Previously available only on the black market for thousands of dollars, the recipe for meth is now accessible free of charge on the Internet. Using common cold medicines such as pseudoephedrine and ephedrine combined with other substances, meth can be made by anyone, almost anywhere. Meth labs have been set up in bedrooms, back yards, trailers, bathtubs, storage units and vans.

From 1898 through to 1910 heroin was marketed as a non-addictive morphine substitute and cough suppressant. Bayer marketed heroin as a cure for morphine addiction before it was discovered that heroin is rapidly metabolized into morphine, and as such, "heroin" was basically only a quicker acting form of morphine. The company was somewhat embarrassed by this new finding and it became a historical blunder for Bayer.

Often these heroin users are under the misconception that if they do not inject the drug they will not become addicted. Those who have entered rehab to recover from heroin addiction include every method of heroin user. Annual admissions to substance abuse treatment for primary heroin abuse increased from 228,000 in 1995 to 254,000 in 2005; however, the proportion of primary heroin admissions remained steady at about 14 to 15 percent of all admissions. Between 1995 and 2005, inhalation and injection accounted for at least 94 percent of annual primary heroin admissions.

The number of ED visits involving heroin/morphine increased 15 percent, from 84,409 to 97,287