It is currently believed that over 600,000 people in the United States need heroin rehab treatment for their addiction but are not getting the professional help they need.

Freebasing involves the conversion of cocaine hydrochloride into cocaine sulfate that is "free" of the additives and nearly 100% pure. It is not water soluble and has a low melting point, so it can be smoked. Those who choose to create freebase cocaine run the risk of being burned by the conversion process because a highly volatile solvent, such as ether, is being used.

Both new and experienced users risk overdosing on heroin because it is impossible for them to know the purity of the heroin they are using. (Heroin sold on the street often is mixed with other substances such as sugar, starch, or quinine. An added risk results when heroin is mixed with poisons such as strychnine.) Heroin overdoses--which can result whether the drug is snorted, smoked, or injected--can cause slow and shallow breathing, convulsions, coma, and even death.

Men and women who smoked marijuana before age 17 are 3.5 times as likely to attempt suicide as those who started later.