Heroin Drug Abuse Among Teens and Young Adults

Heroin has been sweeping through the suburbs of New York City and is becoming a fast growing trend throughout the northeast. Despite the introduction of cutting agents, chemicals that dilute the strength of the drug providing a bigger yield, toady's heroin happens to be stronger and cheaper than it once was. People are struggling to figure the cause of this new wave of heroin drug abuse among teens and young adults, heroin is commonly thought of only being used by the "low of the low"; this misconception has allowed teen drug habits to progress unchecked, heroin is just such an unbelievable drug for teens to be experimenting with.

Bags of heroin for street purchase are usually marked with a skull and cross bones or words like "Kiss of Death" and "R.I.P". "A bag of heroin can sell for $5 to $25 and induce a six- to eight-hour high, according to officials and former users. Cocaine, by comparison, can cost $40 to $60 for a 30-minute high, while prescription painkillers like Vicodin or OxyContin sell for upward of $40 a pill on the street. The heroin available in the Northeast these days is purer than the kind that ravaged New York City in the 1970s, experts say, and almost certainly as lethal, if not more", according to the New York Times. It is thought that the lethality of the drug plays a large role in teenagers' attraction to it; the idea of cheating death and a sense of invisibility among teens draws many to the drug. According to Bridget G. Brennan, New York City's special narcotics prosecutor, "recent drug raids of so-called heroin mills have yielded hundreds of thousands of bags at a time, up from several hundred bags a year ago".

People are overdosing and dying all over the northeast, many times before anyone even knew they was an addiction problem occurring. In Nassau County, Long Island 25 people died of overdoses just in the first 6 months of 2009; it appears that the number of heroin related overdoses has been doubling every year, making clear the heroin should be a major concern amongst parents, even those in upper-middle class suburbs. Once the hand of heroin addiction grabs a hold of someone, it unfortunately takes repeated pain and suffering before the addict will even consider the remote possibility of seeking out recovery. Very few people have ever managed to "kick" heroin on their own, treatment is usually the only route to freedom with such a powerful drug; often heroin addicts end up checking into treatment multiple times in their life before sobriety sticks to them.

Ph D Died After Apparently Injecting Herself With Buprenorphine

What does a drug addict look like? Society has placed stigmas and stereotypes on the appearance of addicts and alcoholics over the years. When someone utters the word "Junkie" a picture usually pops into one's head of a withering human, perhaps on their last breath who would do anything to get their fix. Unfortunately, the majority of addicts have the ability to hide their addiction from their friends and family; they hold full time jobs and it appears like they are functioning members of society. It can be hard to imagine that someone who has been successful both in education and business could be suffering from an addiction that is in many ways invisible. Doctors, lawyers, and politicians are just as susceptible to drugs and alcohol as those living on the streets. Some of the last people that you would ever think of are in the grips of a terrible drug addiction. On Sunday in Baltimore Maryland, a Ph.D died after apparently injecting herself with buprenorphine while trying to get high with her boyfriend. Carrie Elisabeth John earned a doctorate in physiology and pharmacology and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Maryland School of Medicine studying the effects of drug addiction when she died from an overdose.

The police said, Carrie and her boyfriend Clinton Blaine McCracken grew marijuana inside their home and used narcotics purchased over the Internet from a Philippine pharmacy that shipped pills hidden inside stuffed animals. "John and McCracken led a life that the young woman's mother never saw. McCracken told authorities that he and John injected themselves with buprenorphine and morphine. Police said they had turned their unkempt house into an indoor marijuana farm, with grow lights and fans vented with aluminum dryer hoses. Police said they found pills in bags, at least 20 bongs, 30 marijuana plants growing up to two feet high and more packed and stored in Mason jars", according to the Baltimore Sun. The police are going to charge McCracken with many different charges related to everything found in the couple's home. McCracken believes that John did not overdose, rather, it was a bad batch of drugs that led to the death - toxicology reports are still pending.

Whatever the case may be, Carrie John died needlessly in the prime of her life. She never had the opportunity to seek help and no one seemed to have a clue about her struggles with addiction. It is surprising that the University of Maryland did not drug test their employees, especially the ones working in John's department; they had had constant contact with addictive drugs on a daily basis. I imagine they will start testing after this terrible incident. It just goes to show that most addicts and alcoholics go undetected through life until something horrific happens.