Heroin addiction is debilitating, for both the user and the user’s family. And drug rehab, while meant to “cure” the user, often sees returning patients, and is costly for the family. The increasing rate of heroin use among high schoolers has worried experts.
What is heroin?
Heroin is developed from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pods of some poppy plants. Although pure heroin is becoming more common, states the National Institute of Drug Addiction, it is often sold on the street, mixed with other substances.
What is the scope of heroin addiction in the U.S.?
A 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found that 2.4 million people had used heroin at some point in their lives. The survey also found that there were 81,000 new heroin users in 1997. NIDA reported in 1999 that heroin addiction was the primary drug of abuse in drug abuse treatment centers in Baltimore, Boston, Los Angeles, Newark, New York, and San Francisco.
How is heroin used?
Heroin is usually injected, sniffed, snorted, or smoked. Those with a heroin addiction generally use heroin up to four times a day. When heroin is sniffed or snorted, the peak effects are felt during the 10 to 15 minutes directly afterward. 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). Although smoking or sniffing heroin does not produce as quick of a rush, heroin addiction can result just as easily. Injection continues to be the most common form of use among the heroin addicted who are seeking treatment, but researchers have observed a shift in use among younger users.
What are the short term effects of heroin?
A heroin addiction is easy to develop because heroin enters the brain quickly. With heroin, the rush is usually accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth, and a heavy feeling in the extremities, which may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and severe itching. Mental functions slow down, as do cardiac functions.
What are the long term effects of heroin?
One of the most harmful effects is heroin addiction itself. Heroin addiction is defined by NIDA as a chronic, relapsing disease, characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, and by neurochemical and molecular changes in the brain. Once heroin addiction begins, the primary purpose of most users is obtaining and using the drug. Heroin addiction can result in collapsed veins, infection of heart lining and valves, and (because of the use of needles or sexual promiscuity) a higher risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.
What are the treatment options for heroin addiction?
- Detoxification: primary objective is to relieve withdrawal symptoms from heroin addiction while helping patients adjust to a drug-free life.
- Methadone programs: oral medication that suppresses the cravings that cause heroin addiction.
- Behavioral treatments: past experience has shown that heroin addiction is most effectively treated by a combination of behavioral treatments and craving-suppressant drugs; behavioral treatments treat heroin addiction by addressing patient's thinking, expectancies, and behaviors.
By Virginia Zignego