All Positive Options - Heroin Page 3

Like a great many other drugs and substances, the perverse nature of heroin is that initially it makes you feel absolutely wonderful, and then as time goes on, you begin "chasing" that wonderful feeling. After about two weeks, it' a good bet you are never going to re-live that incredibly good high you experienced early in your heroin use. As a result, a heroin addict who has been using the drug for say fifteen years, has probably spent 2% of all that time actually enjoying the heroin high, and 98% of the time chasing it.

And no matter what high they achieved in those early days, it was not of the same quality as the first one or two. And as time goes on, you need more and more of the drug not to get a perfect buzz or high - they're history. Now you need it just to remain normal and not get "dope sick" as your system starts to enter withdrawal. And most heroin addicts require minimum doses so high, they would easily kill a first-time user almost instantly.

Different drugs tend to attract different types of people. Heroin is described as "the ultimate drug of choice" because it takes away all other choices. The "emotional eraser" that heroin uses to sweep away pain, also sweeps away the ability to decide, the ability act, and the ability to do anything else that makes a human being a human being. It's described by some as the "do nothing drug," because when you're addicted to heroin, nothing else really matters, or is worth doing." For most users (not all) heroin is the ultimate "de-motivator."

Recent studies suggest a trend where more individuals are moving from injecting heroin to snorting or smoking because of increased purity and the misconception that these forms are safer. For the most part, they are not because heroin in all forms today tends to be extremely potent. In fact, some people never graduate to injecting but they still find themselves in a detox unit and ultimately, a recovery program.

Heroin is processed from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seedpod of the Asian poppy plant. Heroin usually appears as a white or brown powder. Street names for heroin include "smack," "H," "skag," and "junk." Other names may refer to types of heroin produced in a specific geographical area, such as "Mexican black tar."

Generally, it's assumed that the whiter the final product, the higher the purity and potency of the heroin. China White is very desirable, while the browner strains are looked at as being of inferior quality. The truth is, heroin is cut with so many agents, you don't know until it's in your system and/or it's too late. Most of the names and supposed "origins" are all B.S. marketing tools used by dealers.

Obviously, heroin abuse is associated with serious health conditions, including fatal overdose, spontaneous abortion, collapsed veins, and particularly in users who inject the drug, infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. Most deaths by overdose (not all overdoses cause death) are related to two prime factors. The user has either unwittingly consumed more of a purer, stronger dose than their system is used to, or they've used heroin in combination with other substances, usually alcohol or barbiturates.

Some we know who have significant experience with the drug contend that it's rare, if not impossible for someone who knows what they are doing, and exactly what they are consuming, to die as a result of using heroin with no other factors involved. But again, that's the problem with anything you buy off the street or illegally - what are you consuming? What's actually in it?

And on the next page, the question "What's actually in it?" brings is to a topic area related to heroin that everyone should be aware of, whether you're an existing user, thinking about trying it, or in recovery from it.