Heroin Addiction

Fentanyl's rise as the dominant opioid stems from its low cost, potency, synthetic formula, and deceptive tactics by traffickers. Now tied to 75% of overdose deaths, its prevalence highlights the urgent need for action to save any person who might encounter this drug.

How long does it take to become addicted? It can happen in just days with substances like opioids and methamphetamine, while others like alcohol or marijuana may take years. Early use, especially in adolescence, dramatically increases the risk. Understanding how addiction forms is crucial, and seeking rehab immediately is vital for recovery.

Tianeptine, an antidepressant that can have similar effects on the body as opioids, is sold as a dietary supplement at gas stations and convenience stores across the country. It’s often marketed as an “alternative medicine” that can relieve pain, reduce depression symptoms, and address anxiety. While not approved for medical use in the United States, it is approved in some European, Asian, and Latin American countries.

Illicit drugs may pose far greater risks to your lung health than you realize, triggering conditions like pneumonia, emphysema, and even asphyxia. From alcohol to heroin, the ten substances discussed in this article impair breathing, set the stage for infection and dysfunction, and can easily turn deadly. Seeking help is crucial for those affected by addiction.

Opioid addiction has stood at the center of the American drug addiction crisis since the late 1990s when pharmaceutical companies began aggressively promoting opioid painkillers to doctors and patients. But what is the scope of opioid addiction today?

Research shows winter is the worst season for drug overdoses in states where the temps drop and snow sets in. Cold weather, social isolation, hampered travel, slower emergency response times, and other factors all make this season more dangerous for drug users. All of those factors combined increase the urgency for those who struggle with drug addiction to enter qualified residential drug treatment centers as soon as possible.

The article explores the widespread use of Narcan (naloxone) to reverse opioid overdoses, covering its history, availability, and brand names. A little-known concern about the use of Narcan is that its effects are short-lived, potentially allowing overdose symptoms to return.

There’s much discussion about saving lives from drugs. But what would it take? It’s time to take a good hard look at the steps that would have to be taken to bring about a drug-free nation. The various fronts on which this battle would need to be fought are reviewed and evaluated.

After several years of being plagued by fentanyl deaths, new synthetic opioids are moving into the American illicit drug market. As seizures of these drugs and overdose deaths mount, it's possible to detect the brief life cycle of these drugs, where one new synthetic opioid quickly replaces the last one that was taking lives.

Speedballing is not a new trend, but it is a trend that is changing and becoming more dangerous. Unfortunately, as more people seek to mix stimulant drugs with opioids or “speedball,” more people will die from overdoses caused by such lethal cocktails. And with the ever-expanding addition of fentanyl into the drug supply, addicts are at even greater risk.

In 2020, Oregon passed decriminalization legislation to reduce the harmful effects of the addiction-to-prison pipeline and the failed war on drugs. However, new data shows that the implementation of the state’s program fell short of properly incentivizing addicts to seek treatment. The result was a less effective plan than intended and addicts continuing to use drugs.

Researchers at the University of New England found that the rate of opioid-related cardiac arrests has risen dramatically and is now on par with the rate of cardiac arrest from other causes. The research sheds light on yet another major health risk connected to opioid addiction, i.e., the risk for suffering a potentially fatal heart complication.

When prescription drug abuse really began to take off in the U.S., causing unprecedented deaths and destruction, many Americans chose to blame the pharmaceutical companies which made the drugs. And this was the right place to lay the blame, or at least most of it.

A heroin user normally tries to conceal their drug use from loved ones. Therefore, family and friends often have to observe the many mental, physical and behavioral signs and symptoms of heroin use to realize the cause of their loved one’s problems.