Heroin is a highly addictive drug and is the most widely abused and most rapidly acting of the opiates. Heroin is processed from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of certain varieties of poppy plants.
Heroin is a white powder with a bitter taste. Most illicit heroin is a powder varying in color from white to dark brown. The differences in color are due to impurities left from the manufacturing process or the presence of additives. Another form of heroin, "black tar" heroin, is primarily available in the western and southwestern U.S. This heroin, which is produced in Mexico, may be sticky like roofing tar or hard like coal, with its color varying from dark brown to black.
Heroin can be injected, smoked, or sniffed/snorted. The fear of infection by sharing needles has made snorting and smoking the drug more common. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) researchers have confirmed that regardless of how the heroin is used,
it will all lead to heroin addiction.
According to the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), approximately 3.5 million Americans aged 12 or older reported trying heroin at least once during their lifetimes, representing 1.5% of the population aged 12 or older. Approximately 379,000 (0.2%) reported past year heroin use and 136,000 (0.1%) reported past month heroin use.
The 2005 NSDUH results also indicate that there were 108,000 persons aged 12 or older who had used heroin for the first time within the past 12 months. This is a reduction from the 118,000 who used heroin in 2004.
Among students surveyed as part of the 2005 Monitoring the Future study, 1.5% of eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders reported lifetime use of heroin.
Approximately 61.4% of eighth graders, 72.4% of tenth graders, and 60.5% of twelfth graders surveyed in 2005 reported that using heroin once or twice without a needle was a "great risk."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also conducts a survey of high school students throughout the United States called the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS). Among students surveyed for the 2005 YRBSS, 2.4% reported using heroin at least one time during their lifetimes.
Approximately 0.5% of college students and 1.7% of young adults (ages 19-28) surveyed in 2005 reported lifetime use of heroin.
According to data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 23.4% of State prisoners and 17.9% of Federal prisoners surveyed in 2004 indicated that they used heroin/opiate at some point in their lives.
If you are looking for an effective dual diagnosis treatment program, addiction treatment program, detox, drug rehab or alcohol rehab call Lakeview Health Systems now at 1-800-231-2950. All calls are completely confidential and our staff is available to assist you 24 hours a day. |
The short-term effects of heroin abuse or heroin addiction appear soon after taking the drug. Intravenous injection of heroin provides the greatest intensity and most rapid onset of the initial rush. Intravenous heroin users typically experience the rush within 7 to 8 seconds after injection, while intramuscular injection of heroin produces a slower onset of this euphoric feeling, taking 5 to 8 minutes. When heroin is sniffed or smoked, the peak effects of the drug are usually felt within 10 to 15 minutes.
In addition to the initial feeling of euphoria, the short-term effects of heroin include a warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth, and heavy extremities. After the initial euphoric feeling, the user experiences an alternately wakeful and drowsy state. Due to the depression of the central nervous system, mental functioning becomes clouded, breathing may be slowed to the point of respiratory failure.
After repeatedly using heroin, the long-term effects of the substance begin to appear in the user. Chronic heroin users may develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, and liver disease. Additionally, pulmonary complications, including various types of pneumonia, may also result in the user.
One of the most significant effects of heroin use is addiction. With regular heroin use, tolerance to the drug develops. Once this happens, the abuser must use more heroin to achieve the same intensity or effect that they are seeking. As higher doses of heroin are used over time, physical dependence and addiction to heroin develop. Heroin addiction is not easy to treat on your own.
Within a few hours after the last administration of heroin, withdrawal may occur. This withdrawal can produce effects such as drug craving, restlessness, muscle and bone pain, and vomiting. Major withdrawal symptoms peak between 48 and 72 hours after the last dose and subside after about a week. Once a physical dependence on heroin develops, the only safe way to discontinue use is to seek detox in a medically monitored drug rehab or addiction treatment program.
In addition to the effects of heroin, users who inject heroin also put themselves at risk for contracting HIV, hepatitis C (HCV), and other infectious diseases. Approximately 70–80% of the new HCV infections in the U.S. each year are among injection drug addicts.
Because heroin abusers do not know the actual strength of the heroin or its true contents, they are at a great risk of overdose or death. Of an estimated 106 million emergency department (ED) visits in the U.S. during 2004, the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) estimates that 1,997,993 were drug-related. DAWN data indicate that heroin was involved in 162,137 ED visits.
Heroin addiction is a treatable illness. For example, methadone, a synthetic opiate that blocks the effects of heroin and manages withdrawal symptoms, has proven successful for heroin addiction. The key with methadone is to avoid staying on it past the withdrawal stage. Far too many people end up addicted to methadone.
For this reason, people are urged to seek treatment within a licensed and JCAHO accredited drug rehab or heroin addiction treatment program, complete with their own heroin detox program. While in detox, heroin addiction treatment professionals will manage the heroin withdrawal symptoms for you, while monitoring any potential medical risks. Not all drug rehab programs have their own detox, which diminishes the continuity of addiction treatment required. In conjunction with detox, most drug rehab programs will have inpatient addiction treatment, out patient addiction treatment and dual diagnosis treatment.
From 1994 to 2004, the number of admissions to addiction treatment in which heroin was the primary drug of abuse increased from 216,452 in 1994 to 265,895 in 2004. Heroin admissions represented 13.0% of the total drug/alcohol admissions to addiction treatment and drug rehab during 1994 and 14.2% of the addiction treatment admissions in 2004. The average age of those admitted to addiction treatment and drug rehab for heroin addiction during 2004 was 36 years.
If you are looking for an effective dual diagnosis treatment program, addiction treatment program, detox, drug rehab or alcohol rehab call Lakeview Health Systems now at 1-800-231-2950. All calls are completely confidential and our staff is available to assist you 24 hours a day. |
