On Tuesday, July 7, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report detailing trends in heroin use among demographic and particular substance-using groups in the U.S. covering the period 2002 to 2013.
The report paints a clear picture of the shocking change in the demographics of users, especially in those groups historically untouched by street drugs, particularly among whites and women.
The death rates for heroin overdoses quadrupled, from 0.7 deaths to 2.7 deaths per 100,000 population, with a near doubling of the rates from 2011–2013. In 2013, almost 517,000 persons reported past-year heroin abuse or dependence, a nearly 150% increase since 2007.
In a telephone interview with the Washington Post on Tuesday, CDC Director Tom Frieden said 60 percent of the deaths were attributed to heroin and at least one other drug, usually codeine, according to lead author of the report, Chris Jones, a member of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Public Health Strategy and Analysis.
But the biggest surprise in the report was the changing demographics of heroin users. The biggest surge in users is with women and white (non-Hispanic) Americans. They tend to be 18-25 years old, with household incomes below $20,000 per year.
“In addition, persons using heroin are abusing multiple other substances, especially cocaine and opioid pain relievers,” says the report. Men still outnumber women, but the gap is narrowing. Additionally, 96 percent of heroin users say they have used other drugs in the past year.
To really see how heroin use has increased, we can look at the change in the rate of deaths. In 2001, there were 1,800 deaths from heroin overdose in the U.S. In 2013, that number jumped to 8,200 deaths. “As a doctor who started my career taking care of patients with HIV and other complications from injection drugs, it’s heartbreaking to see injection drug use making a comeback in the U.S.,” says Dr. Frieden.
There are over 500,000 people addicted to heroin in the U.S. today. Around “one in 50 people who are addicted to heroin may die of it in each year of their addiction,” say Frieden.
The CDC report describes just how dangerous heroin addiction can be.The first problem seen is the increasing number of people addicted to prescription pain-killers, most of them having the same active ingredients as heroin. These medications are often doled out by physicians not properly trained in pain management strategies.
The second issue is the availability of heroin on the street and its low cost to the user. The problem with buying heroin on a street corner is that the quality and purity of the drug is constantly changing, increasing the danger of an overdose for an unwary user.
One other issue was addressed in the report. There has also been an increase in Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) associated with injection drug use. The report underscores the critical importance of improving access to, and insurance coverage for, evidence-based substance abuse treatment,
