Heroin use among adolescents in treatment for substance use disorders
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 11, 2026

A Procedure to Study the Effect of Prolonged Food Restriction on Heroin Seeking in Abstinent Rats
Published on: November 11, 2013
C J Hopfer1, S K Mikulich, T J Crowley
1Division of Substance Dependence, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, USA.
Objective:
To clarify prevalence rates and describe patterns of adolescent heroin users who are in treatment for substance use disorders.
Method:
The Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) was examined for trends in the number of adolescents admitted to substance abuse treatment centers and for changes in the routes of heroin administration. Thirteen adolescents who used heroin from one treatment program were compared with 536 adolescents who did not.
Results:
Between 1992 and 1996, heroin-using youths represented 2.0% of youths in treatment and in 1997 they represented 2.6%. Heroin-using youths represented 56% of those using injection drugs. Heroin-using youths from one treatment program had significantly more polysubstance dependence in comparison with adolescents who did not use heroin.
Conclusions:
Nationally, there has been an increasing number, but not percentage, of heroin-using youths in treatment between 1992 and 1996. In 1997 there was an increase in both the number and percentage of heroin-using youths in treatment. Heroin-using adolescents have the highest rate of injection drug use when compared with youths using other substances. Because of their greater risk of contracting human immunodeficiency virus through injection drug use, treatment trials for these adolescents are needed.
Related Concept Videos
Substance Use Disorders Affecting Sleep
Understanding the concepts of physical dependence,...
Drug Abuse and Addiction: Pharmacological Phenomena
Prescription, Nonprescription and Orphan Drugs
The misuse and addiction to prescription drugs is a growing problem that can affect people of all age groups, specifically teenagers. This can happen when prescription medications are used in ways not intended by the prescriber, such as taking someone else's prescription or using medication for...
Drug Dependence
Opioid Analgesics: Synthetic and Semisynthetic Opioids
Drug Accumulation During Multiple Dosing: Repetitive IV Injections
