• Opiates are drugs that are derived from the opium poppy.

• Opiates include opium, heroin, morphine and codeine.

All Opiates:

• Classification- Depressant

• Tolerance- Yes/High

• Physical dependence- Yes/High

• Psychological dependence- Yes/High

Opium

Common Slang Names:

• “O”

• Chasing the Dragon

Appearance

Cultivating

Collecting

Raw Opium

“Black Tar”

How Taken

• Usually eaten or smoked, it can be injected.

• “Chasing the dragon”. Refers to smoking opiates (heroin and opium).

Effects

• the amount taken at one time • the user's past drug experience • the manner in which the drug is

taken • the circumstances under which the

drug is taken (the place, the user's psychological and emotional stability, the presence of other people, simultaneous use of alcohol or other drugs, etc.).

• Short-term effects appear soon after a single dose and disappear in a few hours or days. Opiates briefly stimulate the higher centers of the brain but then depress activity of the central nervous system.

• Immediately after injection of an opiate into a vein, the user feels a surge of pleasure or a "rush." This gives way to a state of gratification; hunger, pain, and sexual urges rarely intrude.

• The dose required to produce this effect may at first cause restlessness, nausea, and vomiting. With moderately high doses, however, the body feels warm, the extremities heavy, and the mouth dry.

• As the dose is increased, breathing becomes gradually slower. With very large doses, the user cannot be roused; the pupils contract to pinpoints; the skin is cold, moist, and bluish; and profound respiratory depression resulting in death may occur.

Dangers

• Death/overdose.

• HIV infection.

• Hepatitis.

• Purity unknown.

• Trouble with the law.

• Contact with dangerous people.

Her body was

found three days after

death.

How would you like to be remembered?

Heroin• Classification- Depressant

• Tolerance- Yes/High

• Physical dependence- Yes/High

• Psychological dependence- Yes/High

Common Slang Names:

• Lady, white girl, horse, black tar, brown sugar, smack, goods, H, junk, Harry Morphine: - M, white stuff, cube, morf, mud, nasty

Appearance

• In its purest form heroin is a white powder derived from the dried milk of the opium poppy

• When impure it can be brown in color.

How Taken

• Although heroin is most commonly injected (lining, mainlining).

Feet Tracks

• Heroin is often smoked using tin foil heated up underneath resulting in the heroin turning to a liquid form and the user inhales the fumes commonly called tooting or chasing the dragon.

Effects

• High doses lead to drowsiness and sedation.

Heroin slows people down giving them a feeling of warmth and detachment. depresses brain activity and widens blood vessels.

• Heroin can also lessen the desire to eat.

• Blocks out both physical and mental pain.

• Can cause vomiting.

• Street heroin is often cut with other stuff, such as glucose or talcum powder. This itself may be dangerous and make it difficult to know how big a dose is being taken.

• Overdose is a real risk and can result in coma and death.

Risks

• As heroin leaves the brain and body, users experience withdrawal symptoms, which are often described as feeling like a severe case of flu.

Symptoms of withdrawal

• include watery eyes, runny nose, yawning, loss of appetite, tremors, panic, chills, sweating, nausea, muscle cramps, and insomnia. Blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and temperature all elevate.

• Withdrawal symptoms begin within 24 hours after last use and may last up to 7-10 days.

• Medical attention is STRONGLY ADVISED!

Heroin Overdose

• People can overdose on heroin, which reduces the number of messages the brain sends to the chest muscles. The person's breathing slows, and, if the dose is high enough, stops.

• Heroin use during pregnancy is associated with low birth weight, stillbirths, placental abruptions, and sudden death syndrome.

• Babies of addicts are born dependent on the drug and must go through withdrawal as their first task in life.

• Injecting is the most dangerous way of taking heroin and brings additional dangers, particularly if needles and other equipment are shared. this can lead to infections such as HIV or strains of viral hepatitis.

• Heroin is the strongest of the opiates.

• More Heroin/opiate pictures.

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