Before deep diving into the finer nuances of heroin addiction, it is ideal to understand the basics of heroin. Heroin is an opioid drug that is synthesized using morphine, which is a natural occurring substance extracted from the seed of poppy plant – a plant found in Asia. Heroin is usually found in these forms, either as white or brown powder or as black sticky substance which is known as ‘black tar heroin’.
How Is Heroin Used?
Heroin may be used in various ways, it could be injected in the veins, inhaled by sniffing or may be even smoked. All these forms of usage deliver the drug rapidly to the brain which poses risk to the heath and increases chances of addiction. Heroin addiction is a chronic relapsing disease which is caused by the changes occurring in the brain and is characterized by an uncontrollable desire for drug without thinking about the consequences.
Heroin Addiction Statistics
There are more than 1.2 million “occasional” heroin users in the United States and over 200,000 people who are addicted to the drug. The average heroin addiction ingests between 150mg and 250mg of the drug per day. As an alarming piece of statistics, there have been more deaths owing to heroin overdose than traffic accidents in the past several years. If records are to be believed, then, there are at least 70,000 people in the United States who need heroin addiction treatment but are not receiving the same. According to statistics, 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.
As per the recent data, the age bracket that is maximum prone top heroin addiction is between 19-29 years, most of the heroin addicts fall under this age group. Heroin is commonly sold as Heroin is typically sold as a white or brownish powder, or as the black sticky substance known on the streets as “black tar heroin.” Although, pure heroin is being made available easily these days but heroin is commonly found mixed with substances like, sugar, starch, powdered milk, or quinine.
Heroin addiction has come up as a grave issue in the United States and the alarming figures of those addicted are a cause of concern. This crisis needs to be taken care of with immediate action and try to cure people who have got addicted to this deadly drug!
