Read this article now - Try Goliath Business News - FREE!   
You can view this article PLUS...

• Over 5 million business articles
• Hundreds of the most trusted magazines, newswires, and journals (see list)
• Premium business information that is timely and relevant
• Unlimited Access

Tell Me More   Terms and Conditions

Purchase this article for $4.95

...

**********

Heroin highly addictive is the most commonly used drug of all opiates (Epstein & Gfroerer, 1997; Giannini, 1997; Inciardi & McElrath, 1998). The increased prevalence of heroin use is a cause for concern because of the associated serious health consequences. At the extreme, heroin use can lead to vision impairment, kidney and respiratory disease, blood pressure irregularity, liver disease, sexually transmitted diseases, and death from overdose (Bird, Spence, & Hillan, 1995; Epstein & Gfroerer, 1997; Giannini, 1997; Govitrapong, Suttitum, Kotchabhakdi, & Uneklabh, 1998; Ouellet, Wiebel, & Jimenez, 1995; Pezawas, Fischer, & Diament, 1998). Heroin is generally sniffed or snorted, smoked, or injected. Intravenous injection has a faster euphoric onset (7 to 8 seconds) than intramuscular injection (5 to 8 minutes); or sniffing, or snorting, or smoking (10 to 15 minutes). In addition, the intravenous injection method provides abusers with both the greatest euphoric intensity and the greatest health risks (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1997).

Five major national surveys reported on the use of heroin among several diverse populations: the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) Program (National Institute of Justice [NIJ], 1999b), the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 1998), Monitoring the Future (MTF; Johnston, O'Malley, & Bachman, 1999), the National Household Survey of Drug Abuse (NHSDA; SAMHSA, 1999), and the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS; SAMHSA, 1997). In 1998, findings from the National Household Survey reported that the number of heroin users ages 12 and older increased by 300,000 between 1992 and 1997 (SAMHSA, 1999). Within this time span, heroin use increased by 12.2 percentage points for persons ages 12-17 years and 6.3 percentage points among persons ages 18-25 years (SAMHSA, 1999). In comparison, heroin use decreased from 25.7% to 17.3% for persons ages 26-34 years and from 31.0% to 21.0% for persons 35 and older (SAMHSA, 1999). In 1997, SAMHSA reported that heroin use in the southern region of the United States increased by 16.7 percentage points, compared with the northeastern region, which declined from 22.4% to 18.2%; the north central region, which declined from 24.5% to 21.7%; and the western region, which declined from 24.7% to 15% (SAMHSA, 1999).

In 1997, the TEDS reported that 27.1% of the individuals who were admitted for substance abuse treatment in 1996 were heroin abusers (SAMHSA, 1997). This represented a decrease of 4 percentage points from the 1992 TEDS national estimate of 31.1%. Greater treatment admissions were reported for men than for women (66.1% vs. 33.9%), whereas greater admissions were reported for Whites (80.5%) than for Hispanics and African Americans (26.6% and 24.0%, respectively; SAMHSA, 1997). The major route of heroin administration for persons admitted for treatment was injection (71.7%), followed by inhalation, smoking, and oral intake (24.0%, 2.6%, 1.2%, respectively; SAMHSA, 1997).

Between 1992 and 1995, DAWN reported that the number of heroin-related deaths increased in metropolitan areas from 2,282 to 3,802 (SAMHSA, 1998). Specifically, adults ages 35-44 years had the greatest heroin-related mortality rate (45.0%) compared with other age cohorts: 12-25 years old (8.0%), 26-34 years old (25.0%), 45-55 years old (17.0%), and 55 and older (5.0%; SAMHSA, 1998). For individuals who died from heroin-related activity, the major method of administration was injection (75.0%; SAMHSA, 1998).

In 1998, MTF reported that there was an increase in the relatively low heroin use among 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students (Johnston, O'Malley, & Bachman, 1999). Between 1991 and 1997, the annual usage rate increased among 8th-grade students from 0.7% to 1.3%; 10th-grade students from 0.5% to 1.4%; and 12th-grade students from 0.4% to 1.2% (Johnston et al., 1999). In addition, the 30-day rate increased among 8th-grade students from 0.3% to 0.6%; among 10th-grade students, the rate increased from 0.2% to 0.6%; and among 12th-grade students, the rate...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



More articles from Journal of Addictions & Offender Counseling
The treatment of substance-abusing clients in multiservice mental heal..., April 01, 2002
Measuring treatment resistance in offender counseling.(drug abuse)(Sta..., April 01, 2002
Establishing an alcohol and other drug assessment and intervention pro..., April 01, 2002

Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.

Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication name or publication date.

About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company analysis or best practices in managing your organization, Goliath can help you meet your business needs.

Our extensive business information databases empower business professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible, authoritative information they need to support their business goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting, company research or defining management best practices - Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.