The recent death of actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman has brought up some rather good questions about the rise of heroin in the United States.
The Baltimore Sun described Hoffman one of many who have died from heroin addiction. Many people in the U.S. are dying from the use of heroin.
According to The Washington Times, U.S. officials are calling the rise of heroin in the country and “alarming” rising trend. The drug is extremely powerful and used by more and more Americans each day.
Drug overdose is the most common cause of death from the use of heroin, but some of those who died from the drug also died from AIDS, contracted from dirty needles. Others died from exposure on the street or were gunned down because they owed someone money. Heroin is a major killer in America.
“Heroin is a growing epidemic,” said Rusty Payne, spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration. “People need to wake up and see what’s going on. People who would never be associated with a needle are now injecting heroin. You have urban and rural users, celebrities and the common man. Heroin touches every segment of society.”
From 2007 to 2012, the number of Americans using heroin has doubled, from 373,000 to 669,000.
There have been complete horror stories about an addict mother who left her eight year old child to roam the city with heroin dealers as well as mothers who lose their entire family from their addiction.
Until the death of such an influential actor, heroin use and the problems that it presents in America have been swept under the rug. Heroin has no demographic. It is cheap and virtually available to anyone that wants it.
Hoffman’s death has been referred to as a wake up call for those in America to realize how many people in the country are truly affected from the use of heroin.