Did you know that the young, freckled boy living in the Midwest, the bastion of wholesome American culture, is more likely to die a heroin-related death than the inner city minority school drop out?

Yes, the heroin epidemic is sweeping the small towns of the Midwest where 19-44 year olds are dying at the rate of seven for every 100,000 people.

Here’s Why:

• The low cost of heroin compared to the cost of prescription drugs; the abuse of painkillers has served as a ‘gateway’ to resort to the cheaper heroin sold on the streets.

• The change in the formula of the prescription ‘addiction’ of choice: OxyContin; the manufacturers of OxyContin have made it more difficult to crush and snort, thus paving the way for addicts to resort to heroin.

• Those who abuse prescription painkillers were 40 times more prone to use heroin

• Blue collared workers, working in factories and mines, are more likely to suffer injuries as a result of the nature of their work and are prescribed and sometimes over – prescribed narcotic painkillers. When their doctors stop prescribing the painkillers, the workers suffer ‘withdrawal’ symptoms and resort to the more easily available street heroin.

• Lack of addiction treatment facilities in the small towns of middle America is another reason for rising heroin deaths.

The heroin epidemic has grown in such magnitude that it prompted Attorney General Eric Holder to state that law enforcement officers should carry naloxone, a heroin antidote to revive a victim undergoing an overdose episode. Naloxone, when injected with a syringe has helped reverse an overdose situation rapidly and has assisted in saving many lives. In March of 2014, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a hand held device that can be used to administer naloxone without the use of a syringe. Families or friends of a heroin addict can store this in their medicine cabinet and administer a one-time dose in an emergency situation.

The death of Cory Monteith, the star of the hit TV series, “Glee” in 2013 of a heroin overdose brought home the new face of the problem- young, talented, wealthy and white. Cory’s struggles with drugs and alcohol were public, yet when he overdosed on Heroin, it came as a rude awakening to America; Heroin addicts are also at greater risk of dying from an overdose because these users typically combine other drugs with heroin use. This makes the heroin even more potent and fatal.

Why is heroin so attractive to use?

The opiate high as a result of heroin use is the ultimate ‘high’ as it gets converted into morphine rapidly and gets into the brain within 15 minutes of use.

What makes heroin so readily available?

In the 1980’s the AIDS crisis made many shy away from injectable heroin as injecting it with a syringe was the only way to use heroin at that time. The heroin that is now available has been modified to be snorted or smoked, much like cocaine and hence easier to sell. Additionally heroin is now much more affordable due to the fact that it is produced in America’s neighboring countries: Mexico and other South American countries versus having to come all the way from Asia and the Far East.

It is a fact that drugs are an equal-opportunity phenomenon and young pregnant women are no exception; how then does heroin abuse amongst expectant mothers impact the fetus and birthed baby? The fetus and the birthed baby also become heroin -dependent resulting in symptoms of slow weight gain, vomiting, fever, seizures, birth defects and even premature death. This is known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), wherein the heroin reaches the fetus via the placenta. This requires the baby to be hospitalized and treated with morphine until the symptoms being to abate. It is advised that the expectant mother not quit heroin cold turkey as this can cause the sudden death of the fetus. A drug treatment center can begin a methadone treatment plan that is monitored and gradually tapered in a way that is safe for the mother and child.

White House allocates funding for combating heroin

The sharp increase in heroin-induced deaths in the last decade in particular has raised an alarm on the Capitol and the White House announced in August 2015 that it would allocate a funding of $2.5 million to combat the epidemic. 15 health policy analysts and drug intelligence officers will gather statistics on overdoses and heroin trafficking and provide the data collected to local law enforcement agencies. Increased community-based efforts to educate neighborhoods about the perils of drug use and also provide more access to treatment centers and encourage all efforts towards recovery were put in place.

Tackling the massive problem of heroin use in America is no small task, knowing its tentacles have spread into those areas of society that have long been considered America’s backbone. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is stating that health care providers need to prescribe alternative pain treatment plans other than the use of prescription strength painkillers and to include physical therapy, education and stringent monitoring of patients that are already on prescription painkillers. Additionally, an intervention at all levels needs to take place, both at state and federal levels, including making the heroin antidote naloxone more readily available.