Heroin addiction treatment

Heroin Treatment in Ohio

Ohio is observing an increasing threat from heroin, as evidenced by escalating abuse, transportation, and mainstream distribution of the drug. Organized criminal groups are often supplementing cocaine shipments with heroin in an effort to increase the supplies of heroin in the state of Ohio. In the city of Toledo, problems associated with heroin distribution and abuse are as detrimental and evident as those associated with cocaine abuse.

There was a substantial increase in treatment admissions for heroin abuse. More than 16 percent from 1998 to 1999 to be exact. Treatment admissions to Ohio programs listed heroin as the primary substance of abuse in many cases. 3,508 in 1998 compared with 4,092 in 1999, a substantial rise.

Most of the admissions (more than 62 percent of treatment admissions) for heroin abuse in Ohio state were between the ages of 25 and 44. A large difference between heroin and cocaine admissions is shown among those aged 45 to 54. This specific age group accounted for more than 27 percent of heroin treatments, compared to only 9 percent of all cocaine admissions in Ohio.

Heroin addiction exacts a terrible toll. For many heroin addicts the condition lasts a lifetime–a lifetime shortened by health and social consequences of their drug addiction. NIDA-supported researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), examined the patterns and consequences of heroin addiction over 33 years in nearly 600 heroin-addicted criminal offenders and found that their lives were characterized by repeated cycles of substance abuse and abstinence, along with increased risk of crime or incarceration, health problems, and death.