Heroin Addiction a Problem in Utah February 8
Heroin, once the drug of choice in the inner city has now become more prevalent in suburban and rural areas where OxyContin addiction often leads to use of the drug which is shockingly cheap compared to the cost of the painkiller. OxyContin is an expensive pill that is broken apart, cooked and injected with a syringe when it is abused. According to the Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health heroin use is progressively increasing and was the3rd most common drug of choice for Utahns in 2008 after meth and marijuana.
With the use of anti-meth campaigns and advertising meth and marijuana use have fallen dramatically in the last 3 years by use of heroin is rising. Heroin, like Oxycontin is injected and when used provides the user with an opioid high. The major reason that Oxycontin users end up using heroin is the drastic price difference and then there’s also the withdrawal. OxyContin withdrawal is described as magnified flu-like symptoms, including chills and pulsating nerves. One OxyContin pill can sell for $50 to $60 while one balloon of heroin costs as little as $10. So they start addicted to OxyContin and find themselves addicted to heroin when they can’t afford the high cost of the painkiller.
So far this year strike force agents in Weber County, Utah have made 18 significant heroin arrests and confiscated 214 grams of the drug. Nearly a quarter of current heroin addicts come from middle- to upper-class backgrounds and are usually 35 or younger. Addicts slowly develop a tolerance to the drug and constantly have to increase the dose to experience the high they are used to, setting them up for a likely deadly overdose later on. Utah is just the latest in a series of states who are dealing with this form of drug addiction and fear the effects on the communities they affect. A solution needs to be found and it couldn’t come soon enough.
Tags: drug abuse, heroin, Substance Abuse, Utah