Vermont’s Growing Heroin Epidemic Heroin addiction has been around for a long time: in the 1950s we had the film “The Man with the Golden Arm,” and William Burroughs’ novel “Junkie” became a cult classic. Heroin addicts were part of a subculture of drugs and criminality, and the path to addiction generally started with alcohol, marijuana, or “bennies” (amphetamine tablets). This path continued in the 60s, especially after an unfortunate portion of hippy culture found speed, which was its own epidemic, followed inevitably by heroin.
Not much changed in the chain of causation and addiction until the late 90’s. Prescription painkillers started leaking out of the medically prescribed market and into the “recreational” drug use arena. Oxycodone, a powerful narcotic analgesic, was dubbed “hillbilly heroin” in West Virginia and Kentucky because it was cheap and plentiful. Production of pain medications—and diversion from their legitimate market—ramped up radically, and a new path to addiction was established.
People from all walks of life found themselves in a dependency cycle. Back pain, post-operative pain, migraines, and a host of other pain-related problems were treated with opioid medications, but then the medications themselves became a problem. Additionally, young people short-circuited the normal progression—alcohol and marijuana, then on to tranquilizers, speed, and then heroin—and found the high they were looking for in pain pills.
In one of the great ironies of law enforcement, as the pill mills were cracked down on, prices increased. By the early 90s, a month’s worth of Oxycodone could sell for up to $1000, paving the way for cheaper
heroin to serve as a replacement. In his State of the State address, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin said, “What started as an OxyContin and prescription-drug-addiction problem in Vermont has now grown into a full-blown heroin crisis.”
Prescription pain medications come with their own set of complications for the user and for society, but a heroin epidemic poses a host of problems. Heroin, being a powder, can be easily adulterated, and some of the adulterants—like fentanyl, a powerful but cheaper drug—can lead to overdose. Needle sharing presents the potential for transmission of diseases like HIV and hepatitis. Distribution involves importation from drug-producing countries and requires interdiction at our borders.
What remains the same, however, is the case for treatment. Withdrawal symptoms are severe for both painkiller and heroin addictions. Without treatment, an addict will at some point of discomfort choose to continue using. Even when “clean,” the urge to resume using can be overwhelming without appropriate counseling and group support.