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Heroin is cheaper than painkillers in Denver

Medical experts say due to increased costs, people are switching from pain pills to heroin because heroin is cheaper.
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DENVER – Heroin and prescription drug abuse are two of the leading causes of overdose deaths in Colorado. Over the years, there's been a shift in which drugs addicts have been trying to get their hands on.

Medical experts say due to increased costs, people are switching from pain pills to heroin because heroin is cheaper.

"Heroin is right up there with meth in terms of being highly addictive and even more so as being potentially deadly," said Dr. Christopher Colwell, chief of Emergency Medicine at Denver Health.

More recently, a bad batch of heroin has been making its way around the city of Denver. It's blamed for sending 30 to 40 people to the emergency room at Denver Health a week.

"It is far too easy to get a hold of heroin. And it has really dropped in cost over the years," Dr. Colwell said.

In Colorado, heroin treatment admissions have increased by nearly a percentage point from 2011 to 2012 (7.3 percent to 8.1 percent). Same goes for opioid treatment admissions (6.4 percent to 7.1 percent). The average cost of a single dose of heroin purchased on the street runs around $10 to $25.

"So unless you get a prescription yourself, it is less expensive to go out on the streets and get heroin than it would be to get prescription medication," Dr. Colwell said.

Depending on which painkillers someone is trying to purchase illegally, doctors say some pills could cost as much as $50 a piece.

"Mine can go for at least five [dollars]. Since they're five milligrams, it's one dollar per milligram," one woman told us.

To protect this woman's identity, we're going to call her Jane Doe. She has a legal prescription for Oxycodone from her doctor for pain. She's known at least one addict who has tried taking her medication.

"They ask me and I tell them I can't. It's against the law. I can't jeopardize my pain pills because I need them," she said.

Denver Health says it will see as many overdose cases for heroin as it does for pain killers on a regular basis.

"They're both under the overall umbrella of narcotic overdoses and can result in patients losing consciousness and stop breathing," Dr. Colwell said.

For Drug and Alcohol addiction help, call the recovery hotline at 1-888-578-561 or visit www.recovery.org

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