Posted on 01/20/2014 2:12:28 PM PST by BBell
Heroin abuse has been getting more attention lately.
Last week, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin spent his entire 34-minute State of the State address talking about the state's "full-blown heroin crisis," and law enforcement officials in small cities across New England have noted an increase in heroin use.
Demand for the drug might be coming from people who are hooked on prescription pills.
Health officials and drug experts have started noticing that heroin use has been exploding as states crack down on "pill mills," which get people addicted to Oxycontin and other pain killers even when they don't have a medical need for them.
David DiSalvo writes in Forbes that the increase in heroin use has overlapped with a decrease in pain killer abuse. He notes that the number of new non-medical users of pain killers dropped from 2.2 million in 2002 to 1.9 million in 2012:
The reason may come down to basic economics: Illegally obtained prescription pain killers have become more expensive and harder to get, while the price and difficulty in obtaining heroin have decreased. An 80 mg OxyContin pill runs between $60 to $100 on the street. Heroin costs about $9 a dose. Even among heavy heroin abusers, a day’s worth of the drug is cheaper than a couple hits of Oxy.
As states crack down on pill mills, fewer people will be able to obtain the drugs through a prescription and supply will be cut off. Pain pills become less available and more expensive.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Heroin is very popular in Mexico. Mexicans just bring the drug with them.
Heroin is the drug of despair.
Sure it wasn’t oxyCODONE?
Don’t let anyone know. My Mother’s friend had cancer and my Mother would take her to her treatments. One day when they came back they found the house had been broken in. The perps knew the women had cancer and would probably have some good drugs so they broke in and stole her meds. The women did have oxy pills which of course were swiped.
Why? When the country collapses under it "O"wn weight, they may buy enough cans of beans to save him from starvation.
Maybe.
obama(.)
satan is laughing.
Several years ago, I attended a lecture given by a doctor who talked about the new wave of heroin addiction. He believed part of the problem is that there are now ways to ingest heroin without using a needle and syringe, so the is no longer the stigma associated with IV use.
He said another problem was with young professional people who, once the IV stigma was overcome, naively believed they could use heroin as a “recreational” drug on weekends, then return to their jobs on Monday unimpaired. These people underestimated the addictive power of heroin.
Dope and Chains.
That's why they are buried in my sock draw...: )
We had a break in last year...came home and every kitchen cabinet / bathroom door was opened...
I thought nothing was stolen until I went to take me nighttime high blood pressure medicine ...
Sure enough they were all gone...
I actually had several valuable watches and rings left right on top of my wife and myself dressers...
Never touched...Just wanted the drugs...
That is against Federal law now. I just had to dispose of some hydrocodone tablets when my mom no longer needed them. The doctor told me that these drugs are turning up in drinking water and there are Federal laws with stiff fines for flushing unused drugs. I actually put them into a 55 gallon drum of waste oil... I figure at some point some poor guy running re-refined motor oil will get a drowsy camshaft.
LLS
A society's got to have rules and laws a bit more strict than what's necessary to flourish. There have to be limits, and youth need to learn about actions and consequences, or you get the mess we have now.
Wow. Good to know. I worry about all the female hormones in the water and tell my sons to drink bottled water. Most females are using either birth control pills or HRT (hormone replacement therapy). I feel like that guy in Dr. Strangelove who worried about his precious bodily fluids. I had a few heavy duty pain pills but also had two family members without health insurance and with serious health issues. One was beaten for several hours by a thug. So you know what happened but since even flushing them down the drain is a felony I had better not say anything more on a public forum. NSA might be listening.
Because we are in Afghanistan, where it comes from. Not all our servicemen are choirboys.
This couldn’t possibly have anything at all to do with Afghanistan. Nope, no way.
Dumb down the surplus population; it’s easier to control.
#JustSayNo
A few notes:
1) A scary element to this is that many of the addicts are middle class and upper-middle class, with far more resources available to them than “traditional” junkies.
2) It has been noted that many addicts switching to heroin think they will just smoke or snort heroin, “but within two weeks they are injecting it.”
3) Much of the heroin entering the US is Mexican brown heroin, and it is relatively inexpensive.
4) The natural and artificial opiate drugs are typically about 20% strength. However, it is expected that in the near future, 100% strength drugs will be available.
The next morning, he couldn't wait to get more.
In my opinion, this isn't a problem that can be solved -- or even controlled -- by laws. Only parents can can teach a child to face his problems without resorting to drugs.
Now, some of those will try valiantly and still fail. But upbringing is the only answer.
My stepbrother died of an OD at 20.
Drugs are evil.
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