Heroin: The Dangers Of Heroin Use

If more people were aware of the dangers of heroin use, such as using while pregnant, while on prescribed medications, with dirty needles, or even possible death, more people would be likely to not partake in the use of the drug.
An estimated 3.7 million people had used heroin at some time in their life, as of 2005. Over 119,000 of the people surveyed reported using it within the month preceding the survey. Heroin is an illegal, highly addictive drug. It is the most abused and quickest way to get a high from the opiates. An opiate is a drug with morphine-like effects, derived from opium. Heroin comes from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of certain varieties of poppy plants. Heroin can be in the form of white or brownish powder, or a black sticky substance known as “black tar heroin.” Purer heroin is becoming more popular on the streets. Most of the street heroin is “cut,” or laced, with other drugs or substances such as sugar, starch, powdered milk, or quinine. Quinine is a bitter crystalline compound present in cinchona bark, used as a tonic and formerly as an ant malarial drug. Most heroin abusers do not know the actual strength or content of the drug which puts them at a greater risk of overdose or death.
Behavioral signs and symptoms of heroin abuse include lying or other deceptive behavior, avoiding eye contact, loss of motivation and lack of interest, decreasing attention to hygiene and physical appearance, and more. Once a user has become fully addicted to heroin, they will do anything to get their hands on the drug. They don’t care who they get the money from, if they have to beg for it or steal it. Some addicts even lose their family, friends, car, house, and more because of their ...

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...d syrups. Production and sales had climbed tremendously, as with the increased use. Meperidine, brand name Demerol, could be crushed, injected, snorted, or smoked. As of 2005, this drug is one of the top ten drugs reported in the drug abuse deaths in the United States. On the street, meperidine is called the “drug store heroin.”
Heroin poses many threats, not just to the user, but to the people around them. If a woman is pregnant and she is abusing heroin it could affect the unborn child. The baby could have decreased birth weight, prematurity and intrauterine growth retardation and neonatal withdrawals, and possible death, are some of the effects on the fetus. If the mother used dirty needles while abusing heroin, she could have contracted hepatitis C or HIV, which she can pass on to the baby. The baby could have poor nourishment, vitamin deficiencies, or anemia.