Heroin is a street drug that is injected, smoked or snorted. Heroin is made from morphine. It usually looks like a white or brown powder, or as a black, sticky, tar-like substance. Heroin tends to make users feel a sense of euphoria, as though all of their problems are gone and life is wonderful. After the initial sensation of euphoria wears off, the user often feels quite tired, with alternating periods of alertness. Heroin affects the body in ways similar to some pain medications. Along with euphoria, heroin can cause dizziness, a sense of one\’s limbs feeling heavy and nauseousness. Another one of heroin\’s effects is that it slows down one\’s breathing. With too much heroin, breathing can be suppressed to the point of death. Another risk of using heroin, particularly when injected, is that the user can expose him/herself to diseases such as HIV and hepatitis.

With regular use of heroin, tolerance develops. A user needs more and more of the substance to reach the same level of euphoria. One particularly interesting, and deadly, aspect of heroin use is that the tolerance of a person who stops using heroin quickly declines. If a person used heroin for months and then stopped for a short period of time, even a few days in some cases, their tolerance quickly decreases. If the user then takes a dose that was \”normal\” for them only a few days earlier, they can die because their tolerance has decreased so quickly. This is one of the reasons that heroin takes so many lives. Those who use it usually do not realize how quickly one\’s tolerance to this substance can change and they accidentally overdose on their usual dose.

Heroin appears to result in addiction quite rapidly. According to http://www.drugabuse.gov/, \”23 percent of individuals who use heroin become dependent on it\”. It is also noted in many studies that today\’s heroin is much more potent than the heroin used by previous generations. If a person develops a dependence on heroin, they usually experience very severe withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms can include muscle cramps, restlessness and agitation, diarrhea, vomiting, insomnia and feeling cold. There are also severe cravings to use the drug again and to relieve the withdrawal symptoms. Although some of the most severe cravings subside within a few days, many users report significant cravings for months or even years. Many drug treatment programs are short term, lasting from days to weeks. A heroin dependent patient may complete treatment, only to return home and find that the cravings to use heroin are still very intense. The relapse rate for heroin addicts is quite high.

So why does it seem that heroin is making a comeback? It appears that heroin use among young people is increasing dramatically. This may be related to an increase in use of many kinds of opiate medications. Heroin, once considered a drug used by those who had already tried everything else, is now a drug seen as more approachable for a relatively new user. Many young substance users are abusing prescription medications, such as opiates (many forms of pain killers). For these young people, heroin may simply be another form of opiate. Prescription opiate abuse may open the door for heroin use. Interestingly, heroin is often much cheaper to buy \”on the street\” than prescription opiates. So a person may start by taking prescription opiates but find that they can achieve a similar effect with a lower cost by using heroin. Heroin has also become more accessible, sometimes being more readily available than marijuana or even alcohol for those below the age of 21. It has also become more socially acceptable, so that youth from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds are seeing heroin as an affordable, and even trendy, alternative to other substances.

Tiffney Yeager grew up in Nebraska, completing her undergraduate work at Creighton University. She then completed a master\’s degree and doctorate in Clinical Psyhology at the Univeristy of North Dakota. Following graduation, Dr. Yeager worked at a rural mental health center in Kansas for five years. She how works at the Valley Hope Association. Learn more at www.valleyhope.org.

Tiffney Yeager grew up in Nebraska, completing her undergraduate work at Creighton University. She then completed a master\’s degree and doctorate in Clinical Psyhology at the Univeristy of North Dakota.
Learn more at http://www.valleyhope.org.

Author Bio: Tiffney Yeager grew up in Nebraska, completing her undergraduate work at Creighton University. She then completed a master\’s degree and doctorate in Clinical Psyhology at the Univeristy of North Dakota. Following graduation, Dr. Yeager worked at a rural mental health center in Kansas for five years. She how works at the Valley Hope Association. Learn more at www.valleyhope.org.

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: substance abuse treatment, drug rehab, drug and alcohol treatment centers, heroin, heroin\\\’s comeback