Heroin Abuse & Addiction

When You Lose Your Child to Drugs  -  Help Your Addicted Teen

Heroin is an illegal, highly addictive drug.  It is both the most abused and the most rapidly acting of the opiates.  Heroin is processed from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of certain varieties of poppy plants.  It is typically sold as a white or brownish powder or as the black sticky substance known on the streets as "black tar heroin."

Although purer heroin is becoming more common, most street heroin is "cut" with other drugs or with substances such as sugar, starch, powdered milk, or quinine.  Street heroin can also be cut with strychnine or other poisons.  Because heroin abusers do not know the actual strength of the drug or its true contents, they are at risk of overdose or death.  Heroin also poses special problems because of the transmission of HIV and other diseases that can occur from sharing needles or other injection equipment.

Heroin is usually injected, sniffed/snorted, or smoked.  Typically, a heroin abuser may inject up to four times a day.  Intravenous injection provides the greatest intensity and most rapid onset of euphoria (7 to 8 seconds), while intra-muscular injection produces a relatively slow onset of euphoria (5 to 8 minutes).  When heroin is sniffed or smoked, peak effects are usually felt within 10 to 15 minutes.  Although smoking and sniffing heroin do not produce a "rush" as quickly or as intensely as intravenous injection, NIDA researchers have confirmed that all three forms of heroin administration are addictive.

Injection continues to be the predominant method of heroin use among addicted users seeking treatment; however, researchers have observed a shift in heroin use patterns, from injection to sniffing and smoking.  In fact, sniffing/snorting heroin is now a widely reported means of taking heroin among users admitted for drug treatment in both metropolitan and suburban areas.

With the shift in heroin abuse patterns comes an even more diverse group of users.  Older users (over 30) continue to be one of the largest user groups in most national data.  However, there has been an increase in new, young users across the country who are being lured by inexpensive, high-purity heroin that can be sniffed or smoked instead of injected.  Today, the average addict is a white, middle-class teenager.

Signs of Heroin Abuse

Constricted, pinpoint pupils

Vomiting

Constipation; use of laxatives

Nodding-out (with increased activity level before)

Taking long naps and lots of them

Track marks on arms

Itching and scratching

Weight loss

Cessation of menstruation

Finding spoons with burn marks

Disappearance of spoons

Foil & gum wrappers with burn marks

Missing shoelaces (used as a tie off for injecting heroin)

Bottles of vinegar and bleach (used to clean needles)

Cotton balls

Sticky bits of tar-like substance

More Warning Signs of Drug Use

Street Terms and Slang for Heroin

Losing Jonathan

More Information

Deadly $2 heroin targets teens ~ "Cheese heroin" is a blend of so-called black tar Mexican heroin and crushed over-the-counter medications that contain the antihistamine diphenhydramine, found in products such as Tylenol PM, police say. The sedative effects of the heroin and the nighttime sleep aids make for a deadly brew.

Face of Heroin:  It's Younger and Suburban; Cheaper Versions Reach Youths Who Haven't Seen the Drug's Damage ~ With heroin cheaper than ever, suburban teens say that a bag supplying a single potent high averages about $10, or less than the cost of a movie ticket with popcorn.

Heroin in America ~Cheap and very pure heroin is creating a growing addiction crisis across America.  Today, the average addict is a white, middle-class teenager.

Middle-class, teen-age heroin addicts testify before Senate ~ Recovering teen-age heroin addicts and their relatives are talking about how the drug has moved into the middle-class suburbs with devastating effects.

Nonmedical Oxycodone Users:  A Comparison with Heroin Users ~ The prevalence of lifetime nonmedical use of oxycodone increased significantly from an estimated 11.8 million users (5.0 percent) in 2002 to 13.7 million users (5.8 percent) in 2003.  The estimated prevalence of lifetime heroin use from 2002 to 2003 did not change (1.6 percent).

Not In My House ~ From initial denial, to acknowledgement of a problem, to empowerment, action and eventual healing, this site helps those affected move through the process of recovery and provides support, information, and links to resources.

Opiod Abuse ~ Most people who are new users of heroin are younger than 26 years.

Zach's Story ~ This is the story of Zachary, a talented young man raised in a loving family in rural Ohio. who started using drugs and died of a heroin overdose.