The Health Risks of Abusing Heroin

The serious health risks of abusing heroin should be known before anyone ever smokes, injects or snorts this drug. It may be thought that the only major risk associated with the abuse of heroin is the ever-present danger of overdose. But that would be incorrect.

The systems of the body that are damaged by heroin abuse include:

There are also infections and other assaults that attack the entire body.

Around the world, more than 16 million people are abusing heroin or opium each year. They are risking injury or illness that can end their lives every time they use the drug.

The primary effects of heroin:

Heroin users are looking for the rush of euphoria that occurs soon after heroin is smoked, snorted or injected.
The user will also feel relaxed and drowsy, and may nod off.
The heart and breathing slow down.
One’s problems seem far away.
The user may also be nauseated, may vomit and experience itching.

When a person has become very accustomed to heroin abuse, and especially when addiction has robbed him (or her) of the means to maintain a lavish drug habit, the little bit of heroin that can be obtained will not bring a rush. It will only help the person stop feeling dope sick - in other words, stop the agitation, anxiety and muscle aches that will start as soon as the last dose of heroin begins to wear off.

What those starting to abuse heroin don’t know is all the ways that heroin is going to rob them of their health, strength and mental ability. This is in addition to the many losses that will be suffered to morals, emotions, relationships, finances and every other part of one’s life.

If you know someone who is abusing drugs, share this information with them before they can be trapped in a deadly addiction to heroin.

In the next part of this report, we will explain the ways that heroin damages the different parts of one’s body.

Heroin is an opiate, meaning that it is derived from opium, a drug that has been in use for several thousand years. Heroin began to be derived from the hardened juice of the opium poppy around 1900, and was first used as a prescription drug. It was even used as a cure for morphine addiction - with the disastrous result that many people became addicted to this much stronger drug.

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