9781422279656

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Heroin is an illegal drug that is often sold as a refined brown or white powder. At one time, heroin was generally considered one of the most hardcore drugs. However, in recent years the street price of heroin has dropped while the purity has increased, making it more appealing to young recreational drug users.

A Growing Crisis

S ince the year 2000, more than 500,000 Americans have died from drug overdoses. More than 60 percent of these deaths involved a class of narcotic drugs called opioids. The opioids include illegal drugs like heroin, as well as other drugs that are legally prescribed as painkillers, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, and fentanyl, among others. Public health officials agree that the United States is facing a major crisis when it comes to heroin and other opioids. According to 2017 data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), heroin-related overdose deaths more than tripled between 2010 and 2015. In both 2015 and 2016, approximate- ly 13,000 Americans died from heroin overdoses. The CDC also found that the rate of overdose death related to other opioids has increased greatly over the past few years.

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