The 1996 Drug Abuse Warning Network, which collects data on drug related emergency room episodes from 21 metropolitan areas, estimates that 14 percent of all drug related emergency room episodes involved heroin. Even more alarming is the fact that between 1988 and 1994, heroin-related emergency room episodes increased by 64 percent from 39,063 to 64,013. Heroin is particularly addictive because it enters the brain so rapidly. The rush is usually accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth, and a heavy feeling in the extremities, which may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting and severe itching. After the initial effects, abusers usually will be drowsy for several hours.
Mental function is clouded by heroin s effect on the central nervous system.
Cardiac functions slow. Breathing is also severely slowed, sometimes to the point of death. Heroin overdose is a particular risk on the street, where the amount and purity of the drug cannot be accurately known. One of the most detrimental long-term effects of heroin use is addiction itself. Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease, characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, and by neurochemical and molecular changes in the brain.