get an illegal prescription and then taking it to the pharmacy or the pill mill. They’re now having to seek out the street market and individuals who are selling it, so the risky behavior, the illegal behavior changes and their mind set begins to change,” said Dixon.
Rob Liese got clean and now owns his a small business, but said his prior heroin use will always haunt him.
He has a criminal record and his relationship with his family has been strained.
"You are going to suffer, you are going to regret it," Liese said. "There are going to be repercussions for the rest of your life.”
It's a warning he hopes will prevent others from ruining their lives.