Prescription Drug Abuse Leads to Increase in Heroin Use among Young Adults

Young Adults in Suburban and Rural Areas at Risk

Novus Medical Detox Facility of Pasco County, Florida (http://www.novusdetox.com) Director Steven L. Hayes warns today of an old scourge being given new life by prescription drug abuse - heroin addiction. "The addictive nature of prescription painkillers, legal heroin, is awesome and rarely understood by teenagers or young adults using them to get high," Hayes said. "The medicine cabinets that are often the original source of the drugs run dry and the abuser now has a problem. Although prescription drugs are freely available on the street, heroin is often the least expensive solution because it is frequently priced less than prescription drugs."

Five years ago, the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) annual report said heroin was just beginning to move into the suburbs, but found that the drug's popularity was stable or declining. But by 2008, the NDIC's National Drug Threat Assessment warned that heroin abuse "is increasing among young adults in a number of suburban and rural areas."

According to Allison Stombaugh, an intelligence analyst for the NDIC, "Prescription opiates are seen as acceptable because they are doctor prescribed. But abusing them to get high frequently leads users to try heroin." The NDIC's 2009 report will cover the growing threat of prescription opiates because they lead to so much prescription drug addiction among kids, but they are also the major gateway to cheaper, highly refined heroin now flooding the streets of suburbia. "

"Prescription drug addiction is a personal catastrophe," Hayes concluded. "But heroin addiction has the additional risk of prison--the sale and possession of heroin is illegal Also, many who become addicted to heroin find themselves steered into yet another addiction--methadone."

Medical detox is often a necessary first step in dealing with addiction, abuse or dependence and is effective in helping addicts get through the painful withdrawals from prescription drugs, heroin and even high-dose methadone. While many medical detox programs take place in a hospital, Novus Medical Detox Center specializes in handling drug dependencies in a private setting that is stress-free, comfortable and safe. The facility, set on 3.2 wooded acres 45 minutes north of Tampa, Florida, offers private rooms, TV, DVD players and high speed internet access. Detoxification programs at Novus provide detox services for people wishing to withdraw from addictive drugs, including heroin detox, opiate detox, psychotropic detox, alcohol detox, benzodiazepine detox and prescription drug detox. They can be reached at 877-250-8267



About the Author
Steven L. Hayes is Director of Novus Medical Detox Center in Pasco County, FL, 45 minutes north of Tampa (http://www.novusdetox.com). Steven hopes to become part of the solution for the millions of people who have become addicted to or dependent on prescription drugs; by educating them and their doctors; by insisting that pharmaceutical companies do honest, open and scientifically sound testing; and by providing a facility for medical detox that is comfortable, private and caring.