Skip to main
SchoolBeat.cymru

Heroin

Heroin (Diamorphine Hydrochloride, Diacetylmorphine)

Street name

H, Brown, Smack, Gear, Junk, Skag, Horse, China White, Dragon, Toot,

General Info

Heroin is a drug made from Morphine, which is extracted from the opium poppy. When Morphine is made into Heroin to be used as a medicine it is called Diamorphine. This is a very strong painkiller, stronger than Morphine or Opium.

When medically produced Heroin is a pure white powder, but when illicitly produced it tends to be a beige or brown powder. Or more rarely as a white powder ('China White').

Heroin can be snorted up the nose, smoked using tinfoil ('tooting', 'chasing' or 'chasing the dragon') or mixed with tobacco in a hand-rolled cigarette, or injected.

Effects

  • If injected it can cause intense exhilaration (or rush), euphoria, relaxation, and decreased anxiety.
  • It can have unpleasant side effects such as nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drowsiness, decreased heart-rate, shallow breathing and a coma due to respiratory failure which can be fatal.

Risks

  • Heroin is highly addictive and people can quickly get hooked
  • Injecting Heroin and sharing injecting equipment creates increases the risk of spreading serious infections like hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS.
  • When injecting, veins may be damaged or an abscess or blood clot may develop. This can lead to gangrene.
  • If Heroin is taken with other drugs, including alcohol, an overdose is more likely.

Class

Class A