Watch Out Flakka, DEA Says Heroin Is Making Comeback
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The synthetic drug flakka has dominated headlines in South Florida. From mother abandoning her baby to a man impaled on a fence, all you hear about is flakka, flakka, flakka. But a well-known drug is making a comeback and the Drug Enforcement Agency is worried.
According to the DEA, heroin use and availability on the rise and causing more overdose deaths than at any time in the last decade.
In the agency's 2015 National Heroin Threat Assessment released on Friday, they noted that while fewer people presently use heroin than other illicit drugs, the heroin user population is growing quickly.
How quickly?
The number of users has almost doubled from 161,000 in 2007 to 289,000 in 2013, as reported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The Centers for Disease Control added that deaths involving heroin more than tripled – from 2,402 in 2007 to 8,260 in 2013.
"DEA is targeting the cartels that produce and smuggle heroin into the U.S. and organized criminals that distribute this poison," said DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg. "We will continue to combat heroin trafficking to protect Americans from this severe and growing threat."
For more on the 2015 National Heroin Threat Assessment visit the DEA's website.