The Health Crisis Presented by Heroin Abuse in the U.S.

On April 23rd of this year, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations (SAMHSA) published a report by Rachel Lipari, Ph.D., and Arthur Hughes, M.S., on Trends in Heroin Use in the United States. Heroin is an illegal opioid that is highly addictive. An overdose of this drug frequently leads to depressed breathing and can result in death.

SAMHSA’s report reveals that while heroin is not widely abused, the number of known heroin users is on the rise.  The report states that “the number of people aged 12 or older who received treatment for heroin during their most recent substance abuse treatment in the past year was higher in 2013 (526,000) than it was a decade ago.”

Some facts about heroin use that were revealed in this report include:

• In 2013, approximately 169,000 Americans aged 12 or older used heroin for the first time
• Roughly 460 Americans use this drug on any given day
• The average age at which Americans use heroin for the first time is 24.5 years
• SAMHSA estimates that 681,000 Americans used herion in 2013, of these, approximately:
  • 31,000 were adolescents
  • 244,000 were young adults
  • 406,000 were adults over the age of 26
• Of the estimated 6.9 million drug addicts in the U.S. , about 517,000 are addicted to heroin; this number includes approximately:
  • 10,000 adolescents
  • 182,000 young adults
  • 325,000 adults over the age of 26
• In 2013, about 526,000 Americans sought treatment for heroin abuse, this includes roughly:
  • 6,000 adolesents
  • 128 young adults
  • 392,000 adults over the age of 26

Conclusions

A few conclusions can be drawn based on the data presented in this report. Most significantly, heroin abuse is more prevalent in older adults than in young people. This may be largely because of increased education and more mature perception of the dangers of this drug.  In fact, 93.3 percent of people surveyed in 2013 stated that they believed that using heroin once or twice a week presented a serious health risk.

The study’s authors warn that “Although the number of heroin users is lower than the number of users of other substances, rates of heroin use were higher in 2013 than they were a decade ago. Similarly, the number of people aged 12 or older who received treatment for heroin use during their most recent treatment in the past year has also risen from 277,000 people in 2002 to 526,000 people in 2013. The growing number of people getting treatment for heroin may stretch the capacity of treatment providers. For example, according to the 2013 National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services, among outpatient-only substance abuse treatment facilities that treat opioid addiction or dependency through the use of methadone or buprenorphine, 38.9% are operating at capacity (95-105% capacity) and 8.1% are operating at 106% or above capacity.”

Learn more by reading the full report here.