Q: What are opiates?
A: Opiates, sometimes referred to as narcotics, are a group of drugs that are used medically to relieve pain, but also have a high potential for abuse. Some opiates come from a resin taken from the seedpod of the Asian poppy. This group of drugs includes opium, morphine, heroin, and codeine. Other opiates, such as meperidine (Demerol), are synthesized or manufactured. Opium appears as dark brown chunks or as a powder and is usually smoked or eaten. Heroin can be a white or brownish powder, which is usually dissolved in water and then injected. Most street preparations of heroin are diluted, or "cut," with other substances such as sugar or quinine. Other opiates come in a variety of forms including capsules, tablets, syrups, solutions and suppositories.
Q: Which opiates are abused?
A: Heroin (also called "junk" or "smack") accounts for 90 percent of the opiate abuse in the United States. Sometimes opiates with legal medicinal uses are also abused. Those drugs include morphine, meperidine, paregoric (which contains opium) and cough syrups that contain codeine.
Q: What are the effects of opiates?
A: Opiates tend to relax the user. When opiates are injected, the user feels an immediate "rush." Other initial and unpleasant effects include restlessness, nausea and vomiting. The user may go "on the nod," going back and forth from feeling alert to being drowsy. With very large doses, the user cannot be awakened, pupils become smaller, and the skin becomes cold, moist and bluish in color. Breathing slows down and death may occur.
Q: Does using opiates cause dependence or addiction?
A: Yes. Dependence is likely, especially if a person uses a lot of the drug or even uses it occasionally over a long period of time. When a person becomes dependent, finding and using the drug often becomes the main focus in life. As more and more of the drug is used over time, larger amounts are needed to get the same effects. This is called tolerance.
Q: What are the physical dangers?
A: The physical dangers depend on the specific opiate used, its source, the dose, and the way it is used. Most of the dangers are caused by using too much of a drug, the use of non-sterile needles, contamination of the drug itself, or combining the drug with other substances. Over time, opiate users may develop infections of the heart lining and valves, skin abscesses, and congested lungs. Infections from non-sterile solutions, syringes and needles can cause illnesses such as liver disease, tetanus, and serum hepatitis.
Q: What is opiate withdrawal?
A: When an opiate-dependent person stops taking the drug, withdrawal usually begins within four to six hours after the last dose. Withdrawal symptoms include uneasiness, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, chills, sweating, nausea and runny nose and eyes. The intensity of these symptoms depends on how much was taken, how often, and for how long. Withdrawal symptoms associated with most opiates are stronger approximately 24-72 hours after they begin, and they usually subside within 7-10 days. Sometimes symptoms such as sleeplessness and drug craving can last for months.
Q: What are the dangers for opiate-dependent pregnant women?
A: Reseachers estimate that nearly half of the women who are dependent suffer anemia, heart disease, diabetes, pneomonia or hepatitis during pregnancy and childbirth. They have more spontaneous abortions, breech deliveries, Cesarean sections, premature births and stillbirths. Infants born to these women often have withdrawal symptons that may last several weeks or months. Many of these babies die.