February 4, 2014
Two network television news segments, major US newspapers and wire sources report that heroin use in the US has skyrocketed. NBC Nightly News (2/3, story 3, 2:30, Williams) reported, “The death of…star Philip Seymour Hoffman at 46 is bringing attention to a heroin problem that is exploding among people in all walks of life across our country.” NBC News correspondent Kate Snow explained, “Heroin use in the US nearly doubled over the last five years. More than a quarter million people a year end up in the” emergency department.
The CBS Evening News (2/3, story 2, 2:00, Pelley) reported, “The northeast and some other parts of the country are seeing an increase right now in deaths from heroin laced with additives.”
The Wall Street Journal (2/4, A5, Campo-Flores, Elinson, Subscription Publication) points out that according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the number of people in the US using heroin increased nearly 80% between the years 2007 and 2012. Meanwhile, overdose deaths caused by heroin increased 55% between the years 2000 and 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
USA Today (2/4, Leger) reports, “While heroin use is still low compared to marijuana, law enforcement officials and drug treatment experts say heroin has made a comeback after a decade-long outbreak of narcotic painkiller abuse.” Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, explained that heroin use “cuts across all demographic groups. We used to think of a heroin as an inner city problem, but it’s now a problem we’re seeing across the nation among all populations and all ages.”
The Los Angeles Times (2/4, Pearce, Susman) reports that heroin’s relatively low cost is no doubt fueling its popularity. For example, the street value of an oxycodone tablet in New York is “about $30 and is good for just one hit.” But, “for about the same price, buyers can get six glassines of heroin, according to Erin Mulvey,” a Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman in New York.
On its front page, the New York Times (2/4, A1, Goodman, Subscription Publication) focuses on New York City’s problem with heroin. There, “from 2010 to 2012, after several years of decline, heroin-related overdose deaths increased 84 percent…to 382, according to the Health Department statistics.” What’s more, “heroin containing fentanyl, which gives a more intense but potentially more dangerous high, has begun to appear in New York City, said Kati Cornell, a spokeswoman for Bridget G. Brennan, the special narcotics prosecutor for the city.” Buyers of the drug often have no idea what they are purchasing may contain fentanyl.
In another article, Los Angeles Times (2/4, Pearce, Susman) reports that heroin is not just a problem for big cities. For example, the mostly rural state of Vermont is facing “a full-blown heroin crisis,” according to Gov. Peter Shumlin’s State of the State address given last month. Shumlin focused the address mostly on “the state’s drug epidemic.” The governor said, “We have seen an over 250% increase in people receiving heroin treatment here in Vermont since 2000, with the greatest percentage increase, nearly 40%, in just the past year.”
Bloomberg News (2/4, Chen, Wilber) reports that Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Ohio have also reported greater use of heroin and more overdoses. In fact, during the past “two months, emergency room doctors at the Allegheny Health Network in Pennsylvania have seen visits related to heroin overdose more than double, said Thomas Campbell, chairman of emergency medicine for the Pittsburgh-based network that includes five hospitals.” Also covering the story are the AP (2/4, Cohen), Reuters (2/4, Gorman), the ABC News (2/4, Meek, Katersky) website, the NBC News (2/4, Alexander) website, and CNN (2/2, Dunnan, Ford).
Article courtesy American Medical Association
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