Heroin Abuse

Heroin abuse starts to kick in after just a few uses. Uncontrollable cravings take over with ever-larger quantities of heroin needed to achieve the desired effect. Heroin abuse starts to kick in after just a few uses; it can start as quick as that. This increases the risk of heart failure and also choking as heroin disables a user's cough reflexes. After a while, many heroin abuse users find that they need some heroin just to function anywhere near normal.

 

As with all addictions, heroin abuse can be cured. It is a long and sometimes painful road, but the first step is to admit that you have a problem and to seek help. Teen Challenge helps individuals seeking treatment for heroin drug abuse through effective drug-free rehabilitation and free education. Don't let yourself or a loved one continue to drown in this trap.

How is Heroin Abused?

Heroin can be injected, snorted/sniffed, or smoked—routes of administration that rapidly deliver the drug to the brain. Injecting is the use of a needle to release the drug directly into the bloodstream. Snorting is the process of inhaling heroin powder through the nose, where it is absorbed into the bloodstream through the nasal tissues. Smoking involves inhaling heroin smoke into the lungs. All three methods of administering heroin can lead to addiction and other severe health problems.

How Does Heroin Abuse Affect the Brain?

Heroin enters the brain, where it is converted to morphine and binds to receptors known as opioid receptors. These receptors are located in many areas of the brain (and in the body), especially those involved in the perception of pain and in reward. Opioid receptors are also located in the brain stem—important for automatic processes critical for life, such as breathing, blood pressure, and arousal. Heroin overdoses frequently involve a suppression of respiration.

 

After an intravenous injection of heroin, users report feeling a surge of euphoria (“rush”) accompanied by dry mouth, a warm flushing of the skin, and a heaviness of the extremities. Following this initial euphoria, the user goes “on the nod,” an alternately wakeful and drowsy state. Mental functioning becomes clouded. Users who do not inject the drug may not experience the initial rush, but other effects are the same.

 

With regular heroin use, tolerance develops. This means the abuser must use more heroin to achieve the same intensity of effect. Eventually, chemical changes in the brain can lead to addiction.

How widespread is Heroin Abuse?

According to the 2007 Monitoring the Future survey, there were no significant changes since 2006 in the proportion of students in 8th, 10th, and 12th grades reporting lifetime2, past-year, and past-month use of heroin overall.

 

Heroin use has been steadily declining since the mid-1990s. Recent peaks in heroin use were observed in 1996 for 8th-graders, 1997–2000 for 10th-graders, and 2000 for 12th-graders. Annual prevalence of heroin use in 2007 dropped significantly, by between 38 percent and 40 percent, from these recent peak use years for each grade surveyed.

Heroin Use by Students, 2007:

8th Grade

Lifetime 1.3%  

Past Year 0.8 

Past Month 0.4

 

10th Grade 

Lifetime 1.5%

Past Year 0.8 

Past Month 0.4

 

12th Grade

Lifetime 1.5%

Past Year 0.9

Past Month 0.4

National Survey on Drug Use and Health

According to the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the number of current (past-month) heroin users in the United States increased from 136,000 in 2005 to 338,000 in 2006. The corresponding prevalence rate increased from 0.06 to 0.14 percent. There were 91,000 first-time users of heroin aged 12 or older in 2006, down from 108,000 reported in 2005. Among persons aged 12 to 49, the average age at first use of heroin was 20.7 years.

What Treatment Exist?

Teen Challenge’s rehabilitation help for substance abuse is open to everyone, both men and women. The Wilkerson House Centre in London is open to men only and Hope House Centre in Wales is for women. Both are residential and the programme term is 18 months for substance abuse help.

 

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