Columbia University researchers surveyed more than 79,000 people and discovered that the proportion of Americans using heroin increased from less than 1 percent in 2001-2002 to nearly 2 percent in 2012-2013. President Donald Trump plans to announce the creation of a commission to investigate the said issue.
According to Consumer Health Daily, the new commission will be headed by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie while Richard Baum will serve as the acting director of the National Drug Control Policy. The increase in the heroin use is very evident among the disadvantaged, as stated by Dr. Silvia Martins, associate professor of epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia, New York City.
Heroin use is not just prevalent among those with connections to social institutions but also to less privileged ones including less educated and poor individuals. This trend is a growing concern as the use of the addictive drug occurs already in vulnerable people who have fewer resources to overcome the health and mental problems associated with the drug.
Furthermore, the researchers also discovered that the use of heroin is higher among whites; rising from about 1 percent in 2001-2002 to nearly 2 percent in 2012 and 2013. Among non-whites, the results rose from less than 1 percent in 2001-2002 to just increasing to over 1 percent in 2012-2013.
As reported by Drug Abuse, heroin is an opioid drug made from morphine and it can be a white or brown powder or a black sticky substance. Street names of the opioid drug include; dope, horse, junk, and smack. The drug could be administered by injecting, snorting, smoking and it is sometimes mixed with crack cocaine forming speedball.
Heroin epidemic can be effectively prevented giving the addicts an access to medication-assisted programs and overdose prevention programs. Bertha K. Madras, a co-author of the study added that the crisis in the increasing numbers of drug addicts proves that reducing the supply and demand are very important in national drug control policies.
