Former Oxy Users Switching to Heroin

When the manufacturers of the powerful painkiller OxyContin changed its formula in 2010 to make the drug more difficult to abuse, they had no idea the move would kick off a huge surge in the use of heroin throughout the United States. While abuse of OxyContin has significantly decreased in the past two years, the use of heroin has almost doubled.

Law enforcement agencies are finding large amounts of heroin in areas where previously it was never much of a problem.

Researcher at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis studied more than 2,500 patients in 150 treatment centers in 39 states, initially asking them to fill out a survey and later following up with a telephone interview.

Less OxyContin Abuse Found

A typical response from former OxyContin abusers was, "Because of the decreased availability of OxyContin, I switched to heroin."

According to the researchers:

• 36.6% of patients listed OxyContin as their primary drug in 2010.
  
• Only 12.8% listed it as their primary drug in 2012.
  
• Past 30 day users of Oxy dropped from 47.4% to 30%.
  
• Heroin users doubled between 2010 and 2012.

"The most unexpected, and probably detrimental, effect of the abuse-deterrent formulation was that it contributed to a huge surge in the use of heroin, which is like OxyContin in that it also is inhaled or injected," said principal investigator Theodore J. Cicero, PhD. "We're now seeing reports from across the country of large quantities of heroin appearing in suburbs and rural areas."

More Likely to Overdose

"Unable to use OxyContin easily, which was a very popular drug in suburban and rural areas, drug abusers who prefer snorting or IV drug administration now have shifted either to more potent opioids, if they can find them, or to heroin," he said in a news release.

The danger of this unexpected development lies in the fact that users are much more likely to accidentally overdose on heroin.

"This trend toward increases in heroin use is important enough that we want to get the word out to physicians, regulatory officials and the public, so they can be aware of what's happening," Cicero said. "Heroin is a very dangerous drug, and dealers always 'cut' the drug with something, with the result that some users will overdose. As users switch to heroin, overdoses may become more common."

^{News Source: Washington University School of Medicine "OxyContin Change Has Many Switching To Heroin." 11 July 2012.}

Related Information:

• New OxyContin Pill Harder to Abuse?
  
• Basic Facts About OxyContin
  
• Symptoms of OxyContin Withdrawal

^{Photo: Drug Advisory Council}