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 heroin addict spends between $150 to $200 per day to maintain a heroin addiction. Since passage of the 2006 Patriot Act which controls public access to pseudoephedrine, limits quantities, and requires identification to purchase the medicine, the number of homemade meth labs has been reduced significantly. The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) estimates that 75% of all methamphetamine available in the U.S. today is produced in “super labs” operated by Mexican drug trafficking organizations. What makes cocaine freebasing particularly dangerous is that users typically do not wait that long for their next hit and will continue to smoke cocaine freebase until none is left. |