Central Oregon opioid addicts turning to heroin

An increasing number of people are abusing prescription opioids, but people who can no longer afford opioids often turn to heroin.

NewsChannel 21 spoke with a BestCare treatment official in Redmond on Tuesday to find out what trends they’ve been seeing.

Executive Director Rick Treleaven said he has seen an increase in heroin use in Central Oregon, although it has been slow.

“In the long run, it’s cheaper and easier to get heroin than prescription drugs,” he said. “So people will get strung out, will get dependent on their prescription drugs and turn to heroin eventually. And so that becomes a very, very nasty addiction.”

According to the Oregon Health Authority, in Deschutes County, from 2009 to 2011, there were .2 heroin overdose hospitalizations per 100,000 people. That increased to 1.4 from 2012 to 2014, nearly matching the rate of Oregon as a whole.

Often, an addiction to heroin starts with prescription drug abuse, but a heroin addiction can be much more destructive than one to prescription opioids.

“Roughly, the comparison would be between drinking a lot of beer and drinking a lot of hard liquor. It’s not a perfect comparison, but there’s something similar about the level of intensity and severity,” Treleaven said.

But Treleaven also said an increasing number of people are recovering from addiction, thanks to improved treatment programs.