More than 15,000 people contacted drug treatment services in the East Midlands in the past year, new figures reveal.
A total of 73% of those aged over 18 received help for heroin misuse.
The study found three-quarters of those who came forward for the first time continued treatment for three months, making it more likely to be effective.
Most of the people in the study by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) who were under 18 had been using cannabis.
The study marks a one per cent increase in the number of people seeking help for drug abuse in the region since 2006/7.
The research was collated from statistics produced by the National Drug Evidence Centre at Manchester University from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System.
The NTA was set up by the government in 2001 to improve treatment for drug misuse in England.
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