Heroin is a drug in the opium family (an opioid). Some opioids,
like methadone and demerol, are completely man-made. Others,
such as morphine and heroin, are made from opium in a lab.
All opioids have similar effects. Heroin is about three times
stronger than morphine. Sometimes what is sold on the streets
as heroin is not heroin at all but some other substance that
won't get you high (a dummy or beat bag), or a different drug,
like fentanyl, which is much stronger than heroin.
Pure
heroin is a white powder with a bitter taste and little odor,
but street heroin comes in many different forms, depending
on how it was made and what's been added to it. Street heroin
can be white, tan, brown, gray, or black. It can be a fine,
fluffy powder, course like sand, chunky, or a solid mass that
is either gummy or rock hard (Black Tar Heroin). It can smell
like vinegar, vitamins, or medicine-or have no smell at all.
No matter what color or form, all heroin is either heroin
salt or heroin base. Heroin salt dissolves easily in water,
so it is easy to inject or sniff. Heroin base (like cocaine
base) is easy to smoke but needs to be mixed with an acid
like vitamin c in order to dissolve. White powder and black
tar heroin are usually heroin salt, and brown heroin is usually
heroin base.
If
you use heroin regularly and then stop or don’t have enough
in your body, you go into withdrawal. This happens because
your body depends on the heroin to function. While it is different
for everyone, heroin withdrawal tends to start about 8 hours
after last use, lasts between 3 days and a week and is most
severe on the 2nd and 3rd days. Symptoms can include diarrhea,
nausea, stomach cramps, body aches, sweating, clammy skin,
hot and cold flashes, runny nose, inability to sleep, irritability,
depression and a serious lack of energy. Despite feeling like
you're going to die, withdrawal almost never kills anyone
and is rarely harmful to a healthy person. It can be harmful,
however, to people with HIV/AIDS. It can also be harmful to
the fetus if a woman is pregnant. Anyone with a serious health
problem should talk to a health care specialist before starting
a detox.
Special
thanks to the Harm Reduction Coalition for granting the Alliance
permission to reprint excerpts of their Straight Dope Education
Series. To learn more about heroin, including risks and how
to prevent them.
