Pill Abuse, Tough Times Lead to Rise in Heroin Addiction Across the U.S.

By Meghan Vivo

Each day, new repercussions of the struggling economy are being uncovered. One unfortunate result of difficult financial times has been a marked increase in the number of people using heroin, seeking a relatively cheap high to numb their emotions.

In recent months, cities and suburbs all across America have reported a sharp rise in the number of heroin overdoses and heroin-related deaths. In the suburbs of Ohio, for example, a May 30, 2009 article in The New York Times reported that heroin-related deaths spread into 18 new counties from 2004 to 2007. Federal officials point to increased supply from Mexican drug cartels as part of the problem, with dealers pushing powerful “black tar” heroin at a historically low price.

According to the New York Times article, the amount of heroin confiscated nationwide has been increasing since the mid-1990s, going from 370 kilograms in 1998 nationwide to about 600 kilograms in 2008. The number of federal heroin-related prosecutions has risen in Ohio as well, reaching 15 percent of cases in 2008 compared to just 4 percent 10 years ago. Similarly, statistics show more patients all across the country admitting to drug rehab with heroin as their drug of choice.

Low Cost, Easy Access

A similar article in the Feb. 25, 2009 edition of The Roanoke Times pointed to a serious heroin problem building steam in the suburbs of Virginia. "It's like this wave has washed over the Roanoke area. It's different than we've seen before," said Julia Dudley, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia.

Officials in Western Virginia have identified a growing trend among teens and young adults in their mid-20s toward heroin addiction and heroin overdose. Roanoke County has been hit hardest, with police reporting a 400 percent leap from 2007 to 2008 in the number of heroin-related incidents that resulted in an arrest.

Law enforcement officials have noticed that heroin abuse commonly follows an addiction to prescription drugs like fentanyl, Percocet, and OxyContin, even among people with little prior experience with drug use. Heroin tends to be cheaper and easier to access than many of these prescription medications.

A More Addictive Form of Heroin

In addition to the low cost and easy availability of heroin in regions across the U.S., Roanoke officials point to increased purity as another factor leading more people to need treatment for heroin addiction. The heroin seized around Roanoke has ranged from a purity of 20 percent to as much as 90 percent, making the drug much more addictive.

Police in Albany, N.Y., echo the concerns of Roanoke officials, noting in an article in the Times Union that the average purity of street heroin has risen in the past decade from about 6 percent to 60 percent. As a result of the economic crisis, more drug users are using potent, relatively inexpensive heroin to get high rather than prescription pills and other street drugs.

Sharing the concerns of Roanoke officials is law enforcement in Anchorage, Alaska. According to a 2008 article in the Anchorage Daily News, officials have seen a dramatic increase in the number of heroin cases in the past year. "It went from something that we knew existed and saw periodically to something that is, probably at this point, more than 50 percent of our work," said Sgt. Rob Langendorfer of the Alaska Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Enforcement's Mat-Su unit.

More Worrisome Trends

Stories like these abound in areas all over the United States. In most areas, drugs like cocaine, crack, and meth continue to be larger overall threats than heroin, but officials are concerned with the trends they’ve been seeing.

Today’s heroin users are not stereotypical junkies. Some have abused prescription drugs and other illicit drugs for years and look to heroin for a more intense high. Some are affluent, upper-middle class citizens who got hooked on prescription medications as a result of injury or an accident. And some are teens addicted to heroin as a result of experimenting with prescription drugs and looking for a cheaper, easier, more potent high. Experimentation quickly gives way to addiction, and then the predictable array of legal, financial, and emotional issues that accompany addiction.

Treatment for Heroin Addiction: Methadone, Suboxone, and Other Options

Although heroin addiction is growing in regions all over the U.S., treatment options are limited in many areas. Methadone programs are among the cheapest, most effective methods of treating heroin addiction, but many methadone clinics have waiting lists or are located far away from home.

Methadone is a synthetic narcotic that, given in appropriate amounts each day, does not make the user feel high, but takes away the drug cravings and withdrawal symptoms that lead many addicts back into the arms of heroin. Methadone treatment has been available for over 30 years and has been proven effective for opiate addiction in numerous scientific studies. The best methadone programs are staffed by medical and clinical professionals who provide individual and group counseling as well as medical and social services.

A newer drug, Suboxone, is also commonly used to treat heroin addiction and is considered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to have a lower potential for abuse than methadone (because it produces a less euphoric effect). Suboxone, a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone, requires a doctor’s prescription and in some cases, can be taken on a take-home basis.

Many heroin addicts who participate in methadone treatment or Suboxone treatment are able to maintain employment, stay sober, avoid legal troubles, and fulfill family responsibilities as a result of treatment. Depending on each individual’s circumstances and needs, over time, their doses are often decreased until the addict is in full recovery.

Other effective treatments for heroin addiction include outpatient therapy, residential treatment in a highly structured environment, and 12-Step programs. If you or someone you know is using heroin, or its common precursors, OxyContin, fentanyl, and other prescription drugs, contact the counselors at the National Resource Center at (877) 637-6237. Help is available – all you have to do is take the first step by reaching out and asking for it.

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Pill Abuse, Tough Times Lead to Rise in Heroin Addiction Across the U.S.