I disagree. If we want to get into numbers sure there is some percentage who first had a prescription. I'm also sure there are plenty of people who started usin

I disagree. If we want to get into numbers sure there is some percentage who first had a prescription. I'm also sure there are plenty of people who started using when they were flowing freely and cheaply as a recreational drug. I know where I grew up, plenty of people were using without having it prescribed. It was incredibly easy to get bulk amounts across the country, for example Florida: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/01/us/01drugs.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/01/us/01drugs.html What the other poster is talking about is the reaction to someone being hooked, looking the other way and/or not treating it as a mental health issue and putting them in rehab instead of jail. Then, imo, if you really want to get into it, destabilization in Mexico has created the actual heroin epidemic we see now, as the pill mills and doctors involved have had their operations closed.