The most dangerous drug for relapse is heroin. The greatest risk to a person who is in early treatment and who relapses is the threat of overdose. This is because they have no tolerance but also because they often have poor judgment in how much they should be using. Heroin use and heroin overdoses have …
Do you really know the answer to the question, ‘What is heroin?’ If you use this substance, you know that it gets you high. Do you really know what is in it, and the true dangers associated with this drug? What is the heroin overdose rate in the U.S.? What is the death rate of …
Do you believe that the history of heroin use dates back to a few years ago? Some people potentially think that it originated in dark alleys during the 1960s. At this time, movie and music starts began glamorizing drug use. Moreover, many authors wrote about it extensively. The truth about the history of heroin use …
It might seem like an odd concept: using drugs to gain control over drug use. But especially for people addicted to opioids such as heroin or prescription painkillers, medication-assisted treatment with drugs such as Suboxone (a mix of buprenorphine and naloxone) or methadone can save lives.
After New Jersey’s law protecting first responders who administer the opioid overdose antidote Narcan was signed into law in March, a free training program is helping ordinary citizens learn to administer the drug and save lives, as well as shining a spotlight on the issue of addiction.
After three overdose deaths in just two days in Lynn, Massachusetts, Sen. Edward J. Markey has proposed federal legislation to protect “good Samaritans” who use the overdose antidote Narcan. The move may have been taken in response to the recent deaths, but rising overdose deaths have long been a problem across the U.S., and many …
Federal Law Proposed to Protect Good Samaritans Using Naloxone Read More »
The latest analysis of U.S. heroin trends can be summed up in one discouraging word: more. More heroin use, more populations using heroin, more use of other drugs alongside heroin, and more people — many more — dying.
In 2014, $25.4 billion was set aside to continue fighting the war on drugs in the U.S., with over $14.7 billion going to domestic and international law enforcement, as well as efforts to intercept trafficking. The big problem is that these efforts are nothing new, and the problem hasn’t gone away. In an investigative series, …
Law Enforcement, Besieged Family Drug Warriors on Different Turf Read More »
From the early days of opium to the modern age of prescription painkillers, people and opiates have had a long and tumultuous relationship. Although prescription drug abuse is one of the main health concerns in modern-day America, the rise in abuse of drugs like OxyContin and Vicodin is fueling another epidemic: addiction to heroin. In …
Rising Overdose Deaths Hallmark of a Heroin Epidemic Read More »
In the U.S., the rate of death from heroin overdoses has been increasing fairly steadily for a number of years. Health professionals and some private citizens can treat a heroin overdose with a medication called naloxone. However, naloxone typically comes in an injectable form, and circumstances don’t always allow for the easy injection of affected …