Over the past 10 years, the United States has seen an 80 percent increase in teens seeking Suboxone addiction treatment for heroin abuse. In fact, heroin abuse is on the rise around the nation. Many addiction experts blame the prescription drug epidemic for rising heroin abuse rates, saying that the abundance of prescription painkillers begin abused have served as a gateway drug into opiate addiction for many of the five to 10 percent of the population who are born with a susceptibility to it. According to the premiere episode of Oprah Prime, heroin dealers are using subterfuge to get teens hooked on their product.
A String of Senseless Tragedies
Many teens who become addicted to heroin after being tricked into using it never recover. That’s what happened to a 20-year-old named John, who bought white powder at a party from a dealer who told him it was crushed OxyContin. It wasn’t. In fact, the powder John bought was pure heroin. John snorted the powder for four months before he realized it wasn’t what he thought it was. Though he tried to get clean, his efforts failed, and he lost his life to an overdose.
And John isn’t the only young person to have lost his life after being fooled into taking heroin. The same thing happened to 24-year-old Luis, and the countless other young people. For the teens and young adults who have succumbed to heroin overdose, Suboxone addiction treatment programs are too little, too late.
Kids of All Ages Doing Heroin, Says DEA Agent
According to Jack Riley, DEA Special Agent in Charge, dealers are getting kids in college, high school, middle school and even grade school hooked on heroin by telling them it’s something else. “We see heroin traffickers really trying to hook prospective new customers into the heroin addiction simply by not telling them what it is they’re selling,” he told Oprah.
Twenty-four-year-old Vincent, a recovering heroin addict and former college football player, explained to Oprah how he used to trick others into taking heroin so he would have someone to do it with. “I used to trick people into doing heroin so that they would do it with me. I would tell them it was OxyContin, Vicodin, cocaine – really, anything. Anything less than heroin.”
Twenty-three-year-old Gabriela was only a freshman in high school when she started doing drugs with her older friends. She told Oprah, “I thought I was getting myself involved with cocaine. A year later, I found out that I was actually doing heroin. By then, I didn’t know how to stop. I couldn’t stop.” Gabriela’s story explains why Suboxone addiction treatment programs for young people are in such high demand.
Recovery from Heroin Addiction Is Possible with Suboxone Addiction Treatment
If you or someone you love is addicted to heroin, Suboxone addiction treatment is the answer. Suboxone is an opiate maintenance medication that was approved by the FDA in 2002. Thousands of recovering heroin addicts have successfully used Suboxone addiction treatment to cope with withdrawal symptoms and return to a normal way of life.
Abusing opiate drugs like heroin and prescription painkillers literally rewires your brain. These drugs stimulate the brain’s pleasure and reward centers. Over time, they take the place of endorphins, serotonin, dopamine and other neurotransmitters associated with feelings of pleasure, reward and well-being. That’s why, when you stop taking heroin or other opiate drugs, the withdrawal symptoms are so painful. It’s also why recovering heroin addicts are prone to post-acute withdrawal syndrome, which can last for many months after they get clean. Symptoms of post-acute withdrawal syndrome include depression, anxiety, trouble sleeping and an inability to feel pleasure.
It takes time for your brain to heal from the effects of opiate addiction. For Suboxone addiction treatment to be effective, you must usually remain on the medication for at least two years if not longer. However, when you enter Suboxone treatment for opiate addiction you can take a supply of your medication home with you. You don’t have to come into a methadone clinic every day to receive your medication; you can take your medication when and where you see fit. Many recovering heroin addicts hold down jobs, earn degrees, and live rich, full and fulfilling lives while participating in a Suboxone opiate maintenance program.
If you or someone you love needs help for heroin addiction, don’t wait to ask for help. Call The Delray Center for Healing today at 888-699-5679.