Heroin was originally developed in the later part of the 19th Century by chemists who were looking for a less addictive alternative to morphine. Morphine had been in widespread use for many years as a powerful painkiller, and for all the benefits that it offered, it also carried the significant liability of being enormously addictive. Finally diacetylmorphine was produced as a derivative of morphine which the developers hoped would not have as much of a potential to cause dependence in users. Unfortunately, diacetylmorphine, which was marketed as Heroin for the fact that it caused users to feel a heroic euphoria, was nothing if not addictive. In 1914, the U.S. Congress passed the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act as a measure to restrict the sale and distribution of heroin and similar drugs. Subsequently, heroin was only legally available as a prescription drug, though this did not prevent it from getting into the wrong hands. In the same way that millions of Americans now abuse prescription painkillers such as oxycodone (OxyContin) and hydrocodone (Vicodin), countless people in the early 20th Century abused heroin. The drug was, however, not in the mainstream. While alcohol, sedatives, marijuana, hallucinogens, cocaine and crack cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine and other drugs each took up position at the focal point of the drug scene in the United States throughout the past several decades, heroin has generally been seen as a drug for the urban slums and the inner city. Now, things are changing. Heroin is making a strong move into the forefront of America’s continuing drug problem.
Why Heroin is Becoming Increasingly Popular
The Wall Street Journal reported at the beginning of this month on the fact that heroin is becoming increasingly popular nationwide, using as an example the ongoing heroin epidemic in a rural town to the east of Seattle. Whereas heroin was previously associated with the ghetto, it is now becoming commonplace in the suburbs and in communities throughout the nation. According to statistics provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the total number of heroin users nationwide is relatively small, but the rates of heroin use are rising significantly faster than for any other illicit drug, as evidenced by the following percentages of increase or decrease in use:
- Methamphetamine – Down 41.1%
- Cocaine – Down 34.6%
- Hallucinogens – Down 14.3%
- Prescription Painkillers – Up 1.4%
- Marijuana – Up 15.5%
- Heroin – Up 53.5%
Why is heroin becoming so much more common across the United States? The reason is easy to understand.
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy reports that the total number of prescriptions for opiate painkillers dispensed by retail pharmacies in 2000 amounted to 174 million. As of 2009, this number had increased by nearly 50% to 257 million. At the same time that more people were being prescribed painkillers, the potency of their prescriptions was also increasing, from an average of 74 milligrams per person to 369 milligrams per person — in excess of 400% more. Painkillers such as OxyContin and Vicodin are derived from codeine, which is itself produced from opium. Morphine, the precursor drug for heroin, is also derived from opium. The trends in painkiller prescriptions continue to increase, with ABC News reporting that one drug, Vicodin, has increased from 112 million prescribed doses in 2006 to today’s total of 131 million. The same news story features the disturbing fact that the United States, which has less than 5% of the global population, accounts for 80% of the world’s opioid consumption. A large percentage of patients who are prescribed painkillers end up getting hooked to these powerfully addictive drugs. In response, law enforcement and regulatory agencies have increased actions to prevent doctors from writing unnecessary prescriptions, making it harder for addicts to get more pills. Furthermore, many of the most popular drugs, such as OxyContin, are now harder to abuse; the manufacturers have changed the structure of the pills so that they are harder to crush, and so that the crushed powder does not dissolve easily for injection. Swallowing the pills is ineffective for getting high, since the pills are formulated for time release, with a slow and steady dose over the course of many hours, rather than the intense and immediate rush obtainable after crushing the pill. Heroin offers an attractive substitute for painkiller medications. It is generally easier to find, and it is also far less expensive. The efforts to crack down on painkiller abuse have been effective, but it has been a Pyrrhic victory, with painkiller addicts turning to another drug which is perhaps even more dangerous and easy to abuse. This situation serves as another example of how fighting the War on Drugs is ineffective without a strong emphasis on treating addicts and preventing people from starting to use drugs in the first place, rather than simply taking measures to make drugs harder to obtain; addicts will usually find another way to get high, and it will often be one that is even worse than what they were using previously.
