>>> back now with news about a growing problem in this country, especially in the suburbs. one that may shock a lot of parents, because it involves young people hooked on a drug more commonly associated with the mean streets of city life . tonight, kate snow got a firsthand look at this hidden epidemic.
>> we have our l track over there. which is mass transit .
>> you can see the city skyline over there. there's a different kind of rush hour. 6:30 in the morning, what are we going to see at 6:30 in the morning?
>> you're going to see people coming and getting their morning fix.
>> reporter: our guide on the heroin highway.
>> people come from the suburbs, they'll come to the west side here, and it's easy access. you get off the l or off the expressway, you buy your heroin, get right back on.
>> reporter: we watched the sellers on a corner just a block away from the school. the buyers may not be what you picture when you think of a heroin addict.
>> this young female over here, she's going to be walking through the neighborhood. she's anybody's daughter.
>> reporter: what's she doing here?
>> unfortunately, i think she's looking for heroin.
>> reporter: the number of teenagers seeking treatment for heroin abuse has skyrocketed. and the number of deaths from heroin among high school and college aged kids more than doubled from 1999 to 2009 .
>> what's happening here in chicago reflects the trend nationwide, an increasing number of young people coming into the city from the suburbs to buy heroin that's cheap and more potent than ever. look at all these bags.
>> you have pink bags. under here, these are blue devil logos.
>> reporter: one hit, one bag costs just 10 bucks.
>> they'll snort the heroin out of the 10 dollar packet.
>> reporter: unlike the past you don't have to cook it or inject it.
>> we'll get eyeballs there. we're going undercover.
>> reporter: the sergeant sends an undercover officer to that corner to buy drugs. there they are. then they arrest the dealer. no matter how many arrests they make, he says, a new dealer always seems to pop up. and the kids from the suburbs keep coming. in 2009 , one year, more than 30,000 teenagers 12 to 17 started using heroin. we had to blur their faces in the piece. most of the young people we saw out there, they looked like the same kids you would see in a suburban shopping mall . tomorrow night, the parents dealing with this epidemic.
>> and part of it, it's no longer the strung out people and the needle and the spoon we all grew up associating with it. thanks very much, kate, for your reporting. we'll see you tomorrow night.
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