Those involved were routinely out and about unsupervised from the age of 13. Their parents did not know where they were. They were early smokers and drinkers and moved into a phase of florid drugs experimentation. Alarmingly young teenagers no longer regard heroin as the kind of stigma that prevented previous generations experimenting on a large scale. Most try heroin for the first time at a friend's house and begin by smoking it.
Most abusers move rapidly to weekly and then daily use.
These heroin users were initially very naive and ill-informed about heroin. They did not understand its subtle potency and addictiveness and had little idea where a heroin career might take them. Making the connection between browns and heroin. I was told it was like powdered cannabis. The researchers say the fact that heroin is finding its way into smaller cities and towns left untouched by previous outbreaks, the broader social profile of those involved, and their unprecedented youth means that government treatment and drug services do not reach them.