The habits of heroin addicts from the age of 20 to today have changed a lot, largely due to the appearance of “light heroin.” opiates which are dispensed under medical prescription. They are closer at hand than ever and, furthermore, cause a withdrawal syndrome that is difficult to overcome
Details about the actor’s death are arriving Philip S. Hoffman, who died at the age of 46, presumably from a heroin overdose. This case alerts us, not only to overdoses, but to new routes of addiction.
It seems that this actor had stopped using two decades ago, but a treatment based on painkillers last year plunged him into a fight against the addiction caused by such medication. Eminences in addictions warn that the consumption of opiate medications has changed the landscape of addictions and their relapses.
“Getting high” on drugs
In the last decade, studies on prescription opiate abuse have shown a progressive increase in the United States, and the number of people who confess to having used heroin during the last year has doubled since 2007, far exceeding the half a million people according to statistics from the US Department of Health. Experts maintain that this is not a coincidence; at this time, the recreational consumption of these drugs has introduced many young people into this dangerous world of unpredictable consequences.
Even those who have quit heroin are surrounded by many more offers than in the past. It is very easy to get pills, they do not require paraphernalia, they do not smell… it is a perfect drug due to its simple use and consumption.
Countless people are treated with these medications correctly prescribed and in an adequate and safe manner. It is scientifically proven that there are certain types of patients for whom opioid analgesics can provide a first contact or a reminder of what it feels like to get high on opiates. The medical community warns about medications that activate the craving for heroin consumption in addicts who are trying to abandon this consumption, in the same proportion that they relieve the withdrawal syndrome in consumers.
Addiction and alcoholism specialists estimate that approximately 50% of the heroin addicts who pass through their center began using prescription opioids. Often the prescription is correct, but before they know it they find themselves illicitly searching for pills.
