Heroin
The use of heroin continues to climb in most areas. The number of varieties and sources of heroin available, combined with an increased domestic demand make the heroin market the fastest growing drug market reported. While there are indications of increased use of heroin among younger, suburban users, it is the cadre of older, inner-city heroin users that drive the heroin market (DEA 1996). Almost all areas report that the majority of heroin users are older drug users (over 30) who have been using for many years. However, many areas are reporting an increase in the number of new or younger users. Heroin (AKA: smack, horse, mud, brown sugar) has been a part of the drug culture for many years. It is primarily used through injection causing wide spread concerns for everyone. Syringes lost or left behind by users carry disease and narcotics which can effect anyone who comes in contact with them. Syringes from heroin addicts have been found at bus benches, vacant lots by schools, alleyways and public bathrooms. Diseases such as HIV, hepatitis, and tetanus are common amongst heroin addicts (Strategy 1996). Heroin is an opiate or a downer and is made from the resin taken from the seedpod of the poppy plant.
2. Crothers (1999). Criminal Morphomania. JAMA, Vol. 282, No. 6, 8-11-1999. heroin users. Methadone has been handicapped by restrictive government regulations, due to misinformation among treatment providers and drug users alike. Methadone treatment is not widely used" (Nadelmann, 1996). Methadone is the most tightly restricted drug in America. It is confined to specialized treatment programs, which tend to be under-funded, punitive, and in short supply. Doctors in general medical practice can't prescribe methadone, and regular pharmacies don't distribute it. Given the upswing in heroin use in many U.S. cities, coupled with a raging HIV/AIDS epidemic among drug injectors, it is now essential to reinvent methadone as a harm reduction intervention. Moreover, methadone treatment has been shown to dramatically reduce death rates and HIV-risk behavior (JAMA, 10-13-99). This means delivering methadone treatment in such a way that it is available and acceptable to a far greater range of heroin users. It is time to give serious consideration to foreign methods of providing methadone, which utilize not only standard methadone clinics but family medical doctors, pharmacies, methadone buses (mobile clinics), and reduced-service clinics. Both moderate and high-dose methadone treatment resulted in decreased illicit opiod use during methadone maintenance and detoxification (JAMA, 3-17-99). "There is no sound economic, medical, or practical argument against at least trying these innovations, which are already commonplace in many other western nations with great success" (Nadelmann 1996). The majority of people in treatment for heroin addiction are older, experienced drug users. In all regions, 65 percent or over are in their thirties, and over 70 percent of them have been in drug treatment before (NADELMANN, 1996). The best programs provide a combination of therapies and other services, such as referral to other medical, psychological, and social services to meet the needs of the individual patient. Participation in self-help support programs during and following treatment often can be helpful in maintaining abstinence (JAMA, 10-13-99). Education is critical in combating the use of Heroin. Without education the motivation to get treatment will not be present until it is too late.
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Approximate Word count = 1899
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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