heroin
New Study Seeks to Understand Heroin Use Among Young Suburbanites
The growing trend of younger initiates into heroin use among suburbanites captured the attention of researchers at the Robert Crown Center for Health Education in Hinsdale, Illinois. In a 10-month study, “Understanding Suburban Heroin Use,” for the Reed Hruby Heroin Prevention Project, researchers found that Chicago area suburban heroin users have little knowledge of heroin and its effects when they first use it, and they often substitute heroin after becoming addicted to prescription painkillers.
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Supervision of Methadone Prescriptions Reduces Number of Related Deaths
Although the heroin substitute is known to effectively reduce heroin-related deaths among heroin addicts and facilitate better recovery during rehabilitation, use of methadone itself has raised concerns due to its potential for abuse, dependency, and overdose when misused by vulnerable patients. Because trends in heroin abuse and methadone prescribing among the UK population have continued to rise in recent years, Professor John Strang at the National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry in King’s College London and colleagues assessed the relationships between methadone-related deaths and the use of supervised methadone prescribing among the Scottish and English populations during 1993 to 2008.
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Heroin Use Back on the Rise
A very popular drug in the 60s and 70s, heroin is finding its popularity growing once again. This time, it is appealing to younger children in suburban areas, according to an IndyStar article. The trend has been noted by police, prosecutors, defense lawyers, coroners and treatment centers.
“It’s not just something we thought we’d see, (but) our therapists and providers are seeing more of it,” said Flora Walker, the community liaison for the Pathway Family Center in Castleton, in the IndyStar.
While heroin was out of its heyday, experts have a few theories as to the return of this potent drug:
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