Addiction to Drugs.org

Heroin users don't experience the same maniacal rage as ice addicts, and the drug does not normally do the same amount of short-term damage to the body as any number of party drugs. Even so, heroin is still the no.1 killer of drug users in the Western world, and if we are going to combat it we will need to understand why.

Heroin is an addictive drug that is processed from morphine and usually appears as a white or brown powder. Its street names include smack, H, ska, junk, and many others. Heroin use is still on the rise and it has become a serious problem in America and throughout the Western world.

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. The short-term effects of heroin abuse appear soon after a single dose and disappear in a few hours. After an injection of heroin, the user reports feeling a surge of euphoria ("rush") accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, a dry mouth, and heavy extremities.

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. Chronic users may develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, cellulitis, and liver disease. Pulmonary complications, including various types of pneumonia, may result from the poor health condition of the abuser, as well as from heroin's depressing effects on respiration. Heroin abuse during pregnancy and its many associated environmental factors (e.g., lack of prenatal care) have been associated with adverse consequences for children including low birth weight, an important risk factor for later developmental delay.

In addition to the effects of the drug itself, street heroin may have additives that do not readily dissolve and result in clogging the blood vessels that lead to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain. This can cause infection or even death of small patches of cells in vital organs.

With regular heroin use, tolerance develops. This means the abuser must use more to achieve the same intensity of effect. As higher doses are used over time, physical dependence and addiction develop. With physical dependence, the body has adapted to the presence of the drug and withdrawal symptoms may occur if use is reduced or stopped. Withdrawal, which in regular abusers may occur as early as a few hours after the last administration, produces drug craving, restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhoea and vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps ("cold turkey"), kicking movements ("kicking the habit"), and other symptoms.

Major withdrawal symptoms peak between 48 and 72 hours after the last dose and subside after about a week. Sudden withdrawal by heavily dependent users who are in poor health is occasionally fatal, although heroin withdrawal is considered less dangerous than alcohol or barbiturate withdrawal.

In many Western countries Methadone is administered to heroin addicts as an alternative to sudden withdrawal. In theory, the methadone is used as an interim measure to help the user get over his or her reliance on heroin The main problem with this though is that methadone is even more addictive than the drug it is supposed to be replacing!

This is the irony. Heroin was originally developed to help persons who had become addicted to morphine, but it turned out to be more addictive than morphine. Methadone is likewise more addictive than heroin, and it is the addictive quality of the drug that accounts for the terrible number of fatalities. In the short term, it is a less dangerous drug than many of its alternatives, but the longer the drug is used and the more deeply the user becomes addicted, the lower the user's chances of survival become.

Methadone Treatment
Methadone reduces the cravings associated with heroin use and blocks the high fr...
methadone_treatment.php

Addiction To Drugs
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addiction_to_drugs.php

Causes Of Drug Addiction
The causes of drug addiction are as varied as the amount of drugs that are available for use. There is no...
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Cocaine Addiction
Cocaine is a powerfully addictive drug th...
cocaine_addiction.php

Heroin Users
Heroin addiction is a personal struggle that many describe as the biggest monster they ever have had to deal wi...
heroin_users.php

Vicodin Addiction
Prolonged use of Vicodin can lead to addiction because the...
vicodin_addiction.php

Nicotine Addiction
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that tobacco use remains the leading preventabl...
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Symptoms Of Drug Addiction
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Marijuana Addiction
Lots of people believe that marijuana is not a harmful drug and t...
marijuana_addiction.php

Alcohol Addiction
Alcohol is one of the most commonly abused drug in the United States. For most people who drink, ...
alcohol_addiction.php

Addiction To Prescription Drugs
Most people who take prescription medications use them responsibly. However, the inappropr...
addiction_to_prescription_drugs.php

Teen Drug Addiction
Drugs affect a teenager's body in different wa...
teen_drug_addiction.php

Heroin Addicts
Heroin addiction is not a habit that can be picked up overnight; it is actually a habit that is formed by previous depen...
heroin_addicts.php

Drug Addiction Rehab
Drug rehab can take the form of behavioral (or 'cognitive') therapy, medication, or...
drug_addiction_rehab.php

Ice Addiction
Methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant that is closely related to amphetamine, but has longer lasting and mo...
ice_addiction.php

Server
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server.php

The Narconon Controversy
This form of treatment does not use any drugs of any type to ease the pain of with...
the_narconon_controversy.php

How To Help A Drug Addict
Most people who take prescription medications use them...
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Safe Detoxing
The reason for this is that detox can be fatal. What happens to the body when one becom...
safe_detoxing.php