Why Is Heroin So Addictive?

By Author: Dr. Basim Elhabashy
Total Articles: 20
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Heroin addiction:

The individual may feel relaxed and disconnected from real world. Heroin also affects some receptors which perform critical life-processes including blood-pressure maintenance and breathing. Some regions of the brain that produces physical dependence are also affected by this drug. Heroin is highly addictive because it enters the brain quite rapidly. In the brain, heroin gets converted to morphine binding to the opiate-receptors. It must be remembered that opiate-receptors are scattered in the brain and spinal cord.

The user may use any of the following ways to consume heroin:

Intra-venous: direct injection to vein

Smoking: Inhaling orally through pipe

Snorting: Inhaling through nose with the straw
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Heroin has one of the highest addictive properties among drugs. In one of the reported study, heroin showed higher reinforcement, dependence, tolerance and intoxication values than most of the other drugs such as nicotine, cocaine, morphine, caffeine and alcohol.

Heroin is highly addictive; here we present the reason why?

Heroin exhibit high ...
... tolerance properties and contribute to the addictive properties of this drug. It is also extremely fast acting. The patient experience persistent craving for this drug and the withdrawal is also very painful. Just 3 days of its usage can make a person addictive. Research reveals that there is a high proportion of the population who just started heroin-usage for experimentation, but become addicted quickly. Evidences suggest that people become so addicted to this drug that their existence is centered into finding and taking this drug. Increase in the tolerance level of heroin means that the patient must constantly increase the amount of heroin taken to ensure the same level of euphoria. As the dose of heroin increase in the body (with high tolerance levels), the chances of overdose and death increases several-times. Some of the symptoms of heroin abuse and addiction include weight-loss, runny-nose which is not explained by any other medical condition, infection, needle marks in arms, amenorrhea in women, and bruises in the skin.

To sum up, heroin is highly addictive because of its high tolerance levels. Addiction to heroin have costed lives of the individuals and destroyed homes. It is therefore important to make the general population aware of the negative impact of this drug.

Morphine Addiction Treatment, Drug Rehab Treatment Programs and Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Programs are provided by the government. One of the best centers in the country is Drug Addiction Treatment Center in Florida.