Dangers of Heroin

Drugs Combatting Drugs

Heroin has been in the news a lot, again. Relatively inexpensive, it has made a comeback in popular use. Based on the opium poppy, morphine is combined with two other components to make it two to four times stronger than morphine, injection giving the quickest and greatest initial rush and high, though it may also be smoked, snorted, or inserted as a suppository.

Technical name, diacetylmorphine, is legally used in prescription drugs for pain relief, cough suppressants, and anti-diarrhea medication. That surprised me. It is strictly licensed. Some countries also use it in opioid replacement therapy, similar to the methadone and buprenorphine used in this country, though studies in the UK and Switzerland show that diacetylmorphine is superior to methadone in improving the social life and health of addicts.

Some people hate the idea of using drugs to combat drug abuse and addiction, but it has clearly been demonstrated that without help, most addicts continue in their more hazardous drug behavior. Can they eventually be weaned of all drugs? I have to research that and will post my findings next week.

Dangers of Heroin Use

Heroin is a depressant and highly addictive in a short period of time and causes social and family problems as the person’s life revolves more and more around finding the next fix. Large doses of heroin can cause respiratory failure. Tolerance is a big problem. It develops fast with continued use, which requires greater doses to achieve the same effects. The tolerance also dissipates quickly if use is suspended for any length of time. The purity and therefore strength of the drug can also change drastically from dose to dose depending on the route it took from manufacture to sale. Additives to cut the heroin’s strength vary greatly and can be dangerous in themselves.

The user may not realize this, take the same amount as last time, and suffer respiratory failure or loss of consciousness, vomiting, and aspiration of that vomit. Because of this, it can be difficult to determine if a death was accidental, suicide, or homicide.

Other health risks include blood-borne diseases (HIV, hepatitis) incurred from user behavior—sharing needles and spoons to liquefy the drug for injection. With chronic use, veins used for injection become compromised and some inject directly into fatty tissue, which can cause abscesses, or more dangerous areas such as the femoral artery. Combining heroin with other substances, especially another depressant such as alcohol can heighten the body’s negative reaction.