We’ve talked a lot here about the heroin epidemic in Ohio, and how we treat heroin addiction at the Center for Effective Living, but the heroin epidemic is a national problem– not just an Ohio problem. The CDC just released a new report about it, and the LA Times had a good article breaking down some of the report’s data. If you or someone you love is using heroin, or if you think there’s a risk of moving from painkillers to heroin, we hope you’ll seek help before the problem escalates. And if you’re in the greater Cleveland area, we are available to help– confidentially.
Here’s an excerpt from the LA Times article, and we hope you’ll click the link below for the full text.
A new report says that 2.6 out of every 1,000 U.S. residents 12 and older used heroin in the years 2011 to 2013. That’s a 63% increase in the rate of heroin use since the years 2002 to 2004.
The rate of heroin abuse or dependence climbed 90% over the same period, according to the study by researchers from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Deaths caused by heroin overdoses nearly quadrupled between 2002 and 2013, claiming 8,257 lives in 2013.
In all, more than half a million people used heroin in 2013, up nearly 150% since 2007, the report said.
Heroin use remained highest for the historically hardest-hit group: poor young men living in cities. But increases were spread across all demographic groups, including women and people with private insurance and high incomes — groups associated with the parallel rise in prescription drug use over the past decade.