Heroin Addiction Paper
Heroin Addiction in Utah: Understanding the Problem
Heroin is a powerful illegal opiate drug. Some opiates have legitimate medical uses for surgery and pain management. However, all opiates are highly-addictive. According to the National Center for Health, 80% of heroin users first started their addiction by misusing prescription pain medication. After a doctor stops prescribing the pills, someone with an addiction to opiates may begin buying prescription pills on the street. Once they run out of money for the pills, many drug dealers are quick to suggest heroin as a cheaper alternative.
With the rates of heroin addiction skyrocketing in Utah and in many other states across the United States, it makes sense to look at what’s causing the problem, what heroin addiction looks like …show more content…
According to the Use Only As Directed campaign, 32% of Utah residents 18 years of age or older were prescribed an opioid as pain medication in 2014. Since prescription opiates are a gateway drug to heroin, this statistic shows that nearly one third of the people in Utah were at risk of developing a heroin addiction.
The Utah Department of Human Services tracks admission to drug and alcohol treatment centers. According to these figures, heroin use is seven times than it was a decade before. In 1993, 346 people were addition for treatment for heroin addiction, which was approximately 2% of drug treatment admissions. Fast forward ten years to 2013, and there were 2,606 people admitted for heroin addiction, which made up 15% of all admissions.
It’s important to keep in mind that these figures from the Utah Department of Human Services only track admissions that were covered by public funds. As a result, these figures do not include people who paid for heroin treatment with private insurance or their own money. This means that the overall number of people seeking treatment for a heroin addiction is even
Heroin is a powerful illegal opiate drug. Some opiates have legitimate medical uses for surgery and pain management. However, all opiates are highly-addictive. According to the National Center for Health, 80% of heroin users first started their addiction by misusing prescription pain medication. After a doctor stops prescribing the pills, someone with an addiction to opiates may begin buying prescription pills on the street. Once they run out of money for the pills, many drug dealers are quick to suggest heroin as a cheaper alternative.
With the rates of heroin addiction skyrocketing in Utah and in many other states across the United States, it makes sense to look at what’s causing the problem, what heroin addiction looks like …show more content…
According to the Use Only As Directed campaign, 32% of Utah residents 18 years of age or older were prescribed an opioid as pain medication in 2014. Since prescription opiates are a gateway drug to heroin, this statistic shows that nearly one third of the people in Utah were at risk of developing a heroin addiction.
The Utah Department of Human Services tracks admission to drug and alcohol treatment centers. According to these figures, heroin use is seven times than it was a decade before. In 1993, 346 people were addition for treatment for heroin addiction, which was approximately 2% of drug treatment admissions. Fast forward ten years to 2013, and there were 2,606 people admitted for heroin addiction, which made up 15% of all admissions.
It’s important to keep in mind that these figures from the Utah Department of Human Services only track admissions that were covered by public funds. As a result, these figures do not include people who paid for heroin treatment with private insurance or their own money. This means that the overall number of people seeking treatment for a heroin addiction is even