Heroin Information
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Heroin is a highly addictive
drug, and its use is a serious problem in America. Recent studies suggest a
shift from injecting heroin to snorting or smoking because of increased
purity and the misconception that these forms of use will not lead to
addiction.
Heroin is processed from morphine, a naturally
occurring substance extracted from the seedpod of the Asian poppy plant.
Heroin usually appears as a white or brown powder. Street names for
heroin include "smack," "H," "skag," and "junk." Other names may refer to types
of heroin produced in a specific geographical area, such as "Mexican black
tar."
The short-term effects of heroin abuse appear soon after a
single dose and disappear in a few hours. After an injection of heroin, the
user reports feeling a surge of euphoria ("rush") accompanied by a warm
flushing of the skin, a dry mouth, and heavy extremities. Following this
initial euphoria, the user goes "on the nod," an alternately wakeful and drowsy
state. Mental functioning becomes clouded due to the depression of the central
nervous system. Long-term effects of heroin appear after repeated use
for some period of time. Chronic users may develop collapsed veins, infection
of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, cellulitis, and liver disease.
Pulmonary complications, including various types of pneumonia, may result from
the poor health condition of the abuser, as well as from heroin's depressing
effects on respiration.
In addition to the effects of heroin
itself, street heroin may have additives that do not readily dissolve and
result in clogging the blood vessels that lead to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or
brain. This can cause infection or even death of small patches of cells in
vital organs.
Reports from SAMHSA's 1995 Drug Abuse Warning Network
(DAWN), which collects data on drug-related hospital emergency room episodes
and drug-related deaths from 21 metropolitan areas, rank heroin second as the
most frequently mentioned drug in overall drug-related deaths. From 1990
through 1995, the number of heroin-related episodes doubled. Between 1994 and
1995, there was a 19 percent increase in heroin-related emergency department
episodes.
Tolerance, Addiction, and Withdrawal
With
regular heroin use, tolerance develops. This means the abuser must use
more heroin to achieve the same intensity or effect. As higher doses are used
over time, physical dependence and addiction develop. With physical dependence,
the body has adapted to the presence of the drug and withdrawal symptoms may
occur if use is reduced or stopped.
Withdrawal, which in regular
abusers may occur as early as a few hours after the last administration,
produces drug craving, restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea
and vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps ("cold turkey"), kicking movements
("kicking the habit"), and other symptoms. Major withdrawal symptoms peak
between 48 and 72 hours after the last dose and subside after about a week.
Sudden withdrawal by heavily dependent users who are in poor health is
occasionally fatal, although heroin withdrawal is considered much less
dangerous than alcohol or barbiturate withdrawal. |
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Drugs
Heroin Health Hazards
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Heroin abuse is
associated with serious health conditions, including fatal overdose,
spontaneous abortion, collapsed veins, and infectious diseases, including
HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. |
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