Heroin Abuse Spikes From Efforts to Impede Prescription Opiates

This is the story in Ohio: heroin use is up and those using it are much younger than ever before. There is so much of it that jokes are made about it just falling out of the sky. Heroin is becoming much more popular because it is easier accessed and it is cheaper than prescription opioids. Officials claim that heroin abuse has grown to epidemic levels. This has all happened in about a six month period. In 2010 there were 338 deaths in Ohio that involved heroin. Most people that are addicted to heroin started out abusing prescription pain killers. The primary age of heroin addicts is between 18 and 25.

Ohio is not alone and in fact there has been an increase in heroin abuse and heroin-related overdoses in at least 30 US states. In Utah the top drug of choice has been Methamphetamines but now there is a big spike in heroin abuse. The Narcotics Strike Force blames prescription drugs for this. The Strike Force made some 33 heroin arrests so far in 2012 and 32 of the arrested claimed they began their journey on heroin after abusing prescription drugs.

It is a similar story in Maryland. Heroin use is skyrocketing, especially with teenagers. The face of the typical heroin junkie is no longer the same. Maryland has seen too many deadly overdoses from heroin. These are the faces of 22, 20, 18, 16, and 15 year old young people, some who only tried heroin once and died. Some Maryland counties have reported a 400% increase in heroin abuse. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency says Maryland has the highest heroin addiction ratio in the entire US.

Michigan is no different. None of the states in the US are showing a decline in heroin use. Young people are starting out abusing prescription drugs and think it is alright since these are the pills their parents and grandparents are taking and since they are prescribed by a doctor they have to be safe. They have no clue.

These young people are bright students with good solid futures and come from stable middle class neighborhoods. It starts out with the pills until someone tells them about heroin and how much cheaper it is. It is also readily available for the taking and can be found anywhere. Heroin dealers are no longer lurking in inner city neighborhoods, they can be found anywhere.

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