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According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2013 about 406,000 Americans reported using heroin in the past year, a number that has been on the rise since 2007. It is estimated that about 23% of individuals who use heroin become dependent on it.
Heroin mixed with crushed-up cold medicines like Tylenol PM or Bendryl form “cheese,” a powder which can be sniffed instead of injected. The cold pills take some of the edge off the symptoms of heroin usage and lower the price to only $1 or
$2 for a line — easily within a middle-schooler’s lunch budget.
Heroin Abuse
A Recipe For Death
Heroin may be the most physically addictive
of all drugs. Tolerance quickly builds. The user needs more and more to get the same effect. When an addict doesn’t get the drug, painful withdrawal symptoms begin. They may include headache, vomiting, and severe pain in muscles and bones. An overdose of heroin can cause seizures, coma and death. Long-term use can cause a host of problems including heart and lung disease. Injection of heroin can also lead to problems like collapsed veins, hepatitis and HIV/AIDS. Heroin addiction is difficult to overcome, and usually requires professional help. A doctor may prescribe a heroin-substitute such as methadone to help ease withdrawal symptoms.
As of 2013, at least 40 Dallas-area teens have died from the drug since it first appeared. Almost as disturbing is the plight of nine and ten-year old “junkies” showing up in emergency rooms and detox centers. Now officials are seeing a rise in adults using the drug.
Heroin can be snorted, smoked or injected.
A user may inject it into a vein, into a muscle or simply under the skin. The last technique is called “skin popping.” It produces a high that comes
on slower but lasts longer, as the drug is slowly absorbed. The other methods, especially smoking or injecting into a vein (mainlining), produce
a quick onset or “rush.” Much of one’s reaction
to heroin depends on how pure it is and what substances it may have been mixed with.
The report found those who are addicted to prescription painkillers are 40 times more likely to be addicted or abuse heroin, and that 45%
of people who use heroin were also addicted
to painkillers. Prescription medications such
as Oxycontin and Vicodin have effects similar to heroin when taken in doses or ways other than prescribed. Because the pills are legal, users do not see a danger in taking them.
In addition to the effects of the drug itself, officials are worried about a new, recent twist — heroin that is spiked with a potent painkiller for a lethal combination — Heroin being spiked with the narcotic Fentanyl! Often prescribed for terminally ill cancer patients, Fentanyl is about 80 times stronger than morphine.
Many abusers report that crushing pills
to snort or inject the powder provided their initiation into the methods of drug administration most commonly used by heroin users. The number of people using heroin for the first time is unacceptably high, with 169,000 people starting heroin use in 2013, almost double the number of people in 2006.
Street heroin often contains other toxic contaminants like Fentanyl that can clog blood vessels leading to lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain, causing permanent damage. Users “don’t realize the product is in there” and overdose. It acts so quickly that users can be found with needles still in their arms.
Nearly half of young people who inject heroin surveyed in recent studies reported abusing prescription opioids before starting to use heroin. Some individuals reported turning to heroin because it is cheaper and easier to obtain than prescription drugs.
Volume 10 • lawpublications.net • 6
Opioid Prescriptions: The First Step To Heroin Abuse!
Heroin-related overdoses in the United States have increased by nearly 300 percent in the last decade. Officials say the trend stems in part from doctors prescribing opioids to treat chronic pain.