Heroin

There are an estimated 280,000 problem drug users in the UK, mostly taking heroin and crack cocaine and around 2,500 deaths each year as a result of drug use.

There are continual discussions about heroin addiction in the press and in the news but here we are just looking at the actual effects on an individual.

As with most illegal drugs, heroin use has both short-term and long-term effects. Whether injected, snorted or smoked, heroin will begin to affect the body's central nervous system almost immediately after it is used.

Short-Term Effects

Shortly after using, a feeling of euphoria will come over users, in which they have a warm flushing of the skin, a dry mouth and the feeling of having "heavy" arms and legs. After the initial rush, users will go into an alternately wakeful and drowsy state.

Because heroin suppresses the central nervous system, the user experiences "cloudy" mental function. Users will begin to breathe at a slower rate and their breathing can reach a point of respiratory failure. Because it has the effect of numbing pain, users maybe unaware of other health problems, accidents or injuries whilst under the influence of heroin.

Long-Term Effects

Repeated and chronic heroin users who fail to use sterile technique or share equipment will begin to experience the long-term effects of such practices:

Infection of the heart lining and valves, normally due to lack of sterile technique.
Liver disease - including both hepatitis B and C infections and even sharing snorting straws has been linked to hepatitis transmission.
Kidney disease.
Pulmonary complications, which are often infection related.
Skin infections and abscesses, especially among chronic injectors who suffer scarred or collapsed veins. Untreated this can lead to gangrene and loss of infected limbs.
Heroin users also have an increased risk of catching HIV and other blood-borne viruses.

Overdose

The most serious health effect of heroin use is the possibility of death due to accidental overdose.

Because heroin is an illegal drug and can be handled and cut (mixed with other ingredients) by various suppliers before it reaches street-level users, those who use the drug never know how potent or pure the heroin they are using is until they use it.

Heroin is often mixed with sugar, starch, quinine, and sometimes, strychnine or other poisons, adding other potential dangers. Because of the unknown strength and actual contents of the heroin they are taking, users are at a great risk of overdose and death.

Addiction

Another dangerous effect of heroin use is the highly addictive nature of the drug. All heroin users, even those who only snort or smoke the drug, can become addicted with repeated use.

Over time, heroin users develop a tolerance for the drug requiring them to use increasingly larger amounts to achieve the same feeling they experienced when they first began to use.

After awhile, the tolerance level to the drug rises to the level that heroin use in any amount stops producing the euphoric effect the user once experience altogether. When this occurs, the addict continues to seek and take the drug just to feel "normal." They become physically dependent upon the drug.

Further information on the formation of an addiction can be seen on our addiction page.