Are Americans to Blame for the Current Heroin Disaster in the USA? Curt Cramer - The Source
go to original April 14, 2014

Decriminalization of marijuana has led to lots of changes in the United States. Taxation, medical breakthroughs, political shifts... all seemingly good natured.

But there possible is a side effect now taking a turn for the worst, fueled by legalization of marijuana on one end, and slavery to pharmaceutical needs on the other. Heroin – the drug stigmatized in the past with visions of ghastly, tortured humans at the lowest end of the social spectrum – has began to feed on all types of people, especially those finding themselves at a crossroads of dependence on pain medication that is so liberally distributed by doctors, and the financial dismay of having to afford the addiction once the prescriptions expire. In recent data collection reported by the federal government, use of the drug in the United States increased 79 percent between 2007 and 2012.

Where pain medications across the United States can range from $30 a pill and up, heroin is flooding into many sections of the country at prices of $20 a “ticket” (one dose) and lower, and is even more potent in many cases. Through the northeast especially, this is becoming a serious issue. In New Jersey alone, it is common in some places to find some of the purest heroin at only $5 a bag. As of recent, law enforcement there has been encountering scarily large numbers of overdoses, with heroin that can be as pure as 60%, whereas 45 years ago it was a majority of 4 to 8 percent, according to state documents.

Though prescription deaths still currently outnumber those of the heroin trade, these shocking numbers still beg the question: where is it all coming from?

Read the rest at The Source

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!