Of high school seniors in 2001, 8.2% reported having ever used cocaine. For those in the upper ranks of heroin trafficking, business can be enormously lucrative. For decades the Mafia has been involved in heroin trafficking operations, including the “French Connection” of the 1950s and 1960s and the more recent “Pizza Connection,” which used pizza parlors as fronts. Other trafficking groups are more loosely based on ethnic or national ties; for example, groups of Chinese, Thai, Nigerian, or Mexican nationals have operated in different parts of the country. In 1999, the average age of an adolescent in treatment at Caron for heroin addiction was about 17, with some patients as young as 14. During that same period, adult heroin users in treatment at Caron had an average age of 29 - a full 10 years younger than the average age of 39 for those admitted for other drug or alcohol treatment. It is encouraging to note that many teenagers recognize the risks of heroin. The NSDUH found that 87.8 percent of 12th graders agree that heroin substance abuse represents a "great risk." The fact that so many teenagers recognize the dangers of heroin use is encouraging, and could lead to further declines in teen drug use of heroin. | 
