“Heroin use and heroin use disorder have increased significantly among American adults since 2001, according to new research conducted at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. The portion of Americans using heroin has climbed five-fold in the last decade, and clinically defined heroin dependence has more than tripled. Increases were greatest among males, whites, those with low income and little education, and for heroin use disorder, in younger individuals. The increase in the prevalence of heroin use disorder was more pronounced among whites ages 18-44 than among non-whites and older adults.
The study is the first to account for changes in heroin use and dependence over time in the U.S. The findings are published online in JAMA Psychiatry.”
Read more at: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-03-prevalence-heroin-decade-greatest-whites.html
Source: MedicalExpress.com – March 29, 2017
