America’s heroin epidemic has alarmingly increased over the years. One of the biggest theories as to why is that “the crackdown on prescription drugs, like Vicodin and OxyContin, were being overprescribed and as prescribers slowed down the prescriptions of these drugs, heroin use went up,” according to addiction expert Scott Krakower.

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According to FOX news, the number of heroin-related deaths rose to 286 percent between 2003 and 2013. What’s scary is that 3.8 million Americans, 1.6 percent of the population, said they have used heroin at some point in their lives.

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What’s important is to understand addiction and its biological components. According to the biological model, each person’s unique physiology and genetics causes addiction. So if someone’s parents are addicts, there is a higher chance of them becoming an addict. This means these people have to be more careful drinking or consuming drugs.

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Pennsylvania has a huge heroin problem, more than many other states. This problem is mostly occurring Harrisburg and Philadelphia, and Erie has also seen a large increase in heroin-related deaths. Heroin and related drug overdoses have increased by 20 percent since 2014 and there was more than 3500 overdose deaths in 2015, reported the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH). It’s becoming easier and easier to find heroin on the streets and the number of people trying it are increasing every day. Heroin is no longer the drug is found only in the bad part of town. High schoolers are trying it and NPR reported, “two high schools in Berks County [lost] six former students to heroin overdose within two years. One high school student did heroin in the school bathroom before class. She collapsed in class but survived the ‘close call,’ and now the middle and high schools stock naloxone, the fast-acting antidote, in the event of an overdose.” What’s concerning is that heroin is now one of the leading causes of death in the United States, surpassing car crashes and gunshot deaths, according to The Washington Post. It involves all ages. It’s not just a teenage problem, yet it hits middle aged Americans the hardest.

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Another question to ask, how does heroin relate to violence and is there some kind of correlation? Yes.

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Heroin itself is not a violent drug, but the addiction could drive a person to violence. The National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) found that “heroin trafficking, distribution, and use are strongly associated with violent crime.” It can be a very expensive drug so users that are addicted usually run out of money and turn to violence or theft to support their habit. Addiction can change a person’s behavior drastically and users can go to extreme measures to get heroin. What’s interesting is that even though heroin has the opposite effects of violence and aggression, a user experiencing withdrawal symptoms will exhibit violent and defensive behavior.