Mexican Heroin Use Up in Valley
More and more people are graduating from prescription narcotics to the much stronger, much cheaper, and far more lethal, heroin. According to the Fresno Bee, Mexican traffickers have tried to clean up the drug’s image, showing even teenagers can casually use heroin without shooting it directly into their veins. Unfortunately, in their marketing campaign, they are failing to disclose the addictive nature and very illegal classification of the drug.
Communities across the country are seeing a similar shift, where a few years ago prescription drugs like oxycontin were the drug of choice, and now it’s heroin. The reasons are simple—it’s cheaper, it’s more potent, and with states tightening prescription drug regulations, it’s often easier to find.
Law enforcement officials in California have confiscated more heroin in the first half of 2011 than they did in all of 2010. While this Fresno Bee article seems to suggest that heroin is only popular among the “young” and teens, they are referring also to people in their twenties and early thirties.
In the Valley, heroin remains a second choice among addicts to methamphetamine, which accounts for 40% of substance abuse treatment admissions. However, substance abuse centers have seen a slight rise in admissions for heroin abuse, up to 11% in 2010-11 compared with 9.6% of their admissions in 2009-10.
On a national level, first time heroin users are up. In 2009 there were 180,000 people aged 12 or older who used heroin for the first time. This was up from years prior where the average ranged between 91,000 to 118,000. Officials believe this number will continue to rise as the price of heroin continues to fall and supply from Mexico increases.
Speaking to the addictive nature of heroin, Alex Stalcup, a drug treatment doctor states, “We haven’t seen as much heroin since the ‘70s, when we lost a whole generation, and after 35 years of treatment only one in eight is off the drug if they are still alive.”
The difference between the heroin on the streets now and back then is the quality. Black tar heroin from Mexico was often made more quickly with less care to quality. Now, however, the Mexican traffickers have become more competitive with Asian and Colombian markets, causing purity levels of Mexican heroin to rise from 40-50% to 90%.
Heroin is a highly addictive drug and it’s expected to cause havoc if the numbers continue to climb. Sometimes, when an addict is arrested, it provides the perfect opportunity for help. If you are charged with heroin possession, you may have the opportunity to use the charge to your advantage, getting treatment while resolving your case.
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