Heroin addiction treatment

Drug Rehab Centers will support you in finding a heroin rehab center fit for you or a loved one.  We want you or your loved one to achieve the goal of becoming drug free and stress free. Our services will steer the individual toward secure and clean facilities as well as provide them with all the information they need. We strongly believe that we can achieve this goal with no substitutions of other drugs.

Heroin is an illegal, highly addictive drug. It is the most abused addictive substance on the streets. Heroin is made from morphine which is extracted from the Asian poppy plant.

Heroin is normally sold as a white or brownish powder or as a black sticky substance known on the streets as "black tar heroin." This substance can be injected, snorted (sniffed) or smoked.  Injection is the most common method used to deliver its effects rapidly as the drug travels through the blood stream.  Snorting is to inhale the substance so it as well, can travel through the blood stream where it is absorbed by the tissues in the nose. The third method is to smoke the substance which also passes into the blood stream. All three ways are potentially life threatening where it can cause long term problems or even death.

Heroin information

Heroin Street name:"smack", "junk", "dope"

Heroin Effects: Heroin users often report feelings of warmth, well being, euphoria, and contentment. Other effects include: anxiety, mood swings, confusion, paranoia, or a “rush” type of feeling which is followed by a relaxed content state.

Since opiates are painkillers, heroin can reduce or eliminate pain. It can also lead to unconsciousness. Negative side effects include nausea, vomiting, and constipation.

Heroin Description: Risks associated with using heroin include becoming violently ill, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, cramps, loss of appetite (malnutrition), drowsiness, constricted pupils, watery eyes, itching, slow or shallow breathing, rapid heart rate, ringing in the ears or head, clammy skin, convulsions, coma, and even death.

With regular heroin use, tolerance develops. This means the abuser must use more heroin to achieve the same intensity or effect as before. 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 will occur if use is reduced or stopped.

Heroin Street Use: Heroin is snorted, "chased" (smoked), or injected. When injected, the entire amount of heroin enters the blood stream at once, increasing the risk of overdose. Snorting and "chasing" can also lead to an overdose.

Heroin Dependency: Highly addictive.

Heroin Withdrawal Symptoms: Heroin withdrawal symptoms are some of the nastiest an addict can experience compared to withdrawal from any other drug. The individual who has become physically as well as psychologically dependent on heroin will experience extreme withdrawal with an abrupt discontinuation of use or even a decrease in their daily amount of heroin taken. The onset of heroin withdrawal symptoms begin six to eight hours after the last dose is administrated. Major heroin withdrawal symptoms peak between 48 and 72 hours after the last dose of heroin and subdue after about one week. The symptoms of heroin withdrawal produced are similar to a bad case of the flu.

Symptoms of heroin withdrawal include but are not limited to:

• dilated pupils
• piloerection (goose bumps)
• watery eyes
• runny nose
• yawning
• loss of appetite
• tremors
• panic
• chills
• nausea
• insomnia
• stomach cramps
• diarrhea
• vomiting
• shaking
• profuse sweating
• irritability
• jitteriness

Heroin Legal Status: Heroin is an illegal substance

Heroin Short and Long-term Use:

Short-term effects: Apart from overdosing, the major issue with short-term use of any opiate is the way it is consumed. For instance, injecting heroin can cause skin, heart and lung infections, and diseases such as hepatitis and HIV.

Long-term effects: In its pure form, the substance is relatively non-toxic to the body, causing little harm to body tissue and other organs. Nonetheless, there are some long-term effects, such as dependence, constipation, menstrual irregularity and infertility in women, loss of sex drive in men, intense sadness and cognitive impairment.
Numerous other long-term issues may be the result of other factors, such as the person's poor general self-care, drug impurities and contaminants and blood-borne viruses.
Heroin is generally a mixture of pure heroin and other substances, like caffeine and sugar. Additives can be extremely poisonous. They can lead to collapsed veins, tetanus, abscesses and damage to the heart, lungs, liver and brain.

Heroin Overdose Risk:

Fast Facts Children as young as 13 years old have been abusing heroin. According to statistics in 1999, heroin overdose has caused more fatalities than traffic accidents.

The 1999 National Household Survey on substance abuse (NHSDA) estimated that there were 149,000 new heroin users in 1998 and that almost 80 percent were under the age of 26.

Last year, there were about 84,000 admissions to emergency rooms in the US due to heroin.

More than 80% of heroin users consume with a partner, yet 80% of overdose victims found by paramedics are alone.

The heroin addict use between 150 - 250 milligrams per day, divided into 3 doses.

He/she spends between $150 to $200 daily to maintain a heroin addiction.

In 1998, 65% of the heroin confiscated in the country originated in South America, and 17% came from Mexico.

Information from the 1999 National Household Survey on substance abuse suggest purity is partly responsible for the 75% of new heroin users who are snorting or smoking, not injecting the opiate. In 1991 the amount of new users was 46%.

The 1999 NHSDA survey estimated the average age for initiation of heroin use to just above 21 years old. Other surveys, and experts have reported that several new users are between 18 to 25 years old.

According to Drug Abuse Warning Network, or DAWN, heroin and morphine accounted for 51% of substance fatalities ruled accidental or unexpected in 1999.

Out of the 11,651 deaths... accidental and intentional by way of suicide... reported to DAWN by medical examiners in 1999, the most recent year for which complete statistics are accessible, 4,820 were the result of heroin or morphine abuse, or some combination of those and other substances. In 2000, as part of DAWN's year-end emergency information report, heroin related emergency room admissions increased 15% from the last year.

Treatment admission percentages for primary heroin abuse raised in publicly funded substance abuse treatment facilities across the nation between 1993 and 1999. In 1993, the treatment admission rate for primary heroin abuse in the country was 95 admissions per 100,000 individuals age 12 or older. By 1996, the admission rate had risen 7% to 102 per 100,000 and by 1999 it had boosted by another 3% to 105 per 100,000.

Heroin Treatment Administration:

The way of administration among heroin addicts entering treatment has been changing. In 1993, three out of four of admissions for heroin abuse were injectors. By 1999, this had dropped to 66%. There was an augmentation in admission for heroin inhalation for 23% in 1993 to 28% in 1999.

Relationship Between Heroin and Crime:
Heroin trends across the nation are indicators of the percentage of heroin abuse, heroin addiction, domestic violence, and child abuse. The heroin trends for each state has a direct relation to the amount of heroin confiscated by federal authorities.