subject: Breaking Free From Heroin Addiction Part 2 [print this page] Thank you for returning to my websiteThank you for returning to my website. Yesterday we talked about Sandy and her addiction to heroin. Today we will talk more specifically about the drug heroin.
As with all other addictive drugs, it is amazing to learn how effective heroin is at masking the real root problem in a persons life. Heroin actually stimulates neurotransmitters in the brain that create a false sense of enjoyment. This sense of pleasure is, of course, only to temporal. As well, it is not reality. However, we have a very great Creator who made our body to secrete these neurotransmitters, and He has ways of doing so without the pain and misery of illegal and destructive habit-forming drugs.
Sandy, who we read about yesterday, experienced the effects that come from a resin that is found in the seed pod of the Asian poppy. Several different drugs that have been developed from this one, single source includes opium, morphine, codeine, and the topic of our conversation today heroin. Sandy fell into a large group of people that abuse heroin. In fact, heroin is the most commonly abused opioid. The reason it is the most abused of that family is that it is one of the fastest acting opioid drugs. Sandy would get higher faster using heroin than any other opioid drug. Heroin is developed from morphine and is generally found as a brown or white powder.
Heroin that is sold on the street is rarely pure. While the most efficient method of using heroin is to inject it, the drug can also be smoked or sniffed. In fact, as this fear of communicable diseases, such as HIV, has grown from the sharing of needles, it is more popular today for the user to smoke or sniff the drug.
Sandy testified that she would have a euphoric feeling immediately after taking the heroin. To understand the effects of heroin on Sandy, we must first look at how it worked on her brain. The heroin interacts with the bodys biological system. The chemical composition of heroin is such that there is a key that imitates the bodys natural endorphins. As Sandy would use the heroin, it would be absorbed into her blood system and then cross her blood brain barrier, saturating the brain tissue. There it would be able to attach to endorphin receptors, taking the place of the naturally occurring endorphins. Endorphin receptors are located in various parts of the brain, and this leads to the specific effects and consequences of the drug. One of the areas that have a high concentration of endorphin receptors is the area of the brain that controls pain. As the heroin attached itself to these receptors in Sandys brain, they would make her feel less pain. Her surroundings would feel less threatening or dangerous, which can lead to risky behavior. There is also calmness and a happiness that many users of heroin report. The euphoria that Sandy received, as well as the many other heroin addicts, is why so many individuals become addicted to heroin. Besides feeling this euphoria, the heroin, as it binds to other endorphin receptors in the brain and the body also has consequences. These consequences are devastating. Tomorrow, we will discuss in detail the consequences of heroin use. Please join me for this fascinating talk on heroin.
