What is heroin?

Synthesized from morphine, which is derived from the opium poppy plant, heroin is an opioid drug that is powerfully addictive and functions in the body as a morphine “prodrug” meaning that it converts to morphine metabolically within the body. Almost 90% of the entire world’s supply of opium as well as its many derivatives including heroin is produced overseas in Afghanistan.

Facts and statistics regarding heroin addiction

During the decade of the 1990’s, the number of heroin users grew from 68,000 to 208,000, an increase of over 300%. Additionally, the age at which individuals try heroin for the first time is getting lower every year with nearly 80% of the first-time users under 26 years old. Every year, there are approximately 150,000 new heroin users.

After heroin is used for the first time, it only takes injecting the drug a few more times for a physical addiction to develop. Once the addiction is at its peak, the heroin user will spend anywhere from $150 to $200 a day on their addiction.

Within a year’s time, most heroin addicts can no longer be referred to as functional addicts and remain in school or hold down a steady job in addition to keeping up with their financial responsibilities. By this time, obtaining more of the drug becomes their primary focus.

Ironically, 80% of all heroin overdose victims die alone although about the same percentage get high on heroin with another person.

It is estimated that roughly 150,000 annual visits to the ER are associated with heroin addiction or heroin use which equals about 14% of the total ER visits per year.

Approximately 14% of the total number of admissions to addiction treatment and recovery centers throughout the US today are associated with heroin addiction or abuse.

7 signs of heroin use

Heroin is recognized as one of the most addictive and destructive drugs in the entire world. Once a person is suffering from heroin addiction, there world becomes chaotic and totally uncontrollable. Their compulsion to obtain a continual supply of heroin controls them and is completely overwhelming at the very least. There are 7 signs that indicate heroin use and possible addiction including:

1. Body mutilation – over time, “tracks” from where the drug is injected will start showing up all over the person’s body, which become increasingly harder to hide over time.
2. Financial problems – heroin addiction is not cheap and can cost a lot of money so the addict will borrow money from family members and friends until that is no longer possible at which time they will resort to stealing.
3. Paraphernalia indicating heroin use is found – there are a number of accessories that heroin users keep around such as coffee grinders, needles and syringes, scales, and small plastic bags.
4. Peer group changes – heroin addiction causes the user to seek out other people who use the drug oftentimes leaving long-term, trusted friendships to the wayside.
5. Poor performance on the job or in school – as the addiction progresses, their focus starts shifting from their schoolwork or the job until they are totally focused on the drug, meaning that their performance begins to fail in school or at work.
6. Possessions come up missing – you’ll notice that stereos, TV’s, and other valuable possessions start disappearing over time when you visit a heroin addict’s home because these valuables went to supporting their habit.
7. Sudden changes in behavior – the individual who once was full of life and cheerful has become angry and sad.

Once you realize that you or someone you know is suffering with a heroin addiction, it is imperative that you get professional help as soon as possible from an addiction treatment and recovery that offers effective rehab programs that have high recovery success rates.

Long-term effects of heroin addiction

Injecting, smoking, or snorting heroin just once is potentially harmful enough, but the continual use of it eventually leads to heroin addiction or dependency. Once the addiction has begun, there can be serious mental and physical health problems. The following is a list of some of the more common and serious ones:

• Heart disease – heart failure and pulmonary complications are common with heroin addiction due to the fact that it creates infections and malfunctions in the areas that surround the heart.
• Hepatitis and HIV – sharing needles to inject heroin is extremely dangerous and can easily spread diseases such as Hepatitis B or C and HIV which can turn into AIDS.
• Increased risk of overdose – as heroin addiction progresses over time, the possibility of accidental overdose becomes increasingly more possible either because the user failed to realize their limits or because they bought a bad dose from a dealer.
• Kidney disease – heroin addiction creates stress on the kidneys and the failure of the organ becomes increasingly more likely which can be fatal.
• Pneumonia and Tuberculosis – the immune system is damaged by heroin addiction and eventually, the ability to fight off diseases such as Pneumonia and Tuberculosis because the body becomes a breeding ground for viral illnesses.
• Social consequences – the addiction itself is one of the more devastating consequences of using heroin because the addicted individual loses everything including their family, friends, job, and money. Individuals will eventually use all of their available funds to keep getting a supply of heroin once the addiction has become that severe and even participating in criminal behavior to get more of the drug.

The bottom line is that heroin addiction can eventually become fatal if the addicted individual does not get the professional help of an addiction treatment and recovery center that offers effective rehab programs that address this particular type of dependency.

We are here to help you

The Delray Recovery Center offers some of the most effective heroin addiction treatment and recovery programs in the US. Our 5-Phase Step Down Model and Strength to Change programs have some of the highest recovery success rates in the country.