Prescription painkillers seen as a gateway to heroin
Prescription drug abuse is a worse problem in the United States than heroin use, federal drug officials said Tuesday, and they said painkillers could be a gateway drug for most heroin users.eroin may often be “cut” with other drugs, but all heroin is dangerous and can kill, the ONDCP says, a reference to recent reports about heroin mixed with the painkiller fentanyl to make a particularly potent and dangerous combination. Experts in addiction say that the use of medications like Vicodin, OxyContin and oxycodone — all opiates like heroin — has altered the landscape of addiction and relapse, in ways that affect both current users and former ones. Continue reading the main story.The life of a heroin addict is not the same as it was 20 years ago, and the biggest reason is what some doctors call “heroin lite”: prescription opiates.et Mr. Hoffman’s case, despite its uncertainties, highlights some new truths about addiction and several long-known risks for overdose. The actor, who quit heroin more than 20 years ago, reportedly struggled to break a prescription painkiller habit last year. We’ve all read about marijuana being a “gateway drug” to more dangerously addictive drugs, such as cocaine and crack, or methamphetamine, or narcotics like heroin and morphine. The new “gateway drug”, especially to heroin, is the prescription narcotic OxyContin, and its active opioid ingredient, oxycodone.In cities, towns and even rural areas all across America, heroin addiction is a growing problem. one-time high from an 80 milligram oxycodone pill for an experienced user would run roughly $80. Heroin, on the other hand, sells in many areas for around $100 a gram. Depending on a user’s tolerance level (long-time users need more per dose) a gram can deliver up to 20 doses, or highs. But for some patients, prescription painkillers can act as an introduction — or a reintroduction — to an opiate high. The pills set off heroin craving in recovering addicts, doctors say, every bit as well as they soothe withdrawal in current users.et Mr. Hoffman’s case, despite its uncertainties, highlights some new truths about addiction and several long-known risks for overdose. The actor, who quit heroin more than 20 years ago, reportedly struggled to break a prescription painkiller habit last year. “The pathway appears to be now moving from the prescription drugs to heroin, a very dangerous development,’ said Dr. Wi l son Compton, deputy director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Opioid prescription painkillers have the same effect on the brain and body as heroin does -- causing physical addiction.Overdoses send victims into a coma, slowing heartbeat and breathing to the point of death.eroin may often be “cut” with other drugs, but all heroin is dangerous and can kill, the ONDCP says, a reference to recent reports about heroin mixed with the painkiller fentanyl to make a particularly potent and dangerous combination. Detox patients hooked on street drugs often addicted to legal meds first, study found. HealthDay. + More. FRIDAY, Aug. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Prescription medicines are the way that many drug addicts first get hooked, making these legal medicines the new gateway drugs, new study findings show.ealthDay. + More. FRIDAY, Aug. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Prescription medicines are the way that many drug addicts first get hooked, making these legal medicines the new gateway drugs, new study findings show. “Heroin is cheaper than the prescription drugs in many parts of the country,” Compton told reporters on a conference call. Still, Compton said, just 4 percent of people who misuse prescription drugs move on to heroin.eroin may often be “cut” with other drugs, but all heroin is dangerous and can kill, the ONDCP says, a reference to recent reports about heroin mixed with the painkiller fentanyl to make a particularly potent and dangerous combination. Story at-a-glance 1  +. As many as 1.5 million Americans were chronic heroin users in 2010. 2  Over the past five years, heroin deaths have increased by 45 percent--an increase blamed on rise of addictive prescription drugs such as Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet, codeine, and Fentora, all of which are opioids. The reason for the resurgence of heroin is in large part due to it being less expensive than its prescription counterparts. 2  Prescription painkillers were responsible for 16,600 deaths in 2010; heroin was involved in about 3,000 deaths. Yet Mr. Hoffman’s case, despite its uncertainties, highlights some new truths about addiction and several long-known risks for overdose. The actor, who quit heroin more than 20 years ago, reportedly struggled to break a prescription painkiller habit last year.et Mr. Hoffman’s case, despite its uncertainties, highlights some new truths about addiction and several long-known risks for overdose. The actor, who quit heroin more than 20 years ago, reportedly struggled to break a prescription painkiller habit last year. 1 Prescription painkillers were responsible for 16,600 deaths in 2010; heroin was involved in about 3,000 deaths. 2  While most opioid drug abusers obtain the drug from a friend or relative, individuals who are at greatest risk for drug abuse are just as likely to get theirs from a doctor’s prescription. The reason for the resurgence of heroin is in large part due to it being less expensive than its prescription counterparts. 2  Prescription painkillers were responsible for 16,600 deaths in 2010; heroin was involved in about 3,000 deaths.
OxyContin