NCJ Number
201737
Date Published
2003
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This videotape provides information about the drug heroin.
Abstract
Heroin is an opiate--an addictive drug that depresses the central nervous system. Heroin has found new popularity among a diverse and increasingly younger group of users. All methods of using heroin, such as snorting, smoking, and injecting, are dangerous. The injection method has a large role in the spread of several diseases. Efforts to prevent heroin use may include activities to prevent the initiation of substance abuse. But heroin users often have problems related to a history of drug use. Heroin users generally start with substances such as alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or ecstasy before moving on to harder substances. Heroin is initially used to experience an immediate “rush.” This feeling of euphoria is followed by a slow, drowsy sense of well being along with reduced anxiety, tension, and aggression. After dependence is established, heroin users need the drug just to feel “normal” and to function. Efforts to deter use of heroin may call for action involving treatment and law enforcement. Treatment includes the use of behavioral therapy and medications that decrease craving. Effective treatment usually takes place in Opioid Treatment Programs with methadone or LAAM. A new form of treatment is office-based treatment by physicians using the recently approved opiate medication buprenorphine or Subutex and Suboxone. Heroin is sometimes glamorized in popular culture. Drug use by celebrities, including heroin-related deaths, receives media attention. One reason for resurgence in heroin use is that increased purity means the drug can be taken without using a needle. It is estimated that 1.4 percent of the total population ages 12 and older has used heroin. The average age of new heroin users dropped from about 25 in 1990 to about 22 in 2000. Heroin “mentions” in emergency room visits rose 50 percent from 1994 to 2000. Adults should have a basic understanding about heroin and its risks, and recognize possible signs of heroin use.