Chicago First in Nation for Heroin Problems

Heroin problems can wreak havoc on a community and according to a new study, the community suffering the most in the United States is Chicago. A recent CBS News piece reported on research completed at Roosevelt University’s Illinois Consortium on Drug Policy.

This study found that more people visit hospital emergency rooms with problems associated with heroin in Chicago and its suburbs than any other major metropolitan area in the nation. Rankings per city or metropolitan area are based on number of heroin admissions as a percentage of emergency admissions.

Chicago also took the top ranking according to the number of emergency room visits for female heroin users, as well as males, individuals 21 years of age and older and African Americans. Cook County Jail placed first in the arrest percent of those testing positive for heroin.

The report highlighted that in Lake County, deaths from heroin overdoses showed a 130 percent increase from 2000 to 2009. An increase of 150 percent in three years was recorded in McHenry County. The death toll due to heroin doubled in two years in Will County. In Cook County, heroin related deaths overall increased 16 percent between 1998 and 2008, while among women the increase was 40 percent.

Findings from this report are surprising in that the common heroin user is more white, much younger and more female than people commonly perceive. Heroin ranks first as the most common illegal drug residents of Illinois seek to treat with public assistance. It is more prevalent than cocaine and marijuana and takes second only to alcohol.