U.S. heroin use has increased fivefold since 2002, says study

Mar 30, 2017 | International News, News

Converting Heroin Tar into “Monkey Water” for Administration through the Nasal Cavities, Rectum, or Veins. (Wikimedia Commons)

By: Jimmy Kakish

Opioid abuse is an epidemic in the U.S.

91 people die every day from opioid overdoses of heroin or prescription equivalents like painkillers and fentanyl.

A new study shows that heroin use has increased five-fold from 2002-2012.

“From 1999 onwards, overdose deaths due to prescription opioids rose incrementally,” said Bertha Madras, a professor of psychobiology at Harvard Medical School. “[they] consistently outpaced annual heroin death rates,” said Madras in an editorial that accompanied the study, released by The JAMA Network.

The report also found that the number of people with a heroin disorder tripled.

Consult the infographic below for more info: