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Heroin is a highly addictive, illegal drug. It is used by millions of addicts around the world who are unable to overcome the urge to continue taking this drug every day of their lives-knowing that if they stop, they will face the horror of withdrawal.

Heroin (like opium and morphine) is made from the resin of poppy plants. Milky, sap-like opium is first removed from the pod of the poppy flower. This opium is refined to make morphine, then further refined into different forms of heroin.

Most heroin is injected, creating additional risks for the user, who faces the danger of AIDS or other infection on top of the pain of addiction.

"Heroin cut me off from the rest of the world. My parents kicked me out. My friends and my brothers didn't want to see me anymore. I was all alone." -Suzanne

Heroin was first manufactured in 1898 by the Bayer pharmaceutical company of Germany and marketed as a treatment for tuberculosis as well as a remedy for morphine addiction.

A vicious circle

During the 1850s, opium addiction was a major problem in the United States. The "solution" was to provide opium addicts with a less potent and supposedly "non-addictive" substitute-morphine. Morphine addiction soon became a bigger problem than opium addiction.

As with opium, the morphine problem was solved by another "non-addictive" substitute-heroin, which proved to be even more addictive than morphine. With the heroin problem came yet another "non-addictive" substitute-the drug now known as methadone. First developed in 1937 by German scientists searching for a surgical painkiller, it was exported to the US and given the trade name "Dolophine" in 1947. Renamed methadone, the drug was soon being widely used as a treatment for heroin addiction. Unfortunately, it proved to be even more addictive than heroin.

By the late 1990s, the mortality rate of heroin addicts was estimated to be as high as twenty times greater than the rest of the population.

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What is Heroin? How is Heroin Made? What is Heroin Made of? - Drug-Free World

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Heroin is a highly addictive, illegal drug. It is used by millions of addicts around the world who are unable to overcome the urge to continue taking this drug every day of their lives-knowing that if they stop, they will face the horror of withdrawal.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Heroin is a highly addictive, illegal drug. It is used by millions of addicts around the world who are unable to overcome the urge to continue taking this drug every day of their lives-knowing that if they stop, they will face the horror of withdrawal.

Heroin (like opium and morphine) is made from the resin of poppy plants. Milky, sap-like opium is first removed from the pod of the poppy flower. This opium is refined to make morphine, then further refined into different forms of heroin.

Most heroin is injected, creating additional risks for the user, who faces the danger of AIDS or other infection on top of the pain of addiction.

"Heroin cut me off from the rest of the world. My parents kicked me out. My friends and my brothers didn't want to see me anymore. I was all alone." -Suzanne

Heroin was first manufactured in 1898 by the Bayer pharmaceutical company of Germany and marketed as a treatment for tuberculosis as well as a remedy for morphine addiction.

A vicious circle

During the 1850s, opium addiction was a major problem in the United States. The "solution" was to provide opium addicts with a less potent and supposedly "non-addictive" substitute-morphine. Morphine addiction soon became a bigger problem than opium addiction.

As with opium, the morphine problem was solved by another "non-addictive" substitute-heroin, which proved to be even more addictive than morphine. With the heroin problem came yet another "non-addictive" substitute-the drug now known as methadone. First developed in 1937 by German scientists searching for a surgical painkiller, it was exported to the US and given the trade name "Dolophine" in 1947. Renamed methadone, the drug was soon being widely used as a treatment for heroin addiction. Unfortunately, it proved to be even more addictive than heroin.

By the late 1990s, the mortality rate of heroin addicts was estimated to be as high as twenty times greater than the rest of the population.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What is Heroin? How is Heroin Made? What is Heroin Made of? - Drug-Free World

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Heroin is a highly addictive, illegal drug. It is used by millions of addicts around the world who are unable to overcome the urge to continue taking this drug every day of their lives-knowing that if they stop, they will face the horror of withdrawal.

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Heroin History Information presented as a public service by Narconon International. History of heroin

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Once heroin enters the brain, it is converted to morphine and binds rapidly to opioid receptors. People who use heroin typically report feeling a surge of pleasurable sensation-a "rush." The intensity of the rush is a function of how much drug is taken and how rapidly the drug enters the brain and binds to the opioid receptors. With heroin, the rush is usually accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth, and a heavy feeling in the extremities. Nausea, vomiting, and severe itching may also occur. After the initial effects, users usually will be drowsy for several hours; mental function is clouded; heart function slows; and breathing is also severely slowed, sometimes enough to be life-threatening. Slowed breathing can also lead to coma and permanent brain damage.

Opioids Act on Many Places in the Brain and Nervous System

Opioids can depress breathing by changing neurochemical activity in the brain stem, where automatic body functions such as breathing and heart rate are controlled.

Opioids can reinforce drug taking behavior by altering activity in the limbic system, which controls emotions.

Opioids can block pain messages transmitted through the spinal cord from the body.

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What are the immediate (short-term) effects of heroin use? | National Institute on Drug Abuse

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Once heroin enters the brain, it is converted to morphine and binds rapidly to opioid receptors.11 People who use heroin typically report feeling a surge of pleasurable sensation-a "rush." The intensity of the rush is a function of how much drug is taken and how rapidly the drug enters the brain and binds to the opioid receptors.