Illicit Drug Use: Effects of Heroin and Interventions for Management

Running head: ILLICIT DRUG USE
ILLICIT DRUG USE
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1
ILLICIT DRUG USE
Illicit drugs are those that are illegal to make, sell as well as to use. Most of the illicit
drugs are seen to be highly addictive and they pose serious risks on the physical as well as the
mental health of human beings who use them. Researchers have noted that these drugs mainly
begin as an experiment or might also begin because of curiosity (Jones et al. 2013). In the other
cases, it is seen to mainly begin from the instances of using prescription pain medication that are
prescribed for treatment of an illness or for an injury. Over the course of time, it is seen that a
user may become hooked on the mental as well as the physical effects of the drug. Often the user
is seen to use more of the drugs to get on the desired effects. Without help, such individuals
become highly vulnerable to different types of threats such as health issues or safety issues
(Bogenschutz et al. 2014). This assignment would be mainly depicting one of the most harmful
drug called the heroin and how it affect the life of the user in many ways. It will also show how
different interventions need to be taken by the healthcare government so that effective care is
provided to help them withdraw themselves from such addiction.
Problem or problematic drug use can be referred as the drug use that might be dependent
as well as recreational. It must be remembered that it is not the frequency of the drug use, which
is the primary “problem”, but actually the effects that the habit of drying taking might have on
the life of the user. The user might experience social, psychological, financial, physical as ell as
the legal problems as the result of the effects of the drugs. Addiction is the word that is closely
associated with the problematic drug abuse. Addiction can be referred to as the disease that has
the capability of affecting the brain as well as the behavior (Bucehl et al. 2017). When an
individual becomes addicted to the drugs, the person cannot resist the urge of using them no
matter how much harm each of the drugs might cause them. Initially individuals believe that they
may chose to take the drug because of the pleasure or the way it makes them feel. The individual

2
ILLICIT DRUG USE
may think that he has the entire capability to control the amount as well as the frequency of
taking the drugs. However, in course of time, drugs start on altering the control of the brain. The
physical challenges are seen to last over a long period. The individual gradually starts to lose the
self-control and this in turn lead to damaging behaviors (Carlson et al. 2016).
Heroin can be defined as the opioid drug that is prepared from the substance called
morphine. It is also the natural substance that is usually extracted from the seedpod of the
various opium poppy plants. These are mainly grown in the regions like that of the southeast as
well as the southwest Asia, Mexico as well as Columbia (Johnston et al. 2018). It can be either a
white as well as the brown powder or it can also be a black substance which is quite sticky and is
called the black tar heroin as well. People are mainly seen to take in the drug either by injecting,
sniffing, snorting as well as smoking heroin. Many of the people are seen to form a mixture of
heroin with that of crack cocaine and different people mainly call this practice as the process of
speedballing.
Huge number of effects may result when persons gets engaged in problematic use of
drugs especially of that of heroin. It mainly enters the brain in a rapid manner and thereby binds
to opioid receptors on the cells that are located in different regions. These regions are involved in
the feelings of the pain as well as pleasure. These regions are also responsible for the controlling
of the heart rate as well as sleeping and even breathing. People who use heroin are seen to feel a
rush that is actually a surge for the pleasure as well as the euphoria (Roy et al. 2014). There are
many other common effects as well that include drying of the mouth as well as warm, flushing of
the skin. Moreover, the individuals also feel heavy on their arms and legs. They also suffer from
nausea and vomiting. There is also severe itching that includes clouded mental functioning.

3
ILLICIT DRUG USE
They have also stated in many interviews that they feel like going “on the nod” which is actually
a back and forth state of being conscious and semiconscious.
Some of the long-term effects of the use of heroin involve insomnia. They face situations
with collapsed veins and this occurs for individuals who inject the drug. The people who sniff or
snort the drug are mainly seen to have damaged tissues inside their nose. Infection in the heart
lining as well as valves are also seen to occur and symptoms of abscesses with swollen tissue
filled with pus are also noticed. Effects like constipation as well as stomach cramping also takes
place along with liver as well as kidney disorders (Wegmen et al. 2017). Therefore, all these
physical disorders give them a very hard time making them live poor quality lives. Many of the
researchers are also of the opinion that lung complications including the prevalence of
pneumonia in such individuals are noticed by them. The individuals going through the
problematic use of heroin are also seen to suffer from mental disorders that include depression as
well as anti-social personality disorder. Sexual dysfunction in the men as well as irregular
menstrual cycles in the women is seen to be some of the symptoms that affect such individuals.
Different types of potential effects are also seen to accompany such behavior. The heroin
is seen to comprise of additives that include sugar, starch as well as powdered milk. This has the
ability to clog blood vessels that lead to permanent damages to the lungs, kidney, brain and the
liver. Moreover, in many cases, it is seen that sharing drug injection and the equipments and
along wise having impaired judgment from drug abuse can in turn result in increasing the risk for
the contraction of the infectious disorders (Klimas et al. 2016). This might include HIV as well
as hepatitis that have huge impact on the quality of lives of the people. Overdose of heroin has
been seen to increase in the recent years where death due to overdose id reported. Overdose of
heroin is mainly seen to occur when an individual utilizes enough of the drugs for producing a