Heroin has been used recreationally for hundreds of years, despite the infamy of its addictive potential and the widely known negative consequences of heroin use. It is illegal in every part of the world, except in countries that have decriminalized addiction or simply do not have the means to enforce law and order.
Heroin is derived from the flower of a poppy plant and can be smoked, injected, and snorted. Most addicts tend to choose to inject heroin because of the fast-acting effects it has on the body and senses. Not only is heroin a highly addictive drug, it is one of the most deadly narcotics that exists worldwide while also harboring a high rate of relapse and death to recurring users.
If heroin is so bad, why do so many people do it?
This question is one that plagues the millions of Americans who are impacted by the use and abuse of heroin, whether it is someone who is actively using or the friend, family member or loved one of an addict. Many people ask themselves questions like: why do people do heroin, if the facts about its destructiveness are easily available? How do people take heroin; what are the specific ways that heroin is taken into the body?
Why do people do heroin?
Heroin has such a notorious reputation as the most powerful drug high known to man that it causes the majority of people who end up addicted to trying it for the first time out of mere curiosity.
To answer the question of why people do heroin, it is impossible to pinpoint a single reason that drives all heroin users to use. Instead, there are many reasons a person might use or become addicted to heroin. Some of those factors can include but aren’t limited to peer pressure, early exposure in households with older addicts, and escapist tendencies in users who have experienced child abuse, sexual abuse or abandonment also play major roles in answering the question “why do people use heroin.”
However, negative environmental factors are by no means a prerequisite for heroin use, and heroin use knows no social, economic or class boundaries. Anyone, from any part of society, is at risk for heroin addiction if they try heroin, simply due to the enormous addictive potential that heroin use entails.
How is heroin used?
Heroin can be taken in a wide variety of ways, and most people who end up as intravenous heroin injectors do not begin their drug use that way. The most common way for people to use heroin for the first time, at least in the United States, is to snort or smoke the substance.
Depending on the type of heroin, the substance may appear as either a fine brown powder, a gooey black tar, a hard black rock, or a crystalline white substance. In the case of powders, users snort it up their noses using straws, rolled up dollar bills, or a similar tube. Additionally, it can be diluted with water, and then poured directly into the mucous lining of the nose through a nostril.
Another common way to initially use is to smoke. Smokers almost exclusively use aluminum foil to freebase heroin, sucking up the resulting smoke into their lungs with a straw once again. By far the most prevalent way to take heroin into the body is via a hypodermic syringe. Users heat the heroin in a spoon and then inject into their veins.
What to do if you or a loved one is addicted to heroin
If you or a loved one is addicted to heroin, the best thing to do is to seek help immediately. United Recovery Project is an organization that has pioneered the rehabilitation process by providing men and women who are struggling to get over addiction with solutions, counseling, and support to help provide a life outside of addiction.
Please contact us today if you or someone you love is struggling with an addiction. We want to provide you with the best resources to have the best life possible for you and your loved ones. For more information on addiction, rehabilitation, and other helpful resources, read our other blog posts or give us a call today.
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