...........Al Ameen Islamic Audio Library

Heroin

If you found illegal drugs in your child's room, would you be able to recognize them?
Would you know the difference between harmless allergy medication and dangerous
stimulants or sedatives?

The problem with identifying heroin by sight is that it looks like many household products.

Black Tar Heroin

Asian Heroin

Powdered Heroin

What Are the Short-Term Effects of Heroin Use?

Soon after injection (or inhalation), heroin crosses the blood-brain barrier.
In the brain, heroin is converted to morphine and binds rapidly to opioid receptors.
Abusers typically report feeling a surge of pleasurable sensation, a "rush."

The intensity of the rush is a function of how much drug is taken and how rapidly the
drug enters the brain and binds to the natural opioid receptors.
Heroin is particularly addictive because it enters the brain so rapidly.

With heroin, the rush is usually accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth,
and a heavy feeling in the extremities, which may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and severe itching.

After the initial effects, abusers usually will be drowsy for several hours.
Mental function is clouded by heroin's effect on the central nervous system.

Cardiac function slows. Breathing is also severely slowed, sometimes to the point of death.

Heroin overdose is a particular risk on the street, where the amount and
purity of the drug cannot be accurately known.