 HeroinWhat is it?Heroin is an opioid (narcotic drug), which is extracted from the poppy plant. If you cut into the unripe seedpods of the poppy plant, you derive a milky substance. When dried, this substance will change into a dark-brown to black substance: rough opium. From this, you can extract morphine. Morphine can subsequently be chemically processed to become heroin. Before heroin is put out on the market, it is handled and altered several times. It is usually sold on the streets as a coarse white powder or as yellow-brown chunks. Heroin is often smoked or injected. When smoked, heroin powder is spread out on a piece of aluminium foil and heated. The fumes are then directly inhaled through a small tube. Heroin can also be used through intravenous injection. What are the consequences of heroin use? If you use heroin, your respiration and heartbeat slow down. Your body temperature drops and your pupils will constrict. Opioids slow down the bowel system. Sexual needs can decrease. The active ingredient in heroin will not damage tissue and organs. At first, users can experience nausea, headaches, dizzyness, itching and lightheadedness. Heroin has a powerful and very sedative effect. You no longer feel pain, sadness, fear, hunger and cold. You become relaxed. Physical dependence In compariscon to other substances, heroin quickly causes physical dependence. This means that if you stop using heroin, you experience detoxofixation symptoms. Heroin also quickly causes habituation, i.e. you need more in order to experience the same effect. Detoxification symptoms include illness, perspiration as well as a drop in body temperature. These symptoms will disappear once you use heroin again. This will easily cause you to end up in a vicious circle. Psychological dependence Psychological dependence means that you increasingly crave for the substance and are no longer able to feel good without it. Heroin is a powerfully addictive drug, physically as well as psychologically. It numbs physical as well as psychological pain. |
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