Police officials in St. Louis, Missouri recently held forums designed to raise awareness about the heroin problem in the St. Louis metro area. In Missouri, the price of heroin has gone down and the purity has gone up. As a result, according to St. Louis County police officials, the number of heroin overdose fatalities have doubled in the past year.
Brenda Huszar, whose daughter died from a heroin overdose, spoke at the forum. “What is happening,” she said, “is the regular addict isn’t the guy on the street anymore that’s homeless, or a woman or whatever, it’s your child.” She said that heroin transformed her daughter from a healthy teenager to a heroin addict instantaneously. She said that the cravings of addiction caused her daughter to become heartless, to not really be herself.
St. Louis officials expect more than 300 heroin-related deaths in 2011. St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch said, “It’s huge. It’s an epidemic in St. Louis.”
An increase in supply may be causing some of the difficulty, but the nationwide increase in prescription drug abuse is also feeding this trend. Painkillers such as OxyContin are known to produce a similar high to heroin but pills are far more expensive than heroin. So once a person is addicted to this class of drug, heroin offers a far less expensive way of alleviating their cravings. Thus, painkillers have become gateway drugs to heroin, resulting in a growing number of those addicted to heroin.
If you or someone you love needs St. Louis, Missouri drug rehab services, we can help. Heroin and other drugs destroy lives. If you act quickly enough, however, you can turn things around.
Our long term drug rehabilitation program has been turning things around for Missouri residents for years. Call our hotline now at 1-877-862-4326.
