Heroin addiction treatment

Heroin Treatment in North Carolina

Heroin availability and abuse are generally low to moderate in most areas of  the state of North Carolina. There is some heroin available it’s abuse is most commonly found in urban areas and is rarely available in rural areas. The large majority of heroin abusers in North Carolina are older, chronic abusers who inject the drug intravenously. However, since the 1990s when high purity South American heroin became prevalent, a younger, middle-class population has begun to get addicted to the drugs through other means of injection. This high potency heroin allows abusers to effectively snort or smoke the drug and avoid the health hazards and social stigma associated with IV drug use.

The amount of heroin-related treatment admissions in the state of North Carolina has increased. Treatment admissions increased from 1,683 in FY1996 to 2,298 in FY1999, ranking third behind admissions for cocaine and marijuana in that time, according to the North Carolina of Health and Human Services Department. It appears the amount of heroin abuse is stable among older, long-time abusers in North Carolina, but the number of younger abusers is steadily increasing.

The appropriate duration for a person in a heroin addiction treatment depends on the importance of the problem and also the person's needs. Research indicates that for most patients, the threshold of significant improvement is reached at about 3 months in an addiction treatment. After this threshold is reached, additional heroin addiction treatment can produce further progress toward recovery. Because individuals often leave addiction treatment prematurely,the program should include strategies to engage and keep patients in the treatment.

There are no quick fixes for heroin addiction. The knowledge and life skills one learns during intensive heroin addiction treatment must be integrated into everyday person's life.