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Drug Facts

Heroin Facts
(Smack)

What is It?

Heroin is a highly addictive white or brown powder or brown sticky tar made from opium poppies. Users may snort, smoke or inject it. Heroin is a depressant. It enters the brain, where it is converted to morphine and binds to receptors known as opioid receptors. These receptors are located in many areas of the brain that deal with pain but also within the brain stem — important for automatic processes critical for life, such as breathing, and blood pressure. Heroin overdoses frequently involve a suppression of respiration.23

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Heroin is commonly associated with fatal overdose and is a highly addictive drug.

Street Terms

Smack, thunder, hell dust, big H, nose drops, H, ska, junk, skag

Risks21,22

Warm flushing of the skin / Dry mouth / Heavy feeling in the extremities / Nausea / Vomiting / Severe itching / Clouded mental functions / Infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis (from injection needles) / Collapsed veins / Infection of the heart lining and valves / Abscesses at the injection location / Liver or kidney disease

Brought to you by the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign