Claim: Heroin is derived from opium.

Heroin , also known as diamorphine among other names , is an opiate most commonly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects . Medically it is occasionally used to relieve pain and in opioid replacement therapy . Heroin is typically injected , usually into a vein ; however , it can also be smoked , snorted or inhaled . Onset of effects is usually rapid and lasts for a few hours .   Common side effects include respiratory depression -LRB- decreased breathing -RRB- and about a quarter of those who use heroin become physically dependent . Other side effects can include abscesses , infected heart valves , blood borne infections , constipation , and pneumonia . After a history of long-term use , withdrawal symptoms can begin within hours of last use . When given by injection into a vein , heroin has two to three times the effect as a similar dose of morphine . It typically comes as a white or brown powder .   Treatment of heroin addiction often includes behavioral therapy and medications . Medications used may include methadone or naltrexone . A heroin overdose may be treated with naloxone . An estimated 17 million people as of 2015 use opiates such as heroin , which together with opioids resulted in 122,000 deaths . The total number of opiate users has increased from 1998 to 2007 after which it has remained more or less stable . In the United States about 1.6 percent of people have used heroin at some point in time . When people die from overdosing on a drug , the drug is usually an opioid .   Heroin was first made by C. R. Alder Wright in 1874 from morphine , a natural product of the opium poppy . Internationally , heroin is controlled under Schedules I and IV of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs . It is generally illegal to make , possess , or sell heroin without a license . In 2015 Afghanistan produced about 66 % of the world 's opium . Often heroin , which is illegally sold , is mixed with other substances such as sugar or strychnine .