What it is:

Heroin is an opiate, which means that it comes from a flower called the opium poppy. Opiates are used in hospitals as painkillers for patients in serious pain from injury, surgery, or illness; morphine is another opiate that you might see used for medical purposes. Heroin is a brown or white powder that is sometimes snorted or smoked. Most of the time, users turn it into a liquid and inject the drug into their veins with a needle.

People who use it may experience:

• Euphoria, a “rush” of well-being
• Reduced pain
• Dry mouth
• Droopy eyelids and smaller pupils
• Flushed skin
• Heavy arms and legs
• Slow thinking and movement
• Slow and slurred speech
• Periods of sleepiness, sometimes called “the nod”
• Vomiting
• Constipation

The big, serious health risks are:

• Collapsed veins
• Heart infections
• Pneumonia
• Death from overdose

Using heroin is a problem because:

• Heroin is one of the most physically addictive drugs in the world, and breaking the addiction can be very difficult.

• Users develop tolerance, meaning that they eventually need more and more of the drug to get the same effect.

• Because heroin can be expensive, users often turn to crime to get drug money.

• Sharing needles can lead to infectious diseases, including hepatitis and AIDS.

• Quitting the drug or “kicking the habit” can lead to bad withdrawal symptoms, including pain, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, cold flashes, and an incredible craving to return to the drug.

• Quitting suddenly, called “going cold turkey,” can lead to death in long-term addicts in bad health.

In the next section we look at Prescription Medications that people sometimes abuse.