Report: Opioid Misuse Fuels Rise in Heroin Addiction

By Jonathan Springston, Editor, AHC Media

The rate of reported heroin use and abuse in the United States was significantly higher between 2012 and 2013 than between 2001 and 2002, due in part to misuse of prescription opioids, according to a study released Wednesday. Researchers observed the highest increases among white individuals with little education and low income.

Investigators from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health examined data from 43,093 respondents of the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) and 36,309 respondents of the 2012-2013 NESARC-III. Researchers discovered the greatest increase in heroin use and heroin use disorder among white respondents and those aged 18-29 years.

“The nonmedical use of prescription opioids preceding heroin use increased among white individuals, supporting a link between the prescription opioid epidemic and heroin use in this population,” investigators concluded.

The researchers noted that in the 2001-2002 period, 36% of white heroin users had taken prescription opioids non-medically before using heroin, while during the 2012-2013 period, 53% of white heroin users reported non-medical prescription opioid use before using heroin.

In an editorial published with Columbia’s study, commentators wrote, “It is incumbent on the medical community to prevent, diagnose, and facilitate treatment of this disease and its substantial health consequences.”

“The current response remains inadequate until opioid deaths decline,” the commentators concluded.

For more information about the opioid crisis and how to manage it, be sure to read The Opioid Epidemic: New Policies, Treatments, and Non-Opioid Alternatives.