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Heroin Is an Epidemic...Or Is It?

“Officials tend to discuss heroin in relation to white users as the drug itself possessing some form of evil or being a vehicle for the degradation of the moral character of the person who possesses it, whereas among people of color who have been charged with heroin crimes, generally they’re thought of as somehow intrinsically criminal, and that’s what lead them to the substance abuse or use.”

Michael Tracey, from The Brian Lehrer Show, 7/7/14

I was disappointed that Brian Lehrer seemed so unprepared for this segment (especially since it’s about media getting the story wrong), but Michael Tracey and Howard Josepher managed to state some important points. First and foremost that a lot of the recent heroin statistics do not take into account that people are switching from diverted pharmaceutical opioids to heroin. So, for instance, if heroin overdoses have increased recently, you need to look at whether there has been a decrease in opioid overdoses as people switch from one to the other.

And, even though I don’t necessarily agree with everything Howard Josepher says, I think it’s really important to get the idea of harm reduction drug treatment out there.