Missouri boasts the expansive Ozark Mountains as well as a number of highly acclaimed urban centers. However, it also has a growing substance abuse and addiction problem that continues disrupting as well as claiming lives among its residents.
Apart from opioids in general and heroin in particular, there are many substances of abuse that people in the state of Missouri tend to take. Among the people who were enrolled in addiction treatment centers in the state, 13,874 people abused alcohol, 8,234 abused hashish or marijuana, 5,104 abused methamphetamines, and 3,507 abused heroin.
This is not surprising especially considering that the state is one of the major transportation hubs for drug traffickers supplying meth, marijuana, heroin, and cocaine - among other substances of abuse - both to the state as well as to the rest of the American Midwest.
In 2018, the total number of overdose deaths linked to opioid drugs was at 1,132. This was at a rate of more than 19 deaths for every segment of 100,000 people. It was also an increase from the 952 deaths that occurred in 2017.
In 2017 also, synthetic opioids apart from methadone - including drugs like fentanyl and its analogs - were responsible for a total of 618 deaths. This was at a rate of more than 10 deaths for every segment of 100,000 people in the state. The number rose to 868 in 2018, at a rate of more than 15 deaths for every segment of 100,000 people.
Heroin was responsible for 351 deaths in 2017 at a rate of over 6 deaths for every segment of 100,000 people. This number decreased to 265 deaths, at a rate of more than 4 deaths for every segment of 100,000 people in 2018.
The same year, doctors and other health care service providers in Missouri wrote more than 63 prescriptions for opioid pain relief medications for every segment of 100 people. This was higher than the total national average of more than 51 prescriptions written for a similar segment of people across the county. The number had also decreased by 10 percent from the prescriptions for opioids that were written back in 2006.
In 2008, about 4,100 people were enrolled in an addiction treatment program in the state for abusing heroin and developing an opioid use disorder as a result. This number rose to close to 8,400 by 2015.
Most of these people who were seeking help for an opioid use disorder reported that they were initially addicted to prescription opioid pain relief medications, such as hydrocodone. At some point in their substance abuse, they found that they could no longer afford or access these medications. As a result, they decided to turn to heroin because it is much more widely available at lower prices.
The state has many professional addiction treatment and rehabilitation facilities that offer exceptional recovery and treatment services. These centers in Missouri can help you overcome your substance abuse and addiction as well as manage any other co-occurring medical and mental health disorders that you may also be struggling with at the same time.