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Heroin drug treatment

   Heroin is a highly addictive drug and represents the most widely abused and most rapidly acting of the opiates. This drug comes in various forms, but pure heroin is a white powder with a bitter taste. Most illicit heroin comes in powder form in colors ranging from white to dark brown. The colors are due to the impurities left from the manufacturing process or the presence of additives. “Black tar” is another form of heroin that resembles roofing tar or is hard like coal. Color varies from dark brown to black.

   Heroin was first synthesized in 1874 from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of certain varieties of poppy plants. It was commercially marketed in 1898 as a new pain remedy and became widely used in medicine in the early 1900s until it became a controlled substance in 1914 under the Harrison Narcotic Act.

   Heroin can be injected, smoked or snorted. Intravenous injection produces the greatest intensity and most rapid euphorical effects, usually felt in 7 to 8 seconds. Even though effects for sniffing or smoking develop more slowly, beginning in 10 to 15 minutes, sniffing or smoking heroin has increased in popularity because of the availability of high-purity heroin and the fear of sharing needles. Also, users tend to mistakenly believe that sniffing or smoking heroin will not lead to addiction.

    The short-term effects of heroin abuse appear soon after a single dose and disappear in a few hours. After ingestion, heroin crosses the blood-brain barrier, while in the brain, it converts to morphine and binds rapidly to opioid receptors. Users tend to report feeling a “rush” or a surge of pleasurable sensations. The feeling varies in intensity depending on how much of the drug was ingested and how rapidly the drug enters the brain. The rush is usually accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth and a heavy feeling in the user's arms and legs. Following this initial euphoria, the user goes "on the nod," an alternately wakeful and drowsy state. Mental functioning becomes clouded due to the depression of the central nervous system.

   Long-term effects of heroin appear after repeated use for some period of time. Physical dependence causes the user's body to adapt to the presence of the drug and withdrawal symptoms occur if use is reduced. With regular heroin use, tolerance develops. This means the abuser must use more heroin to achieve the same intensity of effect. Heroin abuse is associated with serious health conditions, including fatal overdose, spontaneous abortion, collapsed veins and, particularly in users who inject the drug, infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.

   There is a broad range of heroin treatment options, including medications as well as behavioral therapies, like residential and outpatient approaches. When medication treatment is integrated with other supportive services, patients are often able to stop heroin use and return to more stable and productive lives.

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