The New Face of Heroin Abuse is Middle Class

[b]TL;DR at bottom[/b] Heroin is a powerful opioid, and it’s extremely addictive. When I think of heroin use I think of dark alleys, 80’s muscle cars, and suicides. Interestingly, the person who fits the 2014 demographic for heroin abuse is probably standing next to you in Starbucks or Target. [url=http://www.clinicalpsychiatrynews.com/home/article/marked-shift-seen-in-demographics-of-heroin-users-seeking-treatment/c438fc4f04e6b5da612cf8fc460ba543.html][quote]Heroin has migrated out of young minority populations in lower-class city neighborhoods, and users are now far more likely to be white, middle-class men and women in their late 20s living in suburban, small-town, or rural areas, wrote Theodore J. Cicero, Ph.D., of the department of psychiatry, Washington University, St. Louis. [/quote][/url] Another interesting note, heroin use is on the rise thanks to prescription painkillers acting as a gateway. [url=http://www.clinicalpsychiatrynews.com/home/article/marked-shift-seen-in-demographics-of-heroin-users-seeking-treatment/c438fc4f04e6b5da612cf8fc460ba543.html][quote]A subset of 54 respondents who agreed to more detailed online interviews explained why they progressed from prescription opioids to heroin. A total of 98% said they considered the "high" from heroin to be superior to that from prescription opioids, and 94% said that heroin was far less expensive and far easier to obtain. In addition, one-third of this subgroup said that inhalation or injection is easier with heroin because it doesn’t require extraction, as prescription opioids do.[/quote][/url] [url=http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/google-exec-model-silicon-valley-after-dark-n153241]Of course, this study is getting a lot more attention now that a Google official has died from what seems to be an accidental overdose administered by a prostitute [/url] Heroin is also perhaps one of the most addictive drugs out there, though this might be skewed by the fact that many people who start using it already got there because they were seeking a better high. [url=http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/heroin]In 2011, 4.2 million Americans aged 12 or older (or 1.6 percent) had used heroin at least once in their lives. It is estimated that about 23 percent of individuals who use heroin become dependent on it.[/url] Now, I have some correlations I would like to make, [url=http://www.painmedicationaddiction.org/sites/default/files/resize/www.drugabuse.gov%20prescriptions%20chart_0-549x350.jpg]see this chart[/url] My guess is that the rise in prescriptions for opioids like codeine 20 years ago is causing the shift in heroin demographics. I further suggest that since many of todays addicts would have been in their early teens during the rise of opioids that they were given access to them either by stealing their parent’s prescriptions, or developing a dependency after receiving them as medical treatment. TL;DR that white couple in their late 20’s you just saw walk by you is the face of heroin addiction, and heroin continues to hold its users in a devilish grip. This change in user base may have been caused by the widespread adoption of prescription opioids, like hydrocodone and oxycodone, from 20 years ago.