Vicodin, a Gateway to Heroin?

Ask most Americans how a drug addict begins the descent to using heroin, and a clean, white doctor’s office probably isn’t what comes to mind.

Yet over the past decade, that is increasingly where it’s begun.

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Deaths due to drug overdoses in the past decade have spiked dramatically in the United States. The National Center for Health Statistics says there’s been a 28 percent increase in deaths due to opioid analgesics — drugs such as Vicodin and OxyContin — and a 119 percent increase in heroin overdoses.

A 2013 report from Trust for America’s Health said that in 2000, only five states saw more than 10 deaths per 100,000 residents. That number has now climbed to 38 states.

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That’s more deaths from drug overdoses than from motor accidents.

More than half of drug overdose deaths in 2013 were related to prescription drugs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of that number, 71 percent were related to opiate analgesics. That’s 16,235 deaths due to drugs that are freely prescribed.

“The number of people reporting that they used heroin in the past 12 months has nearly doubled since 2007 to 620,000,” the New York Times reported last year.

And it’s killing more too. Last year, heroin caused 8,257 deaths.

That’s almost triple what it was just three years ago.

“The death rate grew from 1 for every 100,000 people in 2010 to 2.7 for every 100,000 in 2013,” according to the Washington Post.

Suzanne Matteson, a pharmacist in Malibu, California, said the slide to addiction often begins innocuously, with an accident that requires medication. Opiates such as Vicodin and OxyContin are effective painkillers, so they’re often prescribed. The dark side of these drugs is that they, as opioids, can offer a euphoric high similar to that of heroin if abused.

“Normally, if you do have pain, your pain is simply going to go away, and you won’t have that pain,” Matteson said in an interview with LifeZette. “It’s just masking the pain.”

The problem often begins when a patient takes more pills than necessary and feels that high for the first time. “Some people are wired to be addicts,” added Matteson.

Once addiction takes hold and the pills run out, many users turn to what they can find on the street. Heroin provides a similar rush and a similar high.

This isn’t the only path to drug abuse, of course. Many people, especially an increasing number of teenagers, try the drugs simply out of curiosity.

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The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that 52 million people — or 20 percent of adult Americans — have used prescription drugs for recreational use. A survey the institute did in 2010 found that 1 in 12 high school seniors used Vicodin, and 1 in 20 used OxyContin recreationally that year.

Once the pills run out, many users turn to what they can find on the street. Heroin provides a similar rush and a similar high.

Teenagers are likely partially connected to the easy access to information and the drugs offered on the Internet, according to John Fitzgerald, a certified addiction specialist and member of the American Academy of Health Care Providers in the Addictive Disorders.

But he, like Matteson, also points toward basic household misuse.

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“When you’re taking an opioid that’s prescribed by a doctor, that’s legal,” Fitzgerald said. “Let’s pretend my wife hurts her arm one night, though, and I give her an OxyContin that’s been prescribed to me. That’s illegal.”

Fitzgerald said this kind of misuse can quickly spiral to addition. Some people’s brains are wired for addiction, as Matteson indicated. This probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise when considering alcoholism, but many patients don’t think about that when taking medication prescribed by a doctor.

Depending on a number of genetic variables, people fall within certain percentages for different types of addiction, said Fitzgerald. Alcohol, for example, presents a 48 to 66 percent risk of addition. Opiates, like Vicodin, OxyContin — and, yes, heroin — present a 23 to 54 percent risk.

The easiest way to avoid addiction is the most obvious. Don’t take opiates. If a doctor prescribes one, ask for something else. For patients who choose to use opiates, Matteson said it’s important to carefully follow the prescription.

“Most of these should be taken as a last resort,” she said.

Fitzgerald agreed.

“We’re creating a new society of young addicts,” he said.