what does heroin come from
1 Heroin is a highly addictive and rapidly acting opiate (a drug that is derived from opium). 2  Specifically, heroin is produced from morphine, which is a principal component of opium. 3  Opium is a naturally occurring substance that is extracted from the seedpod of the opium poppy. (Generally, the purer the heroin the whiter the color, because variations in color result from the presence of impurities.) In the western United States, most of the heroin available is a solid substance that is black in color. 2  This type of heroin, known as black tar, may be sticky (like tar) or hard to the touch.