Wasatch Recovery Treatment Center

12 Things You Didn’t Know About Addiction

  1. When heroin went from legal to requiring a doctor’s prescription in 1914, desperate users began scavenging junk metal to support their habit – and the term “junkies” was born. 

  2. 4 out of 5 new heroin users started out misusing prescriptions pain killers. In a recent survey, 94% of respondents said they chose heroin because prescription pills were “more expensive and harder to obtain.”

  3. 21.5 million people over the age of 12 had a substance use disorder in 2014. For 1.9 million of those, prescription painkillers were involved. Another 586,000 were using heroin. 

  4. The US has 5% of the world’s population but consumes 80% of its opioid painkillers. 

  5. More people now die in the US from drug overdoses than from car crashes. Prescription painkillers and heroin account for 63% of these overdose deaths. 

  6. More than 65% of people in prisons and jails meet medical criteria for substance abuse or addiction. 

  7. Only 11% of inmates struggling with addiction disorders receive any kind of treatment. 

  8. The government spends almost $500 every year on addiction and substance abuse, but only 2 cents of each dollar goes to prevention and treatment. 

  9. More than 2. 5 Million seniors aged 65-79 qualify as having an alcohol use disorder. By 2020, that number is expected to double. 

  10. A study of more than 300K woman that lasted over 11 years found that the risk of breast cancer quadruples with each additional daily glass of (10g) of alcohol. 

  11. Playing Tetris for just 3 minuets help decrease craving strength for things like food, sex and drugs by up to 20%.

  12. 70% -8% of people with diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes receive treatment. Only 1 in 10 of those struggling with addiction – also chronic disease- get any kind of treatment. 

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