At the moment, the technology of roadside drug testing is not as advanced as that of breathalysing for alcohol. Despite this, improvements are being made and once tests are available that can give accurate and immediate information on all the illegal drugs an individual may have used, they need to be implemented as part of a roadside testing campaign. In addition there is an urgent need to improve the availability of affordable transport late at night when clubs close. If the only choice is between an expensive taxi or driving your own car after having used illegal drugs, it can hardly be that surprising if many young people choose the latter. Many of the young people interviewed did not know the legal position regarding drug- driving. There is a clear need then to provide much wider information on the legal consequences of drug-driving. Finally, we need to try and change public attitudes towards drugs and driving. Over the last few years there has been a dramatic reduction in the numbers of people arrested for drink-driving. Indeed, driving under the influence of alcohol has come to be seen as socially unacceptable. The same needs to happen in relation to illegal drug use.

Heroin: A semi-synthetic opiate made by adding two acetyl groups to the MORPHINE molecule. It was first made and promoted by Bayer Laboratories (the same company that makes Bayer aspirin) in 1898. It originally was marketed as a non-addictive substitute for CODEINE. However, as use spread, it soon became apparent that heroin was the most addictive of all the opiates. The minor chemical modification makes heroin much more potent than morphine, because it is more lipid-soluble and reaches the brain more quickly and in higher concentrations. Among the opiate addict population, heroin is the drug of choice. It is usually injected into the veins, although it is also injected beneath the skin, which is known as ‘skin-popping’. When injected intravenously, heroin is absorbed very rapidly and reaches the brain in a matter of seconds. Subjective accounts by addicts of the heroin high or ‘rush’ describe a warm flushing of the skin and sensations described in intensity and quality as a ‘whole-body ORGASM’. This initial effect lasts for less than 1 minute. TOLERANCE often develops to the EUPHORIA produced by the drug. Heroin can also induce general feelings of well-being, calmness, and a sleepy dream-like state known as ‘twilight sleep’. Feelings of ANXIETY, hostility, and AGGRESSION are reduced by heroin. Indeed, in addition to the pleasurable feelings heroin induces, its ability to blunt psychological pain may be an important motivation for using heroin.

Opiate abuse and addiction is a problem not just for the young. Men and women of all ages have been killed by, or treated for, prescription opiate abuse. Some people resort to "DOCTOR SHOPPING." They visit more than one doctor and describe the same symptoms in order to double up on prescriptions. Doctor shoppers are more likely to be adults than teenagers. And no matter how careful doctors and patients are with their pain management, some legal users will become addicted to the drug. Middle-aged and upper- or middle-class people are far more likely to abuse prescription painkillers than to smoke marijuana or buy illegal street drugs. Even the doctors who prescribe such medications can fall victim to them. On November 30, 2003, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported on a doctor who died just two days prior to his forty-seventh birthday from an overdose of cocaine, oxycodone, and a muscle relaxant. He had been working as a pain specialist at a local clinic. Nurses have been prosecuted for stealing hydromorphone from their workplaces as well. One of the stranger stories reported in the press is a 2002 case in Brighton Beach, New York. Two elderly women—one seventy-nine, the other seventy-seven—were arrested for selling their prescription hydromorphone tablets on the street. Their customers, who were willing to pay as much as $10 for a single pill, included local teenagers. Both women were charged with possessing and selling a controlled substance.

One of the long term effects of alcohol abuse and alcoholism is alcohol related liver disease. In fact, more than 2 million American people suffer from alcohol-related liver disease. Some drinkers develop alcoholic hepatitis (i.e., inflammation of the liver) as a result of long-term excessive drinking.

The heroin found in West Virginia typically retains the street/brand name and packaging of the Philadelphia or Baltimore-area supplier.

In West Virginia drug distributors are uniquely placed near eastern cities like Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC, as well as large mid-western cities such as Columbus, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan. They are therefore able to take advantage of sources of supply in these areas.

West Virginia leads the nation in methadone-related deaths per capita.

Methamphetamine manufacture previously appeared to be centered in the Panhandle region of West Virginia, it has apparently expanded to include other areas of northern West Virginia as well as some clandestine laboratory sites in the southeastern portion of the state bordering Kentucky and Virginia.

West Virginia serves as a source area for domestic marijuana.

West Virginia consistently ranks in the top ten states for marijuana eradication.