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Abstract
Heroin has posed a serious threat to the United States, drug industry, health sector and security, and the threat has increased steadily since 2007. The drug is readily available in sufficient quantities, and many people have addicted it, and this has resulted in a large number of overdose deaths. The U.S’s 2014 report on heroin assessment showed that about 10,575 Americans lost their lives because of the heroin overdose and this number could be three times that contained in the 2010 report (DEA Intelligence Report, 2016). The increasing need for heroin in the country is motivated by increased supply of the drug in the U.S market and in the prescription usage where the controlled prescription drug abusers use the channel to obtain it at favorable prices. The threat regarding CPD abuse is said to have caused deaths that double those caused by heroin and cocaine combined. The North Central and the North East regions are the most prone to heroin abuse according to the 2014 report (National Drug Threat, 2016). Due to the high number of heroin-related cases across the United States, this paper examines the most recent heroin assessment with the aim of identifying whether the drug abuse prevention strategies for heroin are playing a role in the reduction of drug abuse cases.
United States Heroin Threat Assessment Report
Introduction
In the recent past, the United States has witnessed increased use of heroin because of the increase in purity of the substance.

This has enabled the drug to be easily inhaled through smoking or snorting broadening the appeal of this substance to the addictive users and the new initiates. Individuals who had never thought of injecting the drug got the opportunity to use heroine through inhalation. This trend began in the 1990’s as the stigma associated with then drug injection lost to welcome the most tempting and efficient way of taking the drug into the system. This phenomenon has made heroine to spread to a wider group of users across the United States and the emergence of new ways and techniques of distributing the drug across the country. The purpose of this report is to provide the most recent reports regarding heroin abuse basing the facts from 2014 to the 2016 DEA findings.
Heroin Overdose
The most recent heroin assessment reports continue to indicate the increase in the heroin overdose in many Northeast and Midwest cities and counties in the U.S. Areas within the suburban and the city’s environs are the most impacted by the problem of deaths as a result of heroin overdose. The overdose increase in these areas is associated with the high number of drug abusers in the areas, the refined components of the drug and the packing of heroin that confuses users leading to overdose. Another reason for overdose deaths in the country is linked to the young initiates who usually inexperienced and can overuse heroine leading to deaths (DEA Intelligence Report, 2016). There also reports of increased abuse of prescription heroin which finally results in the abuse of the illicitly manufactured heroin. The illicitly manufactured heroine contains varying amounts of purity and dosage which makes the drug to be very toxic for consumption. In fact, the heroine in certain markets has been found to contain toxic fentanyl in certain markets. Death as a result of an overdose is also drug addicts who had previously been rehabilitated and but embarked on the use of the drug. As such their heroine tolerance had gone down and they would be affected as soon as they begin using the drug again (DEA Intelligence Report, 2016).
The Increasing Heroin Threat
The threat of heroin is said to have steadily grown from 9% in 2007 to 45% in 2016. The drug threat regions are the ones recording the highest number of deaths cause by an overdose of the drug. This is because of the exposure of these regions to the drug cartels that have increased the market for the drug. The United States is surrounded by four geographical areas that are believed to be the source of heroine posing much threat in trying to control the drug menace. The areas include Mexico, South America, South East and South West Asia. For the past 20 years, these regions have dominated the United States’ market for other commodities but with heroin products alongside the trade (DEA Intelligence Report, 2016). As such, the country is threatened with the increased supply of the product in its markets and measures to control the trading activities between the United States and the countries are seemingly difficult because the same countries play significant roles in trading activities between countries.
Increasing Availability of Heroine
Heroin availability is said to be increasing in the entire regions of the country, but the most affected regions are the North East and Midwest regions according to police reports. Data from seizure incidences indicate that there is an increase in heroin seizure in the country which is said to have increased by 82 percent in the past five years. This is estimated to be a range from 3,734 kilograms in 2011 to 6, 733 Kilograms in 2015. Traffickers are also said to have increased the heroin quantities and are trafficking in larger amounts (National Drug Threat, 2016). This factor is in agreement with law enforcement officials who say they have been seizing larger quantities of heroin than before. The report indicates that traffickers have also devised new tactics of transporting the drug as much more quantities cannot be accounted. This implies that the figures provided are just an estimation of what could be twice the amounts of drugs trafficked through the region. The reports indicate that the seizure has increased tremendously over the past two years raising questions about the measures put by the regulatory authorities to prevent the movement of drugs.
The Role of Mexican Traffickers
Recent reports indicate that Mexican traffickers are extending into the United States’ markets so that they can have a larger share of the market. The Mississippi River has, for a long time divided the heroin markets between the United States and Mexico. Heroin markets in the western region of the United States sell the black tar type of heroin while markets in the eastern side sell the white powder. The white powder markets constitute the largest markets in the countries and are found in major cities like Chicago, New York and Philadelphia as well as their surrounding environs. The Mexican markets constitute the largest share of the countries heroin products as their organizations supply the drug in whole sale terms. In the latest reports, the Mexican markets comprise of about 80 percent of the total amount of heroin assessed by HSP. The increased role played by Mexican traffickers is impacting on trafficking patterns across the heroin zones. Large quantities of heroin are discovered to be entering the United States via the Southwest border. The western states are acting are major transit zones where larger volumes and shipment sizes. The Mexican trafficking barons are said to be entering into suburban and rural areas for concealing from the authorities.
Increased CPD Abuse
In the early 2000’s, the largest number of heroin initiates became abusers by using prescribed heroin for non-medical purposes. About 8 percent of CPD users are eventually get trapped into using heroin and this percentage is larger than the number of people who use heroin. Although heroine has a smaller population of abusers as compared to other illicit drugs such as marijuana, its use is increasing at a higher rate than any of the other illicit drugs. As noted previously, the number of heroin abusers went up by three times between 2007 and 2014. As compared to other illicit drugs, heroin is more lethal. The current cocaine users are about four times heroin users, but the deaths caused by heroin overdose are twice the number of deaths caused by cocaine (DEA, 2014). The deaths caused by heroin overdose have been found to be higher that the deaths caused by other dangerous drugs like cocaine. The number of individuals seeking heroin treatment is larger than the number of individuals seeking treatment for other illegal drugs.
Pros and Cons of the National Drug Strategy
Advantages
The National Drug Strategy (NDS) is concerned with the prevention of drug abuse amongst individuals. Studies on the prevention of cigarette smoking have recorded significant reduction in lung cancer cases. Prohibition of drug abuse limits the legal opportunities that individuals have for drug use raises the non-financial expenditures associated with the use of drugs and increases the prices of illicit drugs. Prohibition of legitimate use results has been seen through the ban of cigarette smoking in workplaces and public places by the national drug strategy which reduces the legitimate drug use almost to zero (Weatherburn, 2014). The change of laws to monitor or prohibit the abuse of drugs has greatly assisted in reducing drug abuse amongst individuals. On the issue of raising non-financial expenditure or non-monetary expenditures, the NDS makes the drug less affordable to the users by using a lot more efforts to obtain the drug. The users might have enough cash to purchase the drugs, but the burden of arrest, the risk of police harassment, and the dangers of assault or betrayals but other drug users prevent users from continuing to use the drug (Weatherburn, 2014). These non-monetary costs are seen to prevent the drug addiction menace in the United States, as well as, in most parts of the world. Increasing the price of illicit drugs is a monetary strategy used by the NDS to reduce drug abuse among individuals. This strategy bears fruit from the fact that some of the illicit drugs like heroin and cocaine are only affordable to the rich families and individuals. Suppose these drugs were very cheap, then the problem of drug addictions would be unimaginable world disaster. The price elasticity for the illicit drugs is set to me very high to prevent individuals from affording it. In fact, the prices of heroin and cocaine are more than ten times higher in the illicit market than they are in the legal market (Weatherburn, 2014). This strategy prevents drug use in individuals who would otherwise be addicted by weighing out the economic costs of engaging in drug abuse.
Disadvantages
One of the most challenging factors for the NDS in prohibiting drug usage is the cost involved in enforcing it. It has been found that the United States spends about $ 500 to $ 800 every year on drug law enforcement. Despite this massive expenditure for prevention of drug use, the drug abuse menace is still a national disaster in the country. Incapacitating drug users reduces the illegal use of drugs, but there is no evidence as to whether the imprisonment of drug abusers changes their perception about abusing drugs (Weatherburn, 2014). Prohibition of drug users has also resulted in criminal activities as individuals resort to crime and corruption to obtain the drugs and even traffic the drugs through prohibited areas. Prevention of drug usage is also thought to be the cause of new tactics in drug packaging and trafficking. The drug traffickers come up new ways of carrying the drugs so that they can dodge the law enforcers (Weatherburn, 2014). The national drug strategy has also encouraged corruption in the health sector because the drug barons have sometimes colluded with the NDS officials in getting the drugs through their intended destinations. As such, unscrupulous traders and government officials are using the NDS channel to enrich themselves while promoting the spread of heroin over the regions mentioned. NDS is also causing public dissatisfaction because it has failed to meet the public expectations about the regulating drug abuse practices. Hence, prohibition of drug use can also cost the country equally the same way as it loses through the drug addiction problem.
Conclusion
This report reveals the recent trends that have bombarded heroin usage, abuse, and trafficking across the United States. The factors contributing to the abuse of this substance are backed up by the new developments in the substance changing from an injection substance to a purely refined inhalant that. Improvements in the field of medicine and technological advances in the transport and storage facilities have also contributed to the heroin menace. The increased trade activities between the United States and the surrounding nations have also facilitated the distribution of this drug in the country since the drug is trafficked alongside other commodities. Due to the complexities involved in preventing drug trafficking in the drug prone regions mentioned in this report, drug prevention strategies have to take another course to reduce the availability of this drug in the U.S markets. The country’s authorities should tighten border security and conduct major scrutiny on the traders for identifying traffickers and having more seizures of the drug. There should be proper control of the prescription heroine that is usually misused and its mental impacts lead to addiction and users are enslaved with the drug.
References
DEA Intelligence Report (2016). National Heroin Threat Assessment Summary – Updated DEA-
DCT-DIR-National Drug Threat Survey
DEA (2014). Drug Enforcement and Administration-Nationat Drug Threat Assessment
Summary, U.S Department of Justice,
National Drug Threat (2016). U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration
Survey; U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, All Domestic
Field Division Reporting.
Weatherburn, D. (2014). The pros and cons of prohibiting drugs. Australian & New Zealand
Journal of Criminology, 47(2), 176-189.