A new study indicates that a massive increase in heroin use was registered among white people. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claimed that in 2015 about 52,404 people died due to drug overdoses. Statistics indicated that 63% of those deaths happened due to opioids. Studied have shown that more people die from overdoses than from accidents or shootings.
- Statistics show that the number of white people who use heroin has increased.
- Specialists blame prescription opioids and illegal use of heroin for overdose deaths.
- In 2015, 52,404 people dued due to drug overdose.
Back in 1995, at the peak of AIDS epidemic, about 43,115 people died in the US because of this disease. Since 1999, the number of drug overdoses from prescription opioids, such as hydrocodone and oxycodone, but also illegal heroin use, quadrupled. What is more, nowadays, heroin accounts for 1 out of 4 overdose cases in the US. A new study which was recently published in the JAMA Psychiatry journal looks at the heroin use patterns, establishing whether they have changed since 2001.
Since 2001, the number of heroin use has become five times bigger while the number of heroin addicts has tripled. Statistics indicated that the greatest amount of heroin was reported to have been consumed by white males. The authors of the new study surveyed 79,402 participants’ responses which were gathered from the 2012-2013 and 2001-2002 National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions conducted by the National Institute of Health.
Their main purpose was to evaluate drug use, alcohol use, and abuse. In the 2001-2002 results, the heroin use between non-whites and whites was similar, indicating 0.32% and 0.34% respectively. However, in the 2012-2013 results, the number of white people who used heroin raised to 1.90%, while non-whites heroin users represented 1.05% of the population.
Nevertheless, the use of heroin gained more popularity among people with high school education and those who were very poor. The researchers who developed the new report suggested that authorities should raise awareness among people because these trends which were discovered are concerning. The prevalence of heroin use has been registered in vulnerable individuals who do not have enough resources to overcome their problems which triggered the use of drugs.
Based on a report developed by a 2016 Surgeon General discussing health, drugs, and alcohol, just 1 out of 10 people with a substance use disorder receives help.
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