How Much Does Heroin Cost?

Heroin is a highly addictive illicit drug that’s cheap in price and easy to buy. In many locations within the United States, the drug’s cost is comparable to a single pack of cigarettes.

Heroin is an opioid. Other well-known opiates include prescription painkillers such as fentanyl, Vicodin, Percocet, or Oxycontin. After a national effort to reduce the availability and illegal distribution of prescription opioids, many addicted individuals have turned to the street drug, heroin, as a cheaper alternative.

The Cost Of Heroin

Heroin comes with many costs. The financial costs of heroin drug use can range depending on how much a person uses heroin, how often, and for how long. In addition, they may experience other personal costs, such as financial troubles due to supporting their heroin addiction, the cost of treatment due to heroin addiction, costs to health, and more.

How Much Does A Gram Of Heroin Cost?

Today, the street price for a gram of heroin is less than $500. In many major metropolitan areas, such as Atlanta or New York, a gram of heroin can be purchased for $100.

How Much Does An Ounce Of Heroin Cost?

According to the DEA, South American heroin is sold for $5,000 to $6,250 per ounce. These prices vary depending on location of the sale and quantity sold.

How Much Does A Bag Of Heroin Cost?

Today, a single bag of heroin may cost you $5 to $10. The average price of heroin is often less than a pack of cigarettes in most areas.

How Much Does A Bundle Of Heroin Cost?

A bundle of heroin is usually the equivalent of 10 bags. A bundle of heroin is priced per bag from $10 to $14 each.

How Much Does A Kilo Of Heroin Cost?

While Southeast and Southwest Asian heroin is available, South American heroin is much more prevalent. South American heroin sells for $65,000 to $80,000 per kilogram. Mexican ‘black tar’ heroin is estimated to cost around $35,000 per kilogram.

Heroin Cost Per Day

Heroin sells, on average, between $5 and $20 per dose. For severe addictions, daily costs for a heroin addiction can range between $120 to $220 per day. Daily cost depends on how much a person abuses the drug and the severity of the addiction.

The yearly cost of this drug addiction can range between $43,000 and $80,000. However, these figures do not account for other associated costs attributed to the addiction.

Other Costs Of Heroin

Heroin addiction is associated with high economic costs due to wide-ranging effects on the addicted individual, families, friends, and professional relationships. The stress and damage caused by heroin addiction is compounded by the risks of drug overdose and death.

Economic Cost Of Heroin

Heroin addiction affects both the addicted individual and society at large. The cost of heroin abuse was estimated to be $51.2 billion dollars in 2015 in the United States ($50,799 per person using heroin).

High economic costs associated with heroin abuse are due to healthcare, lost productivity, crime, and social welfare. When considering these figures, the importance of prevention and addiction treatment for this substance use disorder becomes clear.

Heroin Addiction And Dependence

Addiction and dependence on this highly addictive drug develops quickly. Over time, the person using heroin will become chemically dependent on heroin. As they continue to abuse the drug, and due to increased drug tolerance, they will require higher doses of heroin to maintain a high.

Physical dependence on heroin causes withdrawal symptoms to occur when a person ceases to use the drug. Withdrawal symptoms develop quickly, range in severity, and correspond to the level of the addict’s dependency and length of use.

Risk Of Heroin Overdose

Overdoses occur when a person with a heroin addiction takes a dose of heroin that is strong enough to produce a life-threatening reaction. A single dose of heroin can lead to a fatal opioid overdose. People can also experience overdose from taking too much over time, or taking more doses before the last dose has left their body.

In 2018, an estimated 15,000 people died from heroin overdoses in the United States. The number of overdoses attributed to heroin was 7 times higher in 2018 than in 1999.

Heroin Rehab Cost

The cost of rehab can range anywhere between $3,000 to $100,000, depending on type. Many individuals with a heroin addiction require inpatient treatment which comes with increased cost. Inpatient treatment is almost twice as much as outpatient. Treatment costs may be offset by insurance coverage.

Getting Help For A Heroin Addiction

Treating heroin addiction requires a network of support to provide appropriate mental health services, medications, and support. Trained medical professionals give medical advice and treat drug addiction on an inpatient and outpatient basis.

Drug treatment programs are designed to medically support an addicted individual from heroin detox towards rehabilitation. This may involve use of medications, such as methadone or other prescription drugs, to treat withdrawal symptoms associated with opioid use.

If you or a loved one have a heroin or opioid addiction, or if you have any questions about the substance abuse programs, please connect with one of our treatment specialists through our helpline today.