Heroin

Other names:Brown, Gear, H, Heaven, Horse, Junk, Skag, Smack.

Heroin is a highly addictive drug. It’s the most abused opiate and the one with fastest action. Heroine is processed from morphine, a substance produced by certain varieties of ampoules. Typically it’s sold like a white or brown dust, or as a black sticky substance known in the streets as “glue” or “black alkitran”.  Heroin also presents serious risks of AIDS and other diseases transmission while sharing needles.

What does it look like?

Heroin is a light-brown powder (or fluffy white when it's pure) that can be smoked, eaten or dissolved in water and injected.

What are heroin effects?

One of the most unhealthy effects is addiction. It is easy to become mentally and physically dependent on heroin. Heroine makes you feel a wave of pleasure sweep over you and intense relaxation, especially if you inject it.

When you come down, you feel tired and sweaty, and your breathing becomes heavy and uneven, it produces vomiting, nausea, abdominal cramps.

Long term heroine use destroys your body. It is related with chronic constipation, dry skin, and respiratory problems. When you inject it using a contaminated needle, you are putting yourself at risk for catching diseases such as HIV which can lead to AIDS, hepatitis B or C, heart problems.

Heroin is extremely addictive and is very easy to get an overdose (that can kill you). Using it with other drugs, such as alcohol, can also be fatal.

When you are hooked, you have to take more and more heroin to get high. You get to a point where you have to take it just to feel normal and avoid very unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. It is very easy to take an overdose of Heroin. It can be a very long, painful and difficult process to beat a heroin addiction. People who smoke heroin to begin with usually end up injecting it to make it last longer.

Short term effects:

•    Rush.

•    Respiratory depression

•    Mental impairment

•    Nausea and vomit

•    Pain suppression

•    Spontaneous abortion

Long term effects:

•    Addiction

•    Infectious diseases

•    Vein collapse

•    Bacterial infections

•    Abscesses

•    Heart infections

•    Arthritis and other rheumatic problems.