Originally developed as a possible alternative to morphine in 1874, heroin was legal until 1914 when its addictive properties were firmly established. Today, heroin is a Schedule I narcotic with no known medical utility. Heroin is derived from naturally occurring morphine secreted from certain varieties of poppy plants. Pure heroin is a white powder. Most heroin on the street varies from a light to dark brown depending on impurities left over from the manufacturing process. Black tar heroin found mostly in the west and southwestern states is often very unrefined with many impurities.

Many heroin users did not start out on heroin. Data shows that traditional pain medication such as Percocet and Oxycontin addiction often leads to heroin use. Demand for these drugs causes increased prices and many of the people addicted to these pain medications will switch over to heroin due to it’s cheaper price. The rise in heroin use in the last twenty years has correlated with an increase in purity and a decrease in price. Current purity levels are such that smoking, snorting and intramuscular injections are possible administration methods in addition to intravenous us, which is the most common route of use. With fears of diseases associated with intravenous drug use, a large portion of new users are smoking or snorting the drug. This is the usual route with a new heroin user. Data suggests that users may progress from inhalation to injection as tolerance levels demand higher drug potency and users soon realize that they can get the same effect with a much smaller amount when they “shoot it” into a vein.

NIDA research suggests that all administration forms are addictive, but differ in time of onset of drug potency. The “euphoria” associated with heroin use is short-lived and immediate. The temporary high results in average users injecting up to four times a day. However brief, heroin’s effects are immediate. Intravenous administration can result in a high being achieved in seven to eight seconds. The rapidity of drug action in crossing the blood-brain barrier is one of the reasons for heroin’s highly addictive nature. Continued use builds a high level of tolerance and physical dependence/addiction, which are powerful factors motivating addiction.

Chronic heroin use results in increased tolerance and severe physical addiction. Tolerance issues may be one reason that for the majority of heroin users, heroin is not the only substance they abuse. Sixty-one percent of people admitted to public facilities admitted to secondary substance abuse. Most commonly heroin use was combined with cocaine—40% or alcohol—24% and benzodiazepine use.

Beyond tolerance, medical complications of heroin use include the consequences of intravenous injection like collapsed veins, bacterial infections which can lead to blood infections and loss of limbs, liver and kidney disease, and transmittable infections like hepatitis B and C and HIV. They also include lung and respiratory problems, such as tuberculosis and pneumonia. Additives in street heroin range from sugar or starch to quinine, strychnine or fentanyl other poisons, which further escalates risks to drug users. Many heroin dealers will sell heroin mixed (cut) with crushed Benzodiazepines, Benadryl, etc. These additives still give a “high”, and they are cheaper and add more volume to the heroin so the dealer makes more money. Many heroin users are unaware that they are also addicted to Benzodiazepines, which can be a life threatening withdrawal.

Heroin withdrawal can be a painful process. Symptoms typically begin within a day of discontinuing use and include profuse sweating, malaise, mood disturbances including irritability and thoughts of suicide, chills, muscle aches, insomnia, vomiting, abdominal cramps, weakness, shivering or trembling, yawning, convulsions, dehydration, diarrhea, leg kicking and severe anxiety. However, the detoxification treatment with our Rapid Drug Detox Method along with the use of the opiate blocker, Naltrexone, provide hope for individuals who suffer from heroin use and for those around them.

Heroin is a semi-synthetic opioid created from morphine, a derivative of the opium poppy. This opioid compound acts the same way as endorphins by creating a feeling of happiness, well-being, and euphoria. The similarity of heroin addiction to pain killer addiction lies here, in the opiates contained in these substances. Because opiates are addictive substances, the misuse and abuse of pain killers very often leads to a serious addiction.

Although many take opiate based drugs as pain killers, the start of an opiate addiction may be psychological. Individuals may think that by taking their pain killers they can have a better day or become less stressed. Such careless use of these drugs comes with a high price, both substances, will lead you to dependence, tolerance and withdrawal stages. More often than not, a pain killer addiction leads into the use of heroin.

Withdrawal symptoms for these addictions may appear at different time intervals, but the results are the same. They both include vomiting, shaking, stomach pain, depression, suicidal thoughts, horrible cramps, aching bones, restlessness, insomnia lasting days to weeks, runny nose, loss of appetite and sweating.

The recreational use and abuse of pain killers is not to be taken lightly. The dangers of an opiate class drug are very apparent and proven. It is important that you are educated on the dependency of opiates should a doctor prescribe them, use as directed and with caution. Seek the advice of a professional if you start to experience withdrawal symptoms or suspect an abuse problem.

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Recent studies have shown that heroin use is growing in New York City as an increased amount of the opiate is smuggled into the city. In fact, drug treatment center admissions for heroin addiction outnumber all other drugs in the city.

The rise in heroin use in New York tells a chilling tale of drug use nationwide. SAMHSA (The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) reported a nationwide rise in heroin users from 136,000 in 2005 to 338,000 in 2006. All of this while abuse of prescription opiates such as Methadone, OxyContin and Vicodin also continues to rise nationwide. These latest number prove that opiate abuse and addiction continue to be a major problem in America and a problem not easily solved.

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In Pennsylvania, Elaine’s son had been an addict for over 12 years. After 7 failed attempts at rehab, he turned to heroin. Several more rehab attempts and a sober house later, Elaine’s son found himself severely sick and turning back to drugs. Wanting to stop, he finally found the Rapid Drug Detox Center. Elaine and her son’s life were restored, “The kindness of the Nurses and Doctors and the program, I will always keep them in my prayers for giving back my son to me.”

Read More About Elaine and Her Son’s Story and Experience…

However, in jail his addiction to methadone ultimately pushed him over the edge and led to his suicide. The story serves as a reminder of the addictiveness of methadone and the dangers that can result from using methadone to quit other opiates.