Heroin
What’s the Real Dope?
Overview
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What is heroin and where does it come from?
What are heroin’s effects?
Who uses heroin?
What are signs of heroin use?
What are the treatment options?
What can be done to prevent heroin use?
Where can we get more information?
What is heroin and where
does it come from?
What is heroin?
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A highly addictive opiate
Processed from morphine
An illegal drug
Has no medical use
Where does heroin come from?
Heroin
Smack
Horse
Skag
Big H
Brown Sugar
Mud
Junk
Black Tar
Dope
Although heroin has been around for many
years, it has found new popularity.
What are heroins effects?
Immediate effects
• Rapid physical changes
• Feeling of euphoria (being “fixed”)
• Slow, drowsy, “in the nod” state
Heroin’s downside
• Impairs coordination and self-control
• Causes physical abnormalities
• Can cause overdose
– Convulsions
– Coma
– Death
Heroin can be deadly
• Varying potency
increases the
chance of an
overdose
• Using heroin with
cocaine or alcohol is
especially
dangerous
Long-term effects
• Addiction
• Poor hygiene
• Loss of life-focus
Long-term effects
• Blood-borne diseases such as AIDS and
hepatitis B and C
• Collapsed veins
• Severe skin infections
• Infection of the heart lining and valves
Withdrawal
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Starts in 6 to 12 hours
Peaks in 48 to 72 hours
Lasts about a week
Has many symptoms
Effects on newborns
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Spontaneous abortions
Low birth-weight
Sudden infant death syndrome
HIV/AIDS
Heroin withdrawal
Who uses heroin?
Who uses heroin?
• About 1.4 percent of people 12 and older have
used heroin. (1999 National Household Survey on Drug
Abuse)
• The average age of new users is dropping. (1999
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse)
Anyone can become
a heroin user
College students
Lawyers
Blue-collar workers
Celebrities
Office managers
High school students
Nurses
White-collar professionals
Heroin is used by both genders and by people of all
economic classes, ethnicities, and cultures.
What are signs of
heroin use?
Clues that someone is using
What are the treatment
options?
Available treatments
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Detoxification
Therapeutic community
Outpatient drug-free programs
Drug therapies
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Methadone maintenance
LAAM
Rezia
Naloxone
Naltrexone
What can be done to
prevent heroin use?
Caregivers can help prevent
heroin use
• Establish and maintain good communication
with youth
• Be involved in young people’s lives
• Be a positive role model
• Make clear rules and enforce them
• Teach youth to choose friends wisely
• Monitor youth activities
Adults should be role models
Prevention requires
community involvement
A community working together includes:
• Parents, youth, and families
• Faith communities
• Media
• Schools
• Professional and civic groups
• Health and social services
• Courts/law enforcement
• Businesses
• Treatment agencies and health organizations
Establish a no-use
community norm
Where can we get more
information?
Resources
• SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse for Alcohol
and Drug Information at 1-800-729-6686;
www.SAMHSA.gov. Click on the “Drug Facts”
icon
• Informational Web sites
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www.preventiondss.org
www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov
www.nida.nih.gov
www.cadca.org
Heroin:
What’s the Real Dope?
To view slide presentation, 30-minute video,
and 90-minute teleconference go to:
www.SAMHSA.gov
Click on the Drug Facts icon
To order the VHS video, call:
1-800-729-6686
Heroin:
What’s the Real Dope?
Teleconference produced by
Office of National Drug Control Policy
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America
National Guard Bureau’s Counterdrug Office
National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse
as part of the teleconference series
Myths, Facts, and Illicit Drugs: What You Should Know
Heroin Losing Everything 40 Min