Heroin Addiction and Opiate Addiction

Heroin was my drug of choice for more than 17 years. My life as an addict consisted of one thing. Getting high on heroin or hustling up more money to buy more heroin. My heroin addiction started just before I turned 18 and lasted for as many years. Most of the time if I wasn't in jail for one crime or the other I would be going to court or on probation from the last one I got caught for. My life revolved around the getting, using and finding the ways and means to get more.

The fact that I am still alive or not in prison is a true miracle. I have overdosed on many occasions and had to be brought back to life with Narcan an opiate antagonist used by medical professional to reverse the effects of narcotic overdose. In the following description of heroin it states some of the street names such as homicide and body bag.

Looking back at the insanity of my addiction I remember that every time a group of us addicts heard that so and so, or so and so, died from an overdose we always asked, "Where did they cop at?" because we knew if they overdosed it was strong and we wanted some of the good shit. I only know two people today that I knew from the old days that are still alive. The rest of them did too much of the (Good Shit) and weren't as lucky as I am. Why do you think they call it shit, junk or dope?

The whole time I was addicted to heroin and other narcotics I was always on Methadone at one Detroit area clinic or another. It is amazing how far I would drive every day to get that Methadone not to mention the other endless miles I drove getting money and buying drugs. Looking back it seems like I only sat down about 2 or 3 times (for about 5 minutes) in about 18 years because I was always ripping and running up and down 8 Mile, Cass Corridor, Clark Park, and any other high risk, high crime area that there was in Detroit. I believe Methadone just helped to prolonged my active addiction instead of ending it.

My narcotic addiction didn't end with Heroin and Methadone it included all kinds of prescription drugs. Percodan, Percoset, Demerol, Morphine Sulfate, Codeine and Cough Syrups.

In my early 20's I went into Holly Gardens Rehabilitation Program to get off heroin. I remember my first group sessions where they told me I was a cross addicted addict and an alcoholic and could never do drugs or drink again. My reply to this was, "You don't understand I am a heroin addict and I don't have a problem with the other stuff. Just do your job and fix the Heroin addiction as if they had some kind of magic key they could turn in my chest to end these years of insanity." This attitude and my denial kept my active addiction running strong for almost two decades.

Many treatment centers, jails, court rooms, hospitals and NA and AA meetings later the truth has taken hold. I am living a life of recovery and I am no longer imprisoned by my addiction. My idea of true freedom is getting up in the morning, I remember what I did last night, the car is parked in the driveway, and I am not in a panic to get my morning fix. I can go to the refrigerator (there is food in it now) and get a cold drink (non alcoholic) eat what I want, (I actually have an appetite) and I don't have any upcoming court dates. Leaving me free to experience my hopes and dreams, This is true freedom!

If you are addicted to Heroin and Narcotics or any other drug for that matter, do yourself a favor and get medical attention from a Drug Rehabilitation center to begin a detox program and to learn about Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous 12 Steps and living a clean and sober lifestyle.

Contact your local Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous chapter today and you can be on your way to freedom in recovery. Tomorrow may be too late!

Dilaudid

Street Names:
Heroin - Junk, skag, dope, smack, or sold on the street under such "brand names" as body bag, homicide, terminator, pink panther, d.o.a., joker, 357. Other pharmaceutical narcotic slang names, Dilly's, Bananas, Fours, Dolies, Perks, Morphs, and more.

Appearance:
Brown or white powder, or a black, sticky resin or tar.

Actions/Effects:
Heroin plugs into receptor cells in the brain that regulate the perception of pain and the experience of pleasure. At low doses, it triggers a dreamlike state of intoxication with such un-dreamy side effects as constricted pupils, reduced appetite, constipation, low body temperature, itching, sweating, and stupor. At higher doses, these effects increase, but breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure decrease. At very high doses, death results.

Medical Uses:
None in the United States, but heroin is used to treat severe pain in Great Britain and other countries.

Risks/Side Effects:
Although heroin can be sniffed, more often it's injected or smoked. Needle use carries the most risks: Hazards include bacterial and HIV infection, collapsed veins, and hepatitis.

Other Dangers

Overdose:
Heroin purity is uncertain, which increases the risk of accidental overdose. Symptoms include slow, irregular breathing; pinpoint pupils; and coma.

Addiction:
Heroin is very addictive. Withdrawal symptoms include extreme physical discomfort (with flu-like physical sickness and pain), tremors, anxiety, intense craving, restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, cramps, diarrhea, cold sweats, shakes, vomiting, extreme weakness and a general feeling that you just feel like dying.

Death:
Death due to lifestyle consequence, such as getting shot (committing a crime, or while getting robbed, drive by shooting, gang rivalry etc.) death sentence for a capital crime that you could possibly commit, death from choking on food while nodding out, nodding out while driving, suicide to name a few. I personally know 2 people who died from choking on food. One choked on an apple and the other drowned in a bowl of chicken noodle soup while nodding from heroin.

Trends:
Over the years, heroin users have tended to be urban and poor-easily overlooked and quickly forgotten. But the increase in potency over recent years and the focus of pop culture (reflected in the heroin-linked deaths of rock stars Kurt Cobain and Shannon Hoon and such movies as "Pulp Fiction"), have inspired a new generation of young, middle-class users.

Demographics:
Numerically, heroin isn't a huge problem — unless, of course, it happens to affect you, which can make it seem huge. According to a 2001 survey, more than 3 million Americans have tried heroin, with 400,000 reporting use during the previous year.