Drug Information - Heroin Addiction
What is Heroin?
Heroin is an illegal, highly addictive drug. It is both the most abused and the
most rapidly acting of the opiates.
Heroin is typically sold as a white or brownish powder or as the black sticky
substance known on the streets as "black tar heroin." Although purer heroin is
becoming more common, most street heroin is "cut" with other drugs or with
substances such as sugar, starch, powdered milk or quinine. Street heroin can
also be cut with strychnine or other poisons.
Because heroin abusers do not know the actual strength of the drug or its true
contents, they are at risk of overdose or death. Heroin also poses special
problems because of the transmission of HIV and other diseases that can occur
from sharing needles or other injection equipment.
How is Heroin Used?
Heroin is usually injected, sniffed/snorted, or smoked. Typically, a heroin
abuser may inject up to four times a day. Intravenous injection provides the
greatest intensity and most rapid onset of euphoria (7 to 8 seconds), while
intramuscular injection produces a relatively slow onset of euphoria (5 to 8
minutes). When heroin is sniffed or smoked, peak effects are usually felt
within 10 to 15 minutes. Although smoking and sniffing heroin do not produce a
"rush" as quickly or as intensely as intravenous injection, NIDA researchers
have confirmed that all three forms of heroin administration are addictive.
Injection continues to be the predominant method of heroin use among addicted
users seeking drug treatment; however, researchers have observed a shift in
heroin use patterns, from injection to sniffing and smoking. In fact,
sniffing/snorting heroin is now a widely reported means of taking heroin among
users admitted for drug treatment in Newark, Chicago, New York, and Detroit.
With the shift in heroin abuse patterns comes an even more diverse group of
users. Older users (over 30) continue to be one of the largest user groups in
most national data. However, several sources indicate an increase in new, young
users across the country who are being lured by inexpensive, high-purity heroin
that can be sniffed or smoked instead of injected. Heroin has also been
appearing in more affluent communities.
Brief Description:
Heroin is an 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 are safer.
Street Names:
Smack, H, ska, junk, and many others.
Effects:
Short-term effects include a surge of euphoria followed by alternately wakeful
and drowsy states and cloudy mental functioning. Associated with fatal overdose
and- particularly in users who inject the drug-infectious diseases such as
HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. Long-term users may develop collapsed veins, liver
disease, and lung complications.
Appearance:
Pure heroin is a white powder with a bitter taste. Street heroin comes in
granule, powder, solution or pill forms and varies in colour from white to dark
brown thanks to additives or impurities left from the manufacturing process.
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