The New York Times

Thursday, August 26, 1999

Heroin Spread Seen as Treatments Pass Those for Cocaine

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- More Americans are checking into treatment centers for heroin and other opiates than for cocaine, the Government reported Wednesday, evidence that heroin use is spreading.

The rise is fueled by users who snort and smoke heroin -- proof, experts say, that these methods can be just as addictive as injecting the drug with needles.

The number of treatment center admissions for heroin and other opiates rose by 29 percent -- up from 180,000 to 232,000 -- between 1992 and 1997, the report found. In the same five-year period, cocaine admissions declined by 17 percent from 267,000 to 222,000, according to the annual report of treatment trends by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services.

About 16 percent of the 1.5 million treatment admissions in 1997 were for heroin and other opiates, compared with 15 percent for cocaine, marking the first time since 1992 that heroin has surpassed cocaine.

Alcohol abuse remains the most common reason people seek help, although it is not as dominant as it once was, according to the annual report of treatment trends by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services.

"People who are using heroin are discovering it is, in fact, a dangerous drug," said Dr. H. Westley Clark, director of the department's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.

The perception on the street has been that heroin is only dangerous when it is injected, Dr. Clark said, and injecting drugs does add the risk of contracting the H.I.V. virus or hepatitis.

"Snorting and smoking was something that people could accept as less dangerous: 'You can't get as hooked; it's not as bad,' " Dr. Clark said. "A number of individuals are realizing that is not the case.