Years ago, thoughts of using a needle kept many potential heroin users at a low number. However that does not seem to be the case today. Today's heroin is so pure, users can smoke it or snort it, causing more people throughout the world to use it everyday. People who snort or smoke heroin face the same high risk of overdose and death that haunts the average user everyday. .
Heroin is processed from morphine, a natural substance extracted from the seed-pod of an Asian poppy plant. Heroin usually appears as a white or brown powder. Street names associated with heroin include "smack," "H," "skag," and "junk." .
There are many effects that come along with the use of heroin varying from Sort to long to irreversable effects. The short-term effects of heroin abuse appear soon after a single dose and disappear in a few hours. After an injection of heroin, the user reports feeling a type of"rush"accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, a dry mouth, and heavy extremities. Following this initial euphoria, the user goes on what may be called " the nod," an alternately wakeful and drowsy state. Mental functioning becomes clouded due to the depression of the central nervous system. Long-term effects of heroin include collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, cellulitis, and liver disease. Pulmonary complications, including various types of pneumonia, may result from the poor health condition of the abuser, as well as from heroin's depressing effects on respiration. Heroin abuse is associated with serious health conditions, including fatal overdose, spontaneous abortion, collapsed veins, and infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.
Aside from time term effects, heroin brings many physical and physcological effects as well. Some physical effects can include blurred vision, constricted pupils, sweating, slow breathing, as well as nausea and vomiting. In addition, the libido can be reduced and users might find it difficult to cough.
