Campbell County jail in Jacksboro, Tennessee, offers a glimpse of how opioids and methamphetamine are ravaging America. Addiction is driving an increase in the number of women who are incarcerated. Many in the jail have been arrested on a drug-related charge. They are confined to a cell, often with other addicts, for 23 hours a day and receive no counselling.

I’m wasting away and I’m wasting my family away. I’m hurting them more than I’m hurting myself. It’s time for me to grow up. I’ve had time to wake up and realise life is too short. Nickie Worley

I hope that eventually he [her son, Robbie] will be able to somewhat understand why I completely went off the wrong path, but I hope that he can see it as a lesson for himself that he will never stray down this path. Krystle Sweat

I’ve wanted to quit but I always wanted someone to care about me enough for me to want to quit. My mother was never there. My dad was never there. Anesha Bell

Krystle Sweat blows a kiss to her son Robbie, 10, during a video conference as he visits her at the Campbell County jail



In 2015, the amount of opioids prescribed per person in Campbell County was the third highest of all US counties, and more than five times the national average. The mayor, EL Morton, blames the pharmaceutical industry and doctors. Two lawsuits against opioid makers are pending on behalf of the county and its 40,000 residents. “If you were fighting the mafia, you’d be aiming for the head of the organisation,” he says. “The top of this organisation is fully legal, and we have the most respected profession that is doing it to us.”

I’m sick and tired. I’m tired of the addiction. I just don’t think people should give up. It’s possible. I’m not going to give up. I've got to fight for me. Nobody else is going to. April Bowlin

Down here there is no kind of resources for women to get the help they need. [I am] always scared about ending up back in jail. Michelle Leopard

I’d like to be a productive citizen, not an OD statistic, end up dying on drugs. I am a good person. I know I am. But I want to see that person again. Crystal French

Crystal French, left, is comforted by cellmate Krystle Sweat after French was denied parole the previous day



The number of women in jail in the US has risen from 13,258 in 1980 to 102,300 in 2016, with the biggest jump in smaller counties, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Between 1980 and 2009, the arrest rate for drug possession or use tripled among women, while it doubled among men. Opioid abuse has exacerbated the problem, and rural areas in particular lack the resources and readily accessible treatment to help curb the problem.

It’s going to kill me if I keep getting high. I want to get sober. I do. It’s just I need to change everything. I would need a lot of structure in my life. I would love to be sober and working and being a good person in a community. I would love for that. Michelle Trickle

I want to be able to be proud of who I am and be able to support my children and myself the way I should. I no longer have the desire, the want or the need to live the life I had. I have too many precious things at home that I’m missing out right now. Lauren Jones

I take things very hard. My mother actually said to me once: 'You’re never going to quit. you’re just hardwired for it.' Those were her exact words and I’ve used those words ever since. I thought: you’re right. Blanche Ball

From left, cellmates Elsie Kniffen, 39, Mary Sammons, 41, Blanche Ball, 30, and Sarai Keelean, 35, join hands after a prayer



Many of the women say jail should help to prepare them for life outside, maybe with a Narcotics Anonymous group, counselling or education programmes such as those offered in state prisons. Lt Mallory Campbell, an assistant jail administrator, says she would like to offer college courses or vocational training, because “if they don’t leave here with a skill, they’re going to go back to what they know.”

It’s not that you don’t love your kids but the addiction takes hold of you and you’ll do anything you have to do to get it. It’s a vicious cycle that never ends unless you quit drugs. Christy Wilson

I always pictured my kids burying me, not me having to bury my children. Young kids are losing their life over bad dope. This is crazy. It’s so not worth it. He [her son Micah, 20, who was murdered] was a pretty boy. He was beautiful. Mary Sammons