Am J Psychiatry 1979; 136:1162-1167
Copyright © 1979 by American Psychiatric Association
Models of a heroin epidemic
DJ Egan and DO Robinson
Heroin addiction may be considered an epidemic disease that is communicated
by people who are addicted to the drug. It has been suggested that the most
recent epidemic in the United States had its peak incidence in 1969. The
age of heroin addicts entering treatment has increased systematically from
1973 to 1976 at a rate of less than one year of age per calendar year. This
pattern is consistent with a moderate decline in a national heroin epidemic
or a geographical migration of the epidemic from more to less populated
areas. There are also seasonal trends in the age of admission to treatment.
