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HEROIN PAGE |
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Street Names |
| smack / ska / H / junk
/ sugars |
| Usage |
| snorted / injected /
smoked |
| Behaviour |
| very strong central
nervous system stimulant |
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HEROIN is an illegal, highly addictive drug. It is both the most
abused and the most rapidly acting of the opiates. Opiates
are morphine derivatives. Opiates dull pain sensation
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Opiates include opium, morphine, heroin etc. Injection into
the bloodstream is called "mainlining".
In South Africa the tendency is to smoke heroin also known as
"chasing the dragon" in the form of sugars
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Heroin is normally cut with talcum powder or
other available substances
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APPEARANCE |
Pure heroin is a white powder as used by doctors
in some other countries. This drug
is completely illegal in South Africa. As with
other drugs, like cocaine for example, heroin is "cut" and
eventually takes on a brown complexion depending on how many
times and with what it has been cut
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PRESENTATION |
It is normally sold in a small paper folded envelope or in a
capsule or even in condoms
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EFFECT |
Overdoses can lead to coma and even death from respiratory
failure
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If heroin is taken with other drugs, including alcohol, overdose
is more likely. Other downers such as benzodiazepine
tranquillisers are also associated with heroin overdose deaths
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There's also a risk of death due to inhaling vomit as heroin
stops the body's cough reflex working properly |
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Injecting heroin can do nasty damage to your veins and has been
known to lead to gangrene (death and decay of body tissue,
usually a digit or a limb) and tissue infections |
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The risks of sharing needles and other works to inject are
well-known, putting you in danger of infections like hepatitis B
or C and HIV/AIDS
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GHB |
 Inhalants |
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