How does it look?
The colour ranges from brownish-white to brown. Heroin is a drug made from morphine, which is extracted from the opium poppy. Drugs made from opium are called opiates and are often used as
How does it smell?
Heroin can have a vinegary smell but can also be odourless. It usually has a bitter taste.
How do people take it?
By smoking it:
Users heat the heroin on a surface like tin foil and then inhale the smoke – this is sometimes called ‘chasing the dragon’.
By injecting it:
Heroin can be dissolved in water and then injected; this is very dangerous and can lead to overdose.
By snorting it:
Heroin can be snorted.
The risks:
Physical risks:
- It’s straightforward to overdose on heroin, which kills far more people than any other illegal drug.
- If you overdose, you may begin to feel very sleepy. Your breathing will slow, and you can fall into a coma. If your breathing slows too much, you could die.
- If you have been taking heroin regularly, you may have built up some tolerance. However, if you stop taking heroin for just a few days, your tolerance will rapidly drop, and you risk an overdose if you take the same dose you previously took.
- Injecting heroin is very dangerous. It’s easier to overdose from injecting than from other ways of taking the drug. You also risk damaging veins and developing infections and blood clots. Sharing needles and syringes is also hazardous as you run the risk of catching or spreading a virus, such as HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C.
- If heroin is taken with other drugs, particularly other sedative drugs such as alcohol, then overdose is more likely. Other sedating drugs – such as tranquillisers or methadone – are also linked with deaths from heroin overdose.
- There’s also a risk of death due to inhaling vomit. Heroin sedates you and stops you from properly coughing. If you vomit, you won’t be able to cough and clear your throat. The vomit can then block your breathing.
- Injecting heroin can do nasty damage to your veins and arteries and has been known to lead to gangrene (death of body tissue, usually a finger, toe, or a limb) and infections.
Addiction:
Yes, heroin is highly addictive. Over time, the effects of heroin on the brain can cause cravings and a strong drive to keep on using.
As heroin is used regularly, the body builds up a tolerance, so users have to start taking more and more.