AHS Views

A recent report from the United Nations stated that 200 million people around the world are taking illicit drugs, with cocaine and opium derivates such as heroin being the most popular. Problems with heroin addiction, and addiction to other drugs derived from opium, also represents a high percentage of those seeking drug rehab.

The UN report also states that the global drug problem is being contained, although you’d be hard-pressed to find any truth in that statement as it relates to the U.S., with one exception - the opium poppy, from which heroin and other opiates and opioids are derived. The report states that about 92% of the heroin in the world comes from Afghanistan, that their opium exports increased by 68 percent in 2006, and morphine and heroin exports increased by 32 percent. This increases the risk of exposure to heroin for every drug user, and, in turn, increases the risk of heroin addiction, and death from overdose.

I’ve seen many people start out on marijuana – apparently just having a good time, saying they do it because they like it, not because they have to. Saying it’s not really a ‘drug’. Then they go to hash, then party drugs, then speed, then heroin. It’s not unusual. With heroin production and imports being stepped up, it’s easier to find than ever. Heroin addiction is devastating. The physical degeneration it causes is serious and, sometimes, fatal. Especially when there’s so much of it around from so many sources that you never really know what’s in it or how potent it is.

If someone you know is on drugs, even if they’re just ‘trying them out’, get them into a successful drug rehab program fast. Don’t let the situation deteriorate.