According to a recent report commissioned by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, as many as 1.5 million Americans were chronic heroin users in 2010. Such statistics add further fuel to concerns about rising narcotics abuse and drug-related deaths.
Over the past five years alone, heroin deaths have increased by 45 percent--an increase that officials blame on the rise of addictive prescription drugs such as Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet, codeine, and Fentora, all of which are opioids (derivatives of opium).
According to Gil Kerlikowske, director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, approximately 100 Americans died from drug overdoses each day in 2010.
The reason for the resurgence of heroin is in large part due to it being less expensive than its prescription counterparts.
