Surge In Heroin Abuse Concernig Many

Police across the country are reporting an alarming trend of increased heroin abuse and heroin seizures, according to an ABC news story.  The rise in use is attributed to an increase in the availability of the drug, as well as a drop in prices.

The evidence supporting the increase in availability is the amount of the drug which has been confiscated recently by different law enforcement agencies and the number of drug addicts addicted to the drug.

• In July, 21 people were indicted on charges of trafficking 400 pounds of heroin in California.
• In New York 2 men were arrested with 14 pounds of pure uncut heroin.
• 70 pounds of Heroin was found in June in the trunk of a Lincoln town car.

While these incidents were not related and happened of different sides of the country it illustrates that the available amounts and quality of the drug available is increasing.  The rise in its availability in California is pushing prices down dramatically. Special Agent Bob Cooke of the San Jose, Calif., office of the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement says that cost of an ounce of heroin hovers around $250 compared with $800 a decade ago.

The quality of the drug is also being greatly increased, while 20 years ago most of the heroin was imported into the country from the Far East, now the drug is being manufactured in Mexico and distributed by the large drug cartels operating in the United States and Mexico.
In fact an extremely pure form of heroin “china white” named for its white color is becoming more and more prevalent, this form of heroin can be snorted or smoke, in a process called “chasing the dragon”.  This form of the drug is growing in popularity among the youth because no needles are necessary.  

Heroin is highly addictive more so than most pharmaceuticals.  This means that young adults trying heroin as an alternative to prescription drugs are getting hooked at an alarming rate.
Mary Rieser of Narconon of Georgia an addiction treatment facility located in Georgia says “ With prescription drug abuse in the media and laws being passed to handle doctor shopping we must be careful to keep the pressure on eliminating all drugs of abuse."

Narconon of Georgia is a non-profit Drug Treatment center located in Atlanta, Georgia.