Yale University

Heroin Use in Connecticut's Suburbs

Drug use in Connecticut’s suburbs and rural towns has risen dramatically over the last 20 years and opioids and heroin overdoses are now at epidemic levels, Professor Robert Heimer told assembled students, faculty and staff at the Yale School of Public Health on Thursday.

In a recently completed study, Heimer and colleagues found that Connecticut’s suburban injection drug users are overwhelmingly white, undereducated and living in poorer areas within their suburban communities. Sixty-two percent are men, most have never married and only 30 percent lived in their own homes. Surprisingly, 60 percent had health insurance and had seen a doctor in the last six months. Most of the people studied reported other serious health conditions, such as depression or chronic pain.

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Published: Sunday, February 7, 2016