• In small doses, heroin gives users a profound sense of warmth and well being.
• Some first time users may experience nausea or vomiting, especially after injecting.
• Larger doses can lead to drowsiness.
• Heroin in excessive doses can result in overdose or coma. It can also be fatal.
  

  Heroin is processed from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed-pod of the Asian poppy plant. Heroin usually appears as a white or brown powder. Street names associated with 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."

  The short-term effects of heroin abuse appear soon after a single dose and disappear in a few hours. After an injection of heroin, the user reports feeling a surge of euphoria ("rush") accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, a dry mouth, and heavy extremities. Following this initial euphoria, the user goes "on the nod," an alternately wakeful and drowsy state. Mental functioning becomes clouded due to the depression of the central nervous system.

  Reports from the Drug Abuse Warning Networks (DAWN) Annual Medical Examiner Data from 1997 show that heroin/morphine was the top-ranking drug among drug-related deaths in 14 US major metro areas. It ranked second in another eight.

  According to DAWNs Year End 1998 Emergency Department Data, 14 percent of all emergency department drug-related episodes had mentions of heroin/morphine in 1998. From 1991-1996, the number of heroin/morphine mentions more than doubled.

  Health Hazards

  Irreversible effects. Heroin abuse is associated with serious health conditions, including fatal overdose, spontaneous abortion, collapsed veins, and infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.

  Long-term effects. Long-term effects of heroin include collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, cellulitis, and liver disease. Pulmonary complications, including various types of pneumonia, may result from the poor health condition of the abuser, as well as from heroin's depressing effects on respiration.

  Infection. In addition to the effects of the drug itself, street heroin may have additives that do not readily dissolve and result in clogging the blood vessels that lead to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain. This can cause infection or even death of small patches of cells in vital organs

  
  The Risks:
  
  

• Heroin is a very addictive drug.
• Many users may find their habit spirals out of control.
• Tolerance develops, which means the user needs more heroin to get the same effect.
• Many users who start out smoking heroin turn to injecting for a more intense hit.
• Sharing needles when injecting heroin leaves users at risk of dangerous infections like HIV, hepatitis and gangrene.
• It can be very difficult to withdraw from heroin.
• Users trying to kick the habit may experience a period of diarrhoea, insomnia, vomiting, hot and cold sweats, and cramps. This is known as 'cold turkey'.
• While many people give up heroin successfully, mentally it can take years to be free.
  
  The Law:
  
  
• Heroin, morphine, opium, methadone, dipapanone, and pethidine are Class A drugs.
• Possession and supply is illegal, and penalties high.
• Codeine and dihydrocodeine (DF 118) are Class B drugs. Both drugs become Class A when prepared for injection.
  
  If you are planning on taking heroin:
  
  
• As a rule, never share needles. Sharing equipment just isn't worth the risk. Clean works are available free from Needle Exchanges and some pharmacies.
  
  Advice and support:
  

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