Heroin Use – Risk of Death and Mortality Rates
Heroin is widely used in the United States. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a 2003 survey showed that 3.7 million Americans had used heroin at least once. Nearly 120,000 had used the drug in the previous month. Those who were age 26 and older were more likely to use heroin. Between 1995 and 2002, up to 164,000 new heroin users were recorded each year. Heroin was cited as the most commonly abused drug in terms of the number of treatment admissions in various metropolitan areas. In 2002, heroin users accounted for 93,519 emergency room visits. By 2008, that number that more than doubled to 201,000 emergency room visits, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 1999 and 2007, the number of deaths in the United States caused by heroin use has been fairly stable, at about 2,000 deaths per year. Cocaine is the third most-deadly drug in the United States, behind prescription drugs and cocaine. In the 1990s, New York and California had some of the highest drug overdose rates due to high rates of heroin and cocaine overdoses.
Survival Rates for Heroin Addicts
A study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry shows that heroin addicts have only a 50 percent survival rate. The studied followed 581 male heroin addicts for 33 years – from 1964 to 1997. In 1997, nearly half of the men had died. The most common causes of death were drug overdose (21.6 percent), followed by homicide, suicide and accidents (19 percent), liver disease (15.2 percent) and cardiovascular disease and cancer (both at 11.7 percent).
Of the 242 survivors, close to 40 percent had used heroin or other illegal drugs in the previous year. Nearly 21 percent tested positive for opiates and close to 67 percent were current tobacco users. More than 35 percent had used marijuana in the past year. More than 19 percent had used cocaine, 10.3 percent had used crack cocaine and 11.6 percent had used amphetamines in the previous year. The findings from the study highlight the severe effects of drug abuse. Heroin use can lead to HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and sexual transmitted diseases. Heroin use is also closely connected to an increase in crime.
Drug Use Mortality Rate Statistics
Fatalities caused by drug use are rising. Here are some statistics regarding drug-related deaths in the United States from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2007, there were nearly 28,000 deaths in the United States caused by drug overdoses.
Middle-aged men are more likely than any other demographic to die from a drug overdose.
Since 1999, female drug overdose rates have tripled, while male death rates have doubled.
The number of emergency room visits related to legal drugs is now the same as the number for illegal drugs, at 1 million each.
Among emergency room visits for illegal drugs, cocaine use topped the list at 482,000 visits.
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