Heroin

As an opiate, heroin is a sedative that depresses the nervous system which slows down the body. The effects can quickly start depending on the route of administration and last for several hours depending on the dose, providing the user with a feeling of warmth, relaxation and detachment with a lessening of anxiety.

Heroin is highly addictive. Continuous use is likely to lead to dependence and withdrawal can be unpleasant and include influenza like symptoms including aches, tremor, muscular spasms, sweating and chills. Injecting heroin can cause vein damage as well as blood borne virus risks from sharing needles such as hepatitis B and C and HIV.

The World Drug Report 2010 stated that more than 15 million people use opiates, with the majority using heroin. Heroin can be smoked, snorted or prepared for injection. Made from morphine, heroin is a white powder in its purest form but is more commonly brown due to added cutting agents. The purity of brown heroin in 2008 from countries reporting to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction was between 15% and 30%.

Heroin dealing networks are established within the UK, making it readily obtainable. Afghanistan is thought to supply 85% of the world’s supply of heroin and opium, and is the main source for Europe.

Heroin is sometimes mixed with benzodiazepine because of its sedative effects; however the mixing the two is associated with causing heroin overdoses.

Concateno provides a number of tests to detect heroin use in urine, oral fluid and hair.

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