Heroin Addiction in Boston, MA

Heroin has made a serious comeback in Boston, partly driven by the prescription drug crisis. Drug rehab centers in Boston report that many people who become hooked on prescription medicine often turn to potentially contaminated street heroin as legal opioid medications become harder to come by. 

Heroin addiction and abuse (collectively known as heroin use disorder) are extremely challenging to treat. Unfortunately, many of the people dealing with a heroin use disorder do not seek out treatment as soon as they should.

For help finding treatment centers that specialize in heroin, contact Boston Drug Rehab Treatment Centers at (857) 577-8193.

What is heroin?

Heroin is a potent illicit drug synthesized from the sap of the opium poppy. As with other opioid drugs, heroin has powerful sedative effects. Heroin is most often injected directly into the veins using a needle. However, the powder forms may also be smoked or snorted.

The Federal Drug Enforcement Agency classifies all forms of heroin as a Schedule I drug, which is defined as having “no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse.”

In its purest form, heroin appears to be a bright white powder. However, this is by far the least common and most expensive form of the drug. Heroin is more often found adulterated in a brown powder form that ranges from light brown to almost black. The most common form available in Boston is known as tar or black tar heroin. This type is a sticky brown or black substance that is solid rather than powdered. 

Why is heroin so addictive?

In most cases, comparing the addictive potential of different drugs is a difficult, and often flawed exercise. Addictive potential often comes down to how accessible the substance is and the individual’s genetics and preferences. 

That said, most people that have had experience with heroin will agree that it ranks up there as one of the most addictive substances, if they don’t already consider it the most addictive, to begin with.

There is an urban legend that it only takes one dose of heroin to hook someone for life. While that isn’t completely true (most people who take heroin once do not go on to be serial misusers), there is a strong element of truth to it.

The rush provided by heroin and other powerful opioid drugs is especially pleasurable and euphoric, and dependence after one use is not unheard of. People who take drugs to numb themselves from outside reality might even find heroin especially enticing, given its extremely powerful sedative effects.

Genetic risks for heroin use disorder

Opioid drugs generally already have a high addictive potential, to start. The human body itself has opioid receptors that are speculated to have evolved with our species specifically to use plants similar to opium poppies. Additionally, there may be a genetic component to opioid addiction as well.

Heroin further enhances all the pleasurable effects associated with natural opiate drugs such as opium and morphine and takes them to a more extreme level. This makes it potentially even more addictive than its other opioid drugs and likely more addictive for people who are genetically predisposed for compulsive opioid use.

Other heroin addiction risks

Heroin’s strong numbing and sedative effects also make it an attractive drug for many people with preexisting psychiatric disorders. Having certain types of mental illness, including bipolar disorder, anxiety, PTSD, and ADHD can significantly increase the risk of a person continually using heroin. 

As with other commonly-misused sedative drugs like alcohol and cannabis, the numbing effects of heroin can provide fast and effective relief of the symptoms experienced by the people living with these psychiatric disorders. Unfortunately, there are several downsides and health risks associated with using these substances for this application. 

Heath effects of heroin misuse

Heroin’s effects are extremely potent, and the brain and central nervous system almost immediately begin to adjust to its presence in the body. As mentioned earlier, this can happen with a few uses. This change in the brain’s pathways can cause painful withdrawal symptoms when opioids are no longer in the body. 

Avoiding withdrawal by constantly consuming heroin and other opioids quickly leads to a cycle of compulsive drug use, resulting in several deleterious health effects.

Some well-known effects of regular heroin use include the following:

  • Low heart rate
  • Disorientation and confusion
  • Constricted pupils
  • Suddenly falling asleep
  • Drastically slowed breathing
  • Limbs appear and feel heavy
  • Lethargy
  • Inability or unwillingness to move body
  • Infections in injection sites
  • Sudden death
  • Heart failure
  • Skin infections
  • Sepsis
  • Endocarditis (bacterial heart infection)
  • Seizures
pill overdose

Treatments for heroin addiction (heroin use disorder)

Heroin has been identified as addictive for almost as long as it had been accessible to the public. Ironically, when heroin was first marketed, it was touted as a less-addictive substance compared to other available opioid drugs. Thus, over this period of more than a century, treatments for heroin use disorders have been tested and refined.

Today, there are several treatments available for heroin use disorders. While less severe cases are often simply treated with the same basic detox and cognitive behavioral therapy used to treat other substance use disorders, most treatment specialists would recommend opioid replacement therapy and a range of other counseling and therapy approaches for moderate and severe cases.

The strong compulsive behavior caused by heroin use disorders often warrants residential treatments in a drug rehab center. While there are outpatient options for heroin use disorders, these are often less effective as the recovering individual may continually be exposed to drugs and negative behavioral triggers throughout their recovery.

Find help for heroin addiction in Boston

While being hooked on heroin is tough to overcome, it is not impossible. Contacting a drug treatment center that focuses on opioids issues can greatly improve the prospects of long-term recovery. Thankfully, there are plenty of treatment centers in Boston that are focused on helping individuals recover from heroin and other opioids.

To learn which Boston treatment centers treat heroin and opioid misuse, contact Boston Drug Rehab Treatment Centers at (857) 577-8193.

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