Heroin

• Admissions for primary heroin abuse accounted for 13 percent of TEDS admissions in 1996 (Table 3.2)

• Heroin was second to alcohol as the most common primary substance abuse problem among treatment admissions 40 and over, and 35 percent of heroin admissions were at least 40 years old. Although 46 percent of heroin admissions were white, heroin abuse was disproportionately high among Puerto Ricans and Mexican-Americans. About 40 percent of admissions among Puerto Ricans, and 34 percent among Mexican-Americans, were for primary heroin use (Tables 3.1-3.2).

Figure 13. Heroin/Opiates
Admissions by Sex, Age, and Race/Ethnicity: 1996

• The most common route of administration for heroin was injection (72%). However, 24 percent of admissions reported inhalation (snorting) as their preferred route of administration (Table 3.5).

• Heroin admissions reported secondary use of non-smoked cocaine (29%), and smoked cocaine (11%) (Table 3.8).

• Daily heroin use was reported by 83 percent of heroin admissions (Table 3.5).

• Most heroin admissions (nearly 80 percent) had been in treatment before the current episode, and 28 percent had been in treatment 5 or more times (Table 3.5).

This page was last updated on December 30, 2008.

SAMHSA, an agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, is the Federal Government's lead agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the United States.