Heroin, cocaine use even more widespread in Ohio, state report finds

Heroin, cocaine and other illegal drugs remain widely available throughout Ohio, often at bargain prices, a new state report reveals (Source: “Heroin, cocaine are cheap, potent and widely available throughout Ohio,” Columbus Dispatch, July 13, 2017).

The latest Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network report, covering June 2016 to January 2017, said marijuana, cocaine and heroin can be easily purchased in all eight regions of the state.

The report is prepared from interviews with drug users, treatment providers, law enforcement, and information from coroner’s reports, the courts, police and county crime labs, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and media accounts.

Heroin is “available everywhere” in the state, the report said. The highly addictive drug is cheap, with prices ranging from $10 to $20 for a “balloon” of heroin, about one-tenth of an ounce.

There is no “typical” user of heroin, the report concluded, because use of the addictive drug “spans all demographic groups.” However, blacks are now showing up more frequently in heroin use trends, as are younger people, particularly females.