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Heroin Epidemic at Critical Mass
by Fusion 360 Studios Digital Marketing SpecialistsHeroin, it turns out, doesn’t discriminate. Young, old, black, white, poor, rich—no matter the socioeconomic circumstances, heroin has arrived and is taking the lives of thousands every year.
Drug rehab centers throughout California, from San Diego to Fresno, have witnessed an increase in heroin addiction as the drug replaces painkillers as the country’s leading drug problem.
The epidemic can be linked to prescription opioid substance abuse, as studies have found that most heroin users were originally addicted to doctor-prescribed painkillers. In their effort to battle painkiller abuse, drug-makers have made the pills more difficult to abuse and lawmakers have made painkillers more difficult to obtain legally.
Left high and dry, instead of getting the help they so desperately needed from one of the country’s many drug rehab centers, opioid addicts turned to the cheaper and more accessible option—heroin.
It’s Not Who You Think
According to the CDC, there were 8,257 heroin-associated deaths in 2013. This number has grown exponentially in the past 15 years and the demographics of abusers have changed wildly–from middle-aged black men to young white, Midwest males.
The CDC found that heroin use in 18- to 25-year-olds more that doubled over the last 10 years and use is up 114 percent among Caucasians and 100 percent among women.
Those trends are expected to hold, as the CDC found that cocaine addicts are 15 times more likely to use heroin and opioid painkiller addicts are 40 times more likely to use it–and these drugs are popular with the younger white population.
Coast to Coast
The Midwest isn’t the only hotspot for heroin. Its reach spans from coast to coast and the number of addicts is steadily climbing.
A director at one of the drug rehab centers in Fresno, Calif. told a local ABC station, “I would say at least half of our clientele nowadays has to do with heroin and narcotics abuse.”
In its investigation of heroin addiction in the Fresno area, ABC also spoke with the Fresno Police, who explained, “The heroin looks the same, but the addicts are getting younger, starting as teenagers and coming from more well off families.”
The heroin epidemic has overtaken the country, and drug rehab centers and police departments can attest to its wide reach and indiscriminate grasp.
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About Fusion 360 Studios 
Digital Marketing Specialists
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