Street Names
Smack, harry, gear, skag, dope, H, junk, hammer, slow, horse, rocks, piss, shit.
Brief Description
Heroin is a highly addictive drug. Heroin is an opiate, a drug that's culled from the seed of a poppy plant. It is a depressant that affects the brain.
Other opiates, like morphine, and codeine are used as powerful medications. Heroin appears as a white or brown powder.
How can you tell if someone is using Heroin
There are no definitive signs of drug misuse. The difficulty is that signs of drug use can easily be confused with
- Emotional upheaval
- Feeling tired
- Excited or anxious
Possible signs of heroin use are:
- Very small pupils
- Appearing drowsy
- Lethargy Scratching
- Croaky voice and reduced appetite
You may notice changes in behavior, appearance, sleeping habits and friendship groups. Withdrawal symptoms may be noticeable when someone has not had any heroin for a little while.
These include:
- Constricted pupils
- Watering nose and eyes
- Sweating
- Difficulty in sleeping
- Agitation and, restlessness
- Goosebumps and scratching (Cold Turkey)
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.
Short-Term Effects
Some of the short-term effects include.
- One to two minute “Rush”
- Suppression of pain
- Dry mouth
- Warm flushing of the skin
- Heavy feeling in arms and legs
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Severe itching
- Drowsiness and confusion for up to six hours
- Slowed heart rate
- Slowed breathing rate
- Spontaneous abortion
Besides other complicated health problems like skin, heart and lung infections. There is a chance of overdosing and a greater chance if the person is a first time user.
Long-Term Effects
Heroin is highly addictive and regular users are more than likely to become very reliant on the drug. Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease, characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, and by neurochemical and molecular changes in the brain. As with abusers of any addictive drug, heroin abusers gradually spend more and more time and energy obtaining and using the drug. Once they are addicted, the heroin abusers' primary purpose in life becomes seeking and using drugs. The drugs literally change their brains and their behavior.
Long-term effects include:
- Addiction
- A higher chance of overdosing Infectious diseases, for example, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B and C
- Collapsed veins
- Bacterial infections
- Abscesses
- Infection of heart lining and valves
- Arthritis and other rheumatologic problems
- Menstrual irregularity and infertility in women
- Loss of sex drive in men
Australian street heroin is mostly a mixture of pure heroin and other substances, such as glucose, lactose or sucrose. It is rare (in Australia) for heroin to be cut with harmful contaminants. Additives can be highly poisonous. They can cause collapsed veins, tetanus, abscesses and damage to the heart, lungs, liver and brain. Because the users don’t know the purity of the heroin used, and therefore the amount to take, it is easy to accidentally overdose.
Greater withdrawal symptoms peak between 48 and 72 hours after the last does and subside after about a week. Sudden withdrawal by heavily dependent users who are suffering poor health can be deadly.
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