Prescription painkillers are often a key gateway to using injected illegal drugs such as heroin, according to a news release by the Drexel University School of Public Health.
In a study in the International Journal of Drug Policy, Drexel University researchers linked young users of injection drugs who started with opioids to a family history of drug misuse and having received prescriptions for opioid drugs in the past.
The desire to experiment with prescription opioids such as codeine and oxycodone, combined with financial incentives or pressures from friends, resulted in escalated patterns of opioid misuse.
Read the Drexel University School of Public Health release on use of opioids leading to heroin addiction.
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