SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Some states, including Utah, are reporting a rise in heroin use as many addicts shift from more costly and harder-to-get prescription opiates to this cheaper alternative. A look at what’s happening in Utah:
THE PROBLEM:
The path to heroin addiction in Utah mirrors the national trend: People start getting high on prescription opiates like Oxytocin and move to heroin because it’s cheaper, said Joel Millard, executive director of the Project Reality substance abuse treatment center in Salt Lake City.
Addicts are getting younger, with the average age of people being admitted into the clinic dropping by five years, he said. Today, about 1 in 5 admissions are between the ages of 18-23.
It’s much more prevalent in the urban areas surrounding Salt Lake City, known as the Wasatch Front, because it’s easier to sell, buy and use heroin under the radar in big cities, Millard said.
“It’s easier to spot the dealing activity in the rural area,” Millard said. “Everybody knows everybody’s business.”
THE NUMBERS:
Treatment admission figures indicate use of heroin is now 7 times the number in 1993, show figures tracked by the Utah Department of Human Services. In that year, heroin accounted for 346 admissions, about 2 percent of all drug admissions. In 2013, there were 2,606 heroin admissions, totaling about 15 percent of all admissions.
The numbers include admissions paid for by public funds, but do not count people who paid for substance abuse treatment through private insurance.
Heroin deaths hit a 12-year high in 2012, state figures show. The 104 heroin overdose deaths reported that year, the latest available, marked an increase from an average of 78 the previous 11 years.
In 95 percent of the deaths, the deceased combined heroin with some other kind illegal or prescription drug with cocaine being the most common, state figures show.
The statistics show that 4 of 5 victims are men and that most deaths occurred in the urban core of the state in the Salt Lake City area.
SOLUTIONS:
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert recently gave final approval to a pair of laws aimed at addressing the heroin problem.
One measure grants limited immunity from charges related to drug use or possession for someone reporting a drug overdose. More than a dozen states have such laws.
The other shelters people from liability if they act in good faith by giving Naloxone to a person who is having an opiate-related overdose.
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