Authors: Langleben DD
Abstract
Misuse of prescription opioids is a national public health problem: In the United States, according to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 4.5 million, or 1.7%, of persons aged 12 or older reported current nonmedical use of pain relievers, and 335,000 reported currently using heroin. This is an upward trend, as heroin use has more than doubled since 2002. Transition from ingesting or insufflating (ie, snorting) prescription opioids to snorting or smoking (ie, inhaling the fumes) heroin has become more common and is driven by the increasing purity and lower cost.
PMID: 25742206 [PubMed – in process] (Source: Journal of Clinical Psychiatry)