Eileen Moon

About the author: Eileen Moon is a freelance writer from New Jersey.

Heroin use in the United States has increased, especially among teenagers. Heroin overdoses by teens quadrupled in the period between 1980 and 1998, and emergency room visits due to heroin abuse increased by 64 percent. Heroin abuse is no longer only a problem in poor minority communities; increasingly, white, middle-class teenagers from the suburbs are becoming heroin addicts. The drug's rise in popularity can partially be attributed to the fact that heroin can now be snorted, a method of ingestion that is falsely perceived by young people to be less dangerous than injection. Another reason for its popularity is that heroin is now viewed as "glamorous" because some models, rock musicians, and Hollywood stars use it. Heroin use among young people today has...