STEUBENVILLE - Heroin and opiate addictions are increasing in Jefferson County.
Older adults are addicted to heroin, while younger adults are addicted to pain killers that contain opiates, such as OxyContin, said Don Ogden, Trinity Health System director of behavioral medicine.
Ogden and Denise Smith, C.A.R.E. Network drug and alcohol administrator, said there has been a significant increase in the past five years in the number of adults in their 20s who are addicted to pain killers containing opiates.
Opiates are separated into two categories - heroin and prescription pain killers.
Ogden noted white adults make up the majority of people seeking treatment, noting many young people start out abusing pain killers and then move on to heroin.
Smith said heroin is cheaper, and Ogden added most heroin users snort the narcotic as opposed to using a needle, but males are more likely to inject heroin.
Ogden said Trinity Health System behavioral medicine has seen a 34 percent increase in people seeking in-patient treatment for opioid abuse for the fiscal years 2008 to 2009. Smith said about 20 percent of those receiving treatment through the C.A.R.E. Network are addicted to opiates. The C.A.R.E. Network is operated by Jefferson Behavioral Health.
"We are seeing young adults coming in (with an addiction to opiates) who have a lot of resources. They aren't jobless or homeless," Ogden noted.
Smith and Ogden said treatment is available in the community but it has to be the addict asking for help.
"We get a lot of calls all the time from friends and family who want to get help for a friend or family member. It isn't the person who is addicted calling," Ogden said.
Smith added family support is important once a person gets into treatment.
Funding cuts at the state level resulted in the February closing of the Jefferson Behavioral Health System New Alexandria in-patient treatment program. Officials said the county has operated an in-patient addiction facility for 33 years, with the New Alexandria center being open for about the past 20 years.
Smith said the C.A.R.E. Network has had to streamline treatment and was forced to end specialty programs, such as the women's program.
Ogden said a lot of hospitalization insurance programs won't cover the cost of detox for a person addicted to heroin or opiate pain medication.
"They don't realize a hospital stay is needed for detox," he said. "Without detox, the success rate for opiate dependency is dramatically less."
Narcotics Anonymous and other 12-step programs have been providing help to recovering addicts for years, and while Smith said the 12-step programs do work, an addict truly has to want help.
Withdrawal from heroin or opiates takes about three to five days, according to Ogden, and after detox, an addict is placed in the most appropriate treatment program available. He noted studies have shown long-term treatment offers the best results.
Trinity offers a six-to-eight-week intensive outpatient addiction program, and C.A.R.E. Network's intensive treatment program lasts 10 weeks.
Ogden said after intensive treatment, the patient is helped to recognize the support system in the community to stay drug free, whether it be family, a 12-step program or a church group.
Locally, cocaine and crack cocaine addiction is on the decline, and Smith said about 10 percent to 15 percent of the C.A.R.E. Network's patients are addicted to cocaine or crack cocaine.
Ogden added cocaine is considered a stimulant and opiates are a depressant.
"Every 10 to 15 years, there is a peak for stimulant dependency followed by an increase in depressant dependency," Ogden said.
He noted another stimulant will come along that will replace the addiction to a depressant. He added the recovery rate for opiate dependency is less than other addictions, including cocaine and crack cocaine.
Opiate addicts, especially those taking pain medications, may have a stable life for a period and be working, Smith said.
"As the disease progresses, their life starts to deteriorate. People start asking for help once they've lost their job, got arrested or have a spouse threatening to leave," Ogden said.
Contact Trinity Health System Behavioral Medicine at (800) 552-8255 or C.A.R.E. Network at (740) 284-7165 for information on drug addiction treatment services.
(Law can be contacted at mlaw@heraldstaronline.com.)
