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Tim Nelson
St. Paul, Minn.

Report: Heroin, prescription drug abuse on the rise

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The Minnesota Department of Human Services says heroin and prescription drug abuse continues to rise in the state, while cocaine and methamphetamine use may be waning.

The department's latest Drug Trends report says treatment admissions for heroin and other opiates in Minnesota rose by more than a third from 2008 to 2009.

The report also says a record 1,700 patients sought treatment last year for abusing opiates other than heroin -- mostly prescription narcotics. That's four times the number of similar patients eight years ago.

In comparison, the number of cocaine-related admissions to treatment programs has fallen by more than half since 2005. Admissions for methamphetamine abuse have also fallen, from one in eight treatment admissions in 2005 to about one in 17 last year.

The report says several new drugs are having an impact in the state, including one known as K2. Another -- salvia divinorum -- will be formally banned by state law in August.