Cases of heroin-related deaths in the U.S. have significantly risen by almost 300 percent in the past years,and now a new national report has revealed that heroin use is not just limited to a specific age or income level group.
According to a report last Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, heroin use has increased by 63% from 2002 to 2013..
This spike in heroin use led to an increase in death caused by heroin overdose. From the same period, the report found that heroin-related deaths in the country have increased by 286%.
The new report was based on the two agencies' analysis of data taken from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health that runs from 2002 to 2013.
The CDC report also found that those who abuse prescription painkillers like morphine and Oxycontin were 40 times more likely to abuse heroin. Forty-five percent of those who use heroin were also found to abuse painkillers.
Health officials partly put the blame on continuous prescription of opioids to manage chronic pain.
CDC director Tom Frieden said in a news conference that heroin users were addicted to prescription painkillers because these drugs were "essentially the same chemical" and produce effects on the brain similar to that of heroin.
The data covered thousands of "non-institutionalized civilians", but not the homeless, military and prison population. Therefore, the estimates provided do not generalize the total population in the country, according to the official report.
Despite efforts to curb drug abuse, heroin addiction in the country continues to rise. Furthermore, addiction to heroin is now seen in demographic groups that used have low rates of heroin use.
"What's most striking and troubling is that we're seeing heroin diffusing throughout society to groups that it hasn't touched before," Frieden told NBC News.
Death from heroin is usually caused by overdosing, which leads to shallow and slow breathing. These effects tend to worsen when the drug is used with other drugs.
According to CDC, people often use heroin along with alcohol and other drugs, a practice that is dangerous because it contributes greatly to the risk of overdose.
