What is Heroin?
Heroin is processed from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of certain varieties of poppy plant. Heroin is a highly addictive drug — the most widely abused and most rapidly acting of the opiates. It was once widely used in medicine until its addictive potential was recognized.
Pure heroin is a white powder with a bitter taste. Street heroin may vary in color from white to dark brown. The differences in color are due to impurities derived during the manufacturing process or the presence of additives. There is a dark brown or black form of heroin known as black tar, which is primarily available in the Western and Southwestern United States. Black tar can be either sticky like roofing tar or hard like coal, with its color varying from dark brown to black.
What are the Street Names for Heroin?
Street or slang names include antifreeze, brown sugar, crank, golden girls, smack, horse, H, junk, poison, sweet dreams, scag, train.
How is Heroin Taken?
Heroin can be injected, smoked, or sniffed/snorted. The increased availability of high-purity heroin and the fear of infection through sharing needles have made snorting and smoking the drug more common. Heroin can be mixed with tobacco or marijuana and smoked in a pipe or cigarette. It may also be heated and burned, releasing fumes that users inhale ("chasing the dragon"). No matter how it is taken, heroin is highly addictive.
How Does Heroin Affect the User?
The short-term effects of heroin abuse appear soon after a single dose and disappear within a few hours. Users report experiencing a surge of euphoria ("rush") accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, a dry mouth, and a heavy feeling in the arms and legs. Following the initial rush, 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.
What are the Dangers of Heroin Abuse?
Heroin abuse is associated with serious health conditions, including fatal overdose, spontaneous abortion, and collapsed veins.For those who inject the drug, there is increased risk for infectious disease, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.
In addition to the risk of injury or death as a result of accidents, violence, or overdose, heroin abuse can cause or worsen many physical and mental disorders. The consequences of heroin use range from mild distress to life-threatening dangers:
Respiratory depression, cardiac arrest, coma, and death from accidental overdose.
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.
Exposure to hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, and other infections from dirty needles.
Dependence, addiction
Nausea and vomiting (following early use or high doses), constipation and loss of appetite
Menstrual irregularity and reduced sex drive
Scarring ("tracks") along veins and collapsed veins from repeated injections
Constricted pupils and reduced night vision
Street heroin may contain additives that do not readily dissolve, resulting in clogging of 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, and can cause a stroke or heart attack.
Withdrawal Symptoms
Heroin withdrawal — which for regular users may begin just a few hours after use — 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.
Treatment Options
If you or someone you know is struggling with heroin abuse, email Phoenix House at drughelp@phoenixhouse.org to find out more about our treatment programs, ask for a referral or get a professional assessment. If you find yourself in an emergency situation, call 911 immediately.
