Heroin Use Surges

Attached a link to an article http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/30/2292618/as-poppy-fields-flourish-in-mexico.html#storylink=misearch published on the Miami Herald web site pointing out that that Mexico has surpassed Myanmar as the world's second-largest poppy cultivator and produces 7 percent of the world's heroin, mostly for the U.S. market. The State Department and the United Nations say that Mexican poppy production has nearly tripled since 2007, though Mexico strongly disputes that estimate. "They brought in experts, chemists, folks from Asia who taught them how to produce better heroin," said a U.S. law enforcement official based in Mexico City, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity for security reasons. "You saw purity levels climb from 40 to 50 percent up to 90 percent." He said Mexican heroin now might hold two-thirds of the U.S. market. "You're seeing it everywhere. It's cheap. The market base is teenagers. They are the target consumers," the official said. At about $15 a hit, heroin is a lot cheaper than prescription painkillers such as oxycodone (known by its brand name, OxyContin), which can cost $50 to $80 a tablet on the black market. Both opiates, they have similar highs and Heroin can be snorted and inhaled, too.
As addiction professionals we should get prepared for an avalanche of new opioid users who switch from prescription drugs to Heroin and teenagers who start their using "career" with Heroin.
Yours
Bernd