25 Facts You Should Know About the Growing Heroin Epidemic

Are you concerned about your child’s possible heroin use?

Do you wonder how heroin became an epidemic?

A year ago, the U.S. was in the grips of an epidemic — the scourge of opioid addiction, with more than 70,000 lives have been lost to drug overdoses in 2019. ~ The National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Some thought the opioid epidemic would lessen because of the pandemic, yet it did not disappear. Instead, it stayed in the shadows of the coronavirus pandemic and strengthened.

According to JAMA Psychiatry, which analyzed nearly 190 million emergency department (ED) visits, researchers found significantly higher rates of visits to EDs for opioid overdoses during March to October 2020 when compared against the same dates in 2019. The study found that, from mid-April onward, the weekly rates of ED visits for drug overdoses increased by up to 45% when compared to the same period in 2019.

In December, the CDC said that the rate of overdose deaths was accelerating during the pandemic. The rise was driven by synthetic opioids, which rose 33.4% during the year leading up to June 2020.

According to Dr. Nicholas Nissen, a new study indicates that the opioid crisis is deepening. Opioid overdoses are 29% higher in 2020 than before the pandemic.

The need for effective treatment is needed.

Here are some facts about heroin.

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

1) Heroin is an opioid drug. It is synthesized from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of the Asian opium poppy plant.

2) Heroin usually appears as a white or brown powder or as a black sticky substance, known as “black tar heroin.”

3) Nearly half of young people who inject heroin surveyed in three recent studies reported abusing prescription opioids before using heroin. Some individuals reported taking up heroin because it is cheaper and easier to obtain than prescription opioids.

4) A range of treatments, including behavioral therapies and medications, effectively help patients stop using heroin and return to stable and productive lives.

5) Although heroin use in the general population is relatively low, the number of people starting to use heroin has been steadily rising since 2007.

6) Medications are available to treat heroin addiction while reducing drug cravings and withdrawal symptoms, improving the odds of achieving abstinence.

7) Nearly half of young people who inject heroin surveyed in three recent studies reported abusing prescription opioids before using heroin. Some individuals reported switching to heroin because it is cheaper and easier to obtain than prescription opioids.

Related: 30 Breakthrough Resources on the Devastating Disease of Addiction

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

8) The slang terms for heroin are Smack, Horse, Mud, Brown Sugar, Junk, Black Tar, Big H, Dope, and Skag.

9) Heroin enters the brain quickly. It slows down the way you think, slows down reaction time, and slows down memory. This affects the way you act and make decisions.

10) Heroin poses unique problems for those who inject it because of the risks of HIV, hepatitis B and C, and other diseases that can occur from sharing needles.

11) Heroin is highly addictive because it enters the brain so rapidly. It mainly affects those regions of the brain responsible for producing physical dependence.

12) Heroin is one of the most frequently reported drugs by medical examiners in drug abuse deaths.

13) The signs of a heroin overdose include shallow breathing, pinpoint pupils, clammy skin, convulsions, and coma.

14) The strength of heroin varies, and its impact is unpredictable. When used with alcohol or other drugs, the user never knows what might happen with the next dose.

Related: Heroin Use: What Does it Look Like in America Today?

Partnership to End Addiction

15) Heroin is a highly addictive drug derived from morphine obtained from opium poppy plants. It is a “downer” or depressant that affects the brain’s pleasure systems.  It interferes with the brain’s ability to perceive pain.

16) 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”). A warm flushing of the skin, a dry mouth, and heavy extremities accompany it.

17) Long-term effects of heroin appear after repeated use for some time. Chronic users may develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, and liver disease.

18) As higher doses are used over time, physical dependence and addiction develop. With physical dependence, the body has adapted to the drug’s presence, and withdrawal symptoms may occur if use is reduced or stopped.

19)  Withdrawal, which in regular users may occur as early as a few hours after the last administration, produces drug craving, restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea and vomiting, cold flashes with goosebumps (“cold turkey”), kicking movements (“kicking the habit”) and other symptoms.

20) Major withdrawal symptoms peak between 24 and 48 hours after the last dose and subside after about a week.

To combat the rise of opioid deaths, the CDC suggested measures including drug screenings and the increased availability of naloxone, a drug that can rapidly halt an overdose.

National Council Against Drug Abuse (NCADA)

21) The signs and symptoms of use are tiredness (aka “nodding off), pinpoint pupils, nausea, sores/marks on arms or other parts of the body, missing spoons/pens/money, a sudden change in appearance and/or attitude, unexplained absences.

22) The short-term effects are constipation, vomiting, clouded thinking, slowed speech, slowed movement, slowed breathing, slowed heart rate, and euphoria.

23) The long-term effects of addiction are infections (hepatitis C or HIV/AIDS), blood clots, collapsed veins, decreased sexual desire, and menstrual cycle problems.

24) Heroin is used by injecting, snorting, smoking, or swallowing.

25) Heroin is considered to be one of the most highly addictive substances known to man. It may cause immediate changes in the brain, which could lead to the brain disease of addiction.