In 1960, 80% heroin users' intro to opioids was heroin. Today, 75% of all first exposures comes from Rx pills.
archpsyc.jamanetwork.com
- Age of heroine users has shifted from being primarily teenage men (mean 16.5 years) in the 1960s, to both women and men in their 20s (mean 22.9 years).
- Most users are now of white ethnicity, and are increasingly affluent and in suburban as well as rural areas.
- Reasons of actual heroine use (instead of Rx), aside from intensity of high, often relate to cost: heroine can be more readily accessible and less expensive than prescription opioids.