Heroin
Heroin and the Law
Heroin is a Class A drug.
What is heroin?
Heroin is a powerful and addictive substance that can be found in the form of a powder, pill or liquid and can be injected or smoked. It contains the chemicals morphine and codeine, both effective pain killers and is administered by the NHS to those who clinically need it. It is derived from the opium poppy and in its purest form is a white powder made from morphine. But on the street it may be sold as off-white to dark brown powder because it is usually mixed with other substances such as paracetamol, caffeine, talcum powder, chalk and flour.
What are the effects?
The effects of heroin depend on the quantity taken and by which route. You generally feel a rush followed by a feeling of warmth and well-being, a total relief from stress and anxiety. Initial use can result in vomiting and nausea but these reactions fade with regular use. It slows down your breathing and heart rate, causes constipation and as it depresses the central nervous system it slows down your body’s functioning and helps to combat physical and emotional pain. Other common symptoms include drowsiness, muscle cramps and sweating.
Through injecting heroin the effects are felt almost instantly (in 7-8 seconds). If it is smoked it takes longer at about 10 – 15 minutes.
What are the risks?
If you use Heroin you can experience thrombosis, blocked veins, abscesses and skin infections. Repeated or poor injecting into the same vein will cause the vein to collapse and, as with all drugs administered through injections, you run the risk of infection from HIV, hepatitis and other diseases.
Tolerance develops with regular use so that more is needed to get the same effect, which can lead to physical dependence. Addicts become malnourished as they never feel hungry; the body’s resistance to infection is decreased resulting in pneumonia and, in women, irregular periods.
Regular abusers may experience withdrawal symptoms as early as a few hours after the last administration. This produces:
- drug craving;
- restlessness;
- muscle and bone pain;
- insomnia;
- diarrhoea and vomiting; and
- cold flashes with goose bumps.
This is known as "cold turkey". Between 48 and 72 hours after the last dose is where major withdrawal symptoms will peak. These will go away after about a week.
Because of the impurity of the drug it is difficult to gauge the strength of the dosage and most overdose fatalities happen when you haven't used it for a while and then inject the usual dose.
