Heroin Addiction: From Prescription Painkillers To Street Drugs

Heroin abusers, in TV and movies, have been depicted as low-life street dwellers, living in some dark hovel, shooting up and doing what it takes to get their next fix.

The perception is changing.

“We are seeing a lot of people coming into our drug rehab who were model citizens,” comments Mary Rieser, Executive Director of the Atlanta Recovery Center. “We have had school teachers, salesmen, lawyers, professionals: the pillars of society have walked through our doors seeking help for their drug addiction.

“In many cases, they didn’t have a significant prior history of drug abuse. They were prescribed a pain killer, OxyContin, Percocet, for example, to treat some physical pain. They took these too long, becoming addicted to them. When they couldn’t afford any more Oxy’s or Percocets, they went to the next best thing- Heroin.”

Heroin is a synthetic opiate drug that is highly addictive. It is made from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of the Asian opium poppy plant. Heroin usually appears as a white or brown powder or as a black sticky substance, known as “black tar heroin.”

“From law-abiding citizen to someone cruising the streets looking for heroin is a long drop,” comments Ms. Rieser. “If you feel you or someone you know is abusing OxyContin or other painkillers, get them help fast. You don’t always get a second chance.”

With regular heroin use, tolerance develops. This means the abuser must use more heroin to achieve the same intensity of effect. Eventually, this leads to addiction.
Withdrawal is so painful, that the addict will do anything to stop the pain.
If someone you know is drug addicted, call us.  We have a 76% success rate.