Heroin Addiction

More Americans have died from opioid overdose than were Killed in all war since the American Revolution

• From 1999 to 2019, more than 700,000 people have died from a drug overdose;.
• Around 68% of the more than 70,200 drug overdose deaths in 2017 involved an opioid;
• In 2017, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids including prescription opioids, heroin and fentanyl was 6 times higher than in 1999;
• On average 1 Americans die every 10 minutes day an opioid overdose.

More People Die from an Overdose than are Killed in Automobile Accidents and from Firearms Combined

People are aware of the Opioid Epidemic, but don’t know that addiction to opioid prescription pill, heroin abuse or fentanyl is the number 1 public health crisis in America.

Suboxone prevents Brain Damage due to Opioids

Some of the damage that results from Heroin addictions can be reversed. But the longer heroin has been used the more damage results, and the more likely the damage will be permanent. Unfortunately, brain damage and memory loss are often not reversible even over time.

Psychiatric disorders secondary to heroin abuse may not be reversible either. For one thing, addiction itself is a chronic condition, with cravings that can potentially reoccur throughout an individual’s lifetime and result in relapse if the person does not continue to manage their addiction. Co-occurring mental health disorders like depression and anxiety may continue to be a problem for years following treatment for heroin addiction.

The truth is heroin addiction cannot be cured, rather opioid addiction can be controlled with medication, Suboxone helps prevent heroin relapse and overdose death, but as importantly, stops brain damage caused by continued use.

Heroin Addiction and Co-Occurring Mental Disorders

Heroin addiction is associated with psychiatric illness because:

• Brain chemistry issues: Many of the brain’s neurotransmitters involved in psychiatric disorders are also involved in heroin addiction including dopamine, norepinephrine and GABA.
• Self-medication: People who have other mental health disorders, such as anxiety or PTSD, may abuse heroin to self-treat the symptoms of those disorders.

CARFENTANIL: the New Deadlier Fentanyl

Note:  Heroin is being mixed with CARFENTANI, a drug related to fentanyl. These drugs are killers!

Prescription opioid pain pills are much less accessible on the street, so people are turning to heroin as their drug of choice. More and more heroin is being mixed with even more dangerous synthetic opioids such as Fentanyl and Carfentanil. Fentanyl, is 50-100 times stronger than heroin, and Carfentanil up to 1000 times stronger. These synthetic drugs are often consumed unknowingly, mixed in illicit street heroin or compounded in fake versions of prescription opioids. Both are often sold as heroin to people who don’t realize what they are buying.  These drugs kill. Fentanyl was linked to 66 percent of Florida’s opioid-related deaths in 2017.

• According to the DEA, a related drug, Carfentanil is the most potent opioid. It was linked to the overdose death of the legendary singer – “Prince”. Carfentanil is smuggled across our southern borders by Latin American cartels through Mexico, and illegally entering the United States from China by mail.
• Carfentanil is used in zoos to sedate large animals like tigers or elephants. Two milligrams of Carfentanil, an amount equal to a few grains of salt, is enough to knock out a 3,000-pound African elephant. Veterinarians who use the drug must wear face masks and gloves to protect themselves, because a dose the size of a grain of salt could kill an adult person – in fact, it may be lethal when absorbed through the skin.
• Overdosing on Fentanyl or Carfentanil is very different than overdosing on pure heroin. These street drugs are extremely powerful causing a person to stop breathing and die in minutes. They are also very resistant to naloxone, better known as Narcan, the opioid antidote first responders use to treat heroin overdose. A typical heroin overdose requires one or two Narcan doses to work, but when heroin is laced with Fentanyl or Carfentanil, it may require six or more doses or it not work at all.