Addiction To Heroin

The consequences of heroin abuse range far beyond the individual user. They include HIV/AIDS, crime and violence, tuberculosis, fetal effects, and disruptions in family, workplace and educational environments - all contributing to an annual societal impact measured in the billions of dollars.

According to a recent National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, which may actually underestimate illicit heroin use, an estimated 3.7 million people had used heroin at some time in their lives. Heroin is, in fact, often cited as the primary drug of choice in drug abuse treatment admissions throughout major U.S. cities.  For the last decade or so, most new users were age 18 or older (on average, 75%) and most were male.

This widespread abuse of heroin, even in school-age youth, combined with its glamorization in music and films, its increased purity and decreased prices, points out how important it is to understand this drug - and the destruction it brings.

Put simply, heroin is an illegal, highly - and rapidly - addicting drug processed from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of certain varieties of poppy plants. It is typically sold as a white or brownish powder or as a black sticky substance known on the streets as "black tar heroin." Although purer heroin is becoming more common, most street heroin is "cut" with other drugs or with substances such as sugar, starch, powdered milk, or quinine.  Heroin is also known as “smack”, “H”, “skag”, and “junk”.

Contributing to the danger is the fact that heroin abusers don't always know the actual strength of the drug or its true contents. Drug dealers, for example, often cut street heroin with strychnine or other poisons, putting abusers at risk of overdose or death. Fortunately, the availability of professional treatment to manage heroin addiction - such as that available at Sunrise Recovery Ranch - and the development of new treatments provide hope for individuals who suffer from addiction and for those around them.

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