ABUSE MAGAZINE
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lead people to put their lives in danger
without even knowing it.
coming into the country. In fact, global
heroin production has only increased in recent
years. Since fewer adults are using heroin,
sellers are targeting teenagers, who are less
likely to have negative associations with the
drug.
Dangers of Teen Heroin Use
Adding to the problem is the fact that
today’s heroin is as much as 15 times as
potent as the heroin of decades past. When
you combine this factor with the low price
and increased accessibility of the drug, teens
are in grave danger. Even when it wasn’t so
potent, heroin was already one of the most
dangerous and addictive illicit drugs on the
market.
Lack of education and misinformation is a
problem. Among kids who use heroin, there
are likely to be myths and false rumors about
use of the drug. For example, some experts
say that the rash of teenage heroin overdoses
over the past few years is a result of a mistaken belief that snorting heroin is less dangerous and less addictive than injecting. Bad
information about hard drugs like heroin can
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Teenagers also tend to be more reckless
with their safety than adults, which makes
all of the dangers of heroin use that much
more acute. Teenagers are more likely to
overdose, to allow themselves to become
addicted or to mix heroin with other drugs.
Also, among individuals who do inject the
drug, teenagers are less likely to take precautions to prevent blood borne illnesses like HIV
and Hepatitis.
Finally, teenagers are less likely to seek
heroin treatment, as they may be worried
that they’ll get in trouble if they tell their
parents. Thus, parents often do not find out
about the addiction until the child overdoses,
begins failing in school or gets in trouble with
the law.
Heroin Use Among Suburban
and Privileged Youth
A major component of the increase in
teenage heroin use is a marked upswing
among kids in suburban areas. For instance,
in places like Suffolk County, N.Y., a suburban
area outside of New York City, the number
of deaths associated with heroin use have
more than doubled in just the past couple of
years. In nearby Nassau County, the number
of people between the ages of 19 and 25
entering heroin rehab has increased nearly
fivefold in the past eight years — from 59 in
2000 to 458 in 2008.
There are many possible ways to explain
this trend. For one thing, suburban youth from
middle-class backgrounds are much more
likely to have access to gateway prescription painkillers. And while those prescription
drugs tend to run out, heroin is always available for those who know where to
find it. Suburban teenagers also
have more money to spend, and
many of them have cars, which
gives them a greater amount of
freedom and mobility. Suburban
ennu