The statistics of drug use are undergoing a frightening change. Although the use of gateway drugs such as marijuana seem to be leveling out, use of the more permanently debilitating drugs such as heroin are increasing alarmingly fast. There is an epidemic of so-called "casual" use in the United States. While the percentage of heroin users who administer the drug via Intravenous (IV) injection is the same, more and more are smoking or sniffing the drug. It seems America’s youth are buying into the misconception that as long as they do not use heroin Intravenously, they will not become hooked.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse there are currently 600,000 heroin addicts needing treatment. Heroin has many serious health hazards associated with its use. HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, Fatal Overdose, Collapsed Veins and Infectious Diseases just to name a few.
Aside from the debilitating effects of long-term use the heroin user will most likely suffer from three factors: Tolerance, Addiction and Withdrawal.
