Please leave feedback

We strive very hard to provide help, information and support. This blog is a labor of love, and born out of the desire to help those who need answers and resources. Please leave us a comment and let us know how we're doing.
Thank you!
Admin

Heroin Information

Heroin Addiction

The following information is drawn from the NIDA Research Report Series, Heroin: Abuse and Addiction (http://www.drugabuse.gov/ResearchReports/Heroin/Heroin.html).
What is heroin?
Heroin is a member of the opiate family of drugs. Heroin is derived from morphine; in the brain, heroin is changed back into morphine. Because heroin enters the blood and reaches the brain more quickly than morphine, drug abusers and addicts often abuse heroin instead of morphine. Heroin is a white powder that is most often dissolved in saline and injected into the bloodstream, but it can also be snorted (sniffed) or smoked.
What does heroin do in the body?
After taking heroin, the abuser experiences a “rush,” the intensity of which depends on the amount of drug taken and how the abuser takes it. The rush is accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth, and a heavy feeling in the extremities, which can be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and severe itching. Heroin blocks pain messages transmitted from the body. After the initial effects, abusers will be drowsy for several hours. Mental function is clouded by heroin’s effect on the nervous system. Cardiac functions slow; breathing is also severely slowed, sometimes to the point of death. Overdose is a particular risk because the amount and purity of the drug cannot be accurately known.
Treatment for heroin abuse and addiction
The first step in treatment is detoxification to rid the body of the drug. During detoxification, patients adjust to a drug-free state. This stage is short-term and needs to lead to a long-term treatment plan.

Methadone is a synthetic opiate that blocks the effects of heroin and eliminates withdrawal symptoms. Methadone binds to the same opiate receptor that morphine does (remember that heroin breaks down into morphine in the brain). Methadone, however, binds to the receptor more tightly than heroin. People usually take methadone orally one time each day to suppress cravings and withdrawal symptoms for 24-36 hours (four to six times longer than heroin). Methadone is not intoxicating or sedating, and does not produce the feelings of euphoria that heroin does, unless taken in very high doses. Individuals taking methadone do feel pain and have emotional reactions. People can take methadone continuously for many years without problems.

Other drugs used to treat heroin addiction include LAAM and naltrexone, but these are not used as extensively as methadone.

The most effective treatment combines pharmacological approaches (medications) with behavioral therapies. Behavioral therapies may be either on a residential or outpatient basis, but they need to match the needs of the patient.
Long-term consequences of uncontrolled or poorly controlled heroin abuse:
If heroin abuse is untreated, it can lead to the following health problems:
  • addiction
  • scarred and/or collapsed veins
  • bacterial infections of the blood vessels and heart valves
  • abscesses and other soft-tissue infections
  • liver disease
  • kidney disease
  • lung diseases such as pneumonia and tuberculosis
In addition, the additives in street heroin often include substances that clog blood vessels that lead to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain. Contaminated injection equipment can lead to blood-borne viral infections including hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV, which can then be passed on to other individuals through shared needles or sexual activity.

http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih2/addiction/activities/lesson5_database-heroin.htm
 
Heroin Statistics 

The negative impact of pure Heroin alone can cause a multitude of problems for anyone addicted, however, in its street form, it can have many more impurities mixed into the drug that do not dissolve into the blood stream. These impurities can cause blockages in the circulatory system that can cause many internal organs to shut down.

A Heroin user pays anywhere from $150.00 and up daily to support their addiction.

51 percent of all accidents reported in hospital emergency rooms as far back as 1999 was attributed to Heroin and Morphine abuse, it has increased significantly since then. 
 
3.8 million people (1.5 percent of the population above 12) say they have tried heroin at least once in their lifetimes.

560,000 people used heroin last year. Current estimates suggest that nearly 600,000 people need treatment for heroin addiction.

338,000 people used heroin last month.

The rate of heroin lifetime heroin use is higher among those in prison (23.4 percent for State and 17.9 percent for Federal).

 In the 25 to 49 age group, illicit drug overdose is the fourth leading cause of death, about the same number as motor vehicle crashes.
Children as young as 13 have been found involved in heroin abuse. According to statistics in 1999 heroin overdose has caused more deaths than traffic accidents.
The 1999 National Household Survey on drug abuse (NHSDA) estimated that there were 149,000 new heroin users in 1998 and that nearly 80 percent were under the age of 26.
Of approximately 1.2 million "sometime" heroin users in the US, about 208,000 use it habitually.
 Last year, there were approximately 84,000 visits to emergency rooms in the US due to heroin.
 Over 80% of heroin users inject with a partner, yet 80% of overdose victims found by paramedics are alone.
 The dependent person use between 150 - 250 milligrams per day. Divide into 3 doses.
 The heroin addict spends between $150 to $200 per day to maintain a heroin addiction.
In 1998. 65% of the heroin seized in the United States originated in South America, and 17% came from Mexico.
Slang terms for heroin include: smack, mud, dope, horse, junk, brown sugar, big H, and black tar.
Street names associated with heroin include "smack," "H," "skag," and "junk." Other names may refer to types of heroin produced in a specific geographical area, such as "Mexican black tar."
Good news about teens and heroin substance abuse
Amongst young adults and college students, heroin use is not seeing the decline it has in teenagers. Perhaps this older age group feels the risks are acceptable. A slight increase in heroin users in college students is seen - from 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent. Additionally, in young adults, those reporting that they have used heroin at least once in their lifetimes has increased from 1.7 percent in 2005 to 1.9 percent. It is a small increase, and one that shows that heroin substance abuse among young adults is stable, and perhaps growing slightly.
First time heroin users
According to NSDUH information, in the last year about 91,000 persons over the age of 12 used heroin for the first time. Amongst recent first time heroin users, aged 12 to 49, the average age was 20.7. This indicates that many heroin users wait until they leave their teenagers years to begin using the drug.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Infolinks In Text Ads

Top Health blogs

Privacy Policy for The Addicted Family

Privacy Policy for The Addicted Family http://theaddictedfamily.blogspot.com/

The privacy of our visitors to http://theaddictedfamily.blogspot.com/ is important to us.

At http://theaddictedfamily.blogspot.com/, we recognize that privacy of your personal information is important. Here is information on what types of personal information we receive and collect when you use and visit http://theaddictedfamily.blogspot.com/, and how we safeguard your information. We never sell your personal information to third parties.

Log Files

As with most other websites, we collect and use the data contained in log files. The information in the log files include your IP (internet protocol) address, your ISP (internet service provider, such as AOL or Shaw Cable), the browser you used to visit our site (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox), the time you visited our site and which pages you visited throughout our site.

Cookies and Web Beacons

We do use cookies to store information, such as your personal preferences when you visit our site. This could include only showing you a pop up once in your visit, or the ability to login to some of our features, such as forums.

We also use third party advertisements on http://theaddictedfamily.blogspot.com/ to support our site. Some of these advertisers may use technology such as cookies and web beacons when they advertise on our site, which will also send these advertisers (such as Google through the Google AdSense program) information including your IP address, your ISP , the browser you used to visit our site, and in some cases, whether you have Flash installed. This is generally used for geo targeting purposes (showing New York real estate ads to someone in New York, for example) or showing certain ads based on specific sites visited (such as showing cooking ads to someone who frequents cooking sites).

You can chose to disable or selectively turn off our cookies or third-party cookies in your browser settings, or by managing preferences in programs such as Norton Internet Security. However, this can affect how you are able to interact with our site as well as other websites. This could include the inability to login to services or programs, such as logging into forums or accounts.


* Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on your site.

* Google’s use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and other sites on the Internet.

* Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.

AdSense Privacy Policy Provided by JenSense


Disclaimer

Terms and Conditions


All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

This policy is subject to change at anytime.



Limit of Liability Disclaimer

The information contained in this product / on this site is for information purposes only, and may not apply to your situation. The author, publisher, distributor and provider provide no warranty about the content or accuracy of content enclosed. Information provided is subjective. Keep this in mind when reviewing this guide.

Neither the Publisher nor Author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages resulting from use of this guide. All links are for information purposes only and are not warranted for content, accuracy, or any other implied or explicit purpose.