Heroin Rehab
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Heroin Rehab

When an individual is addicted to heroin, they will quickly see their lives tumble out of control – all the while unable or unwilling to reach out for help.   It is imperative that family and friends talk to their loved one about their drug addiction.

Heroin RehabA heroin rehab program is the most comprehensive method for helping the individual overcome their dependence on this dangerous drug. If talking to the person about their problem does not work, then the next logical course of action is a drug intervention. An intervention is a meeting in which friends and family members “confront” the individual about their addiction and how it is hurting those closest to them.

An intervention should be organized with the help of a professional interventionist. These trained individuals can help insure the safety of everyone involved and make sure that the dialogue at the intervention is kept positive and productive. The end goal of the intervention is to get the individual into a heroin rehab center immediately following the meeting so that they can start receiving help for their heroin addiction.

Because of the nature of heroin abuse, it is difficult to quit using without professional help. The effects of withdrawal that an addict will go through when quitting are very intense and unpleasant. Some of the effects include:

  • Aches
  • Anxiety
  • Dehydration
  • Diarrhea
  • Fever
  • Hot and cold flashes
  • Irritability
  • Loss of appetite
  • Rapid breathing
  • Vomiting

After an user goes through detox, they should continue into a heroin rehab facility in order to get the continued recovery supervision and counseling necessary to beat their addiction. A patient who only goes through heroin detox is more likely to relapse. There are two major types of heroin rehab facilities: residential and outpatient. Each one offers comprehensive heroin addiction treatment, but also sport several key differences.

  • Residential heroin rehab. This is a chance to leave one’s destructive environment behind and enter a safe place where the only thing to worry about is focusing on recovery. These facilities may require a stay of between a month and a full year and often offer all the amenities of a fine hotel. Residential rehab has individuals living side-by-side with other recovering addicts which helps create a solid support structure.
  • Outpatient heroin rehab. Outpatient heroin rehab features detox, counseling and other related programs found in residential care – with the difference that individuals go home at the end of every treatment day. This is a good solution for those who need to be close to their families or have responsibilities that include work or school. Outpatient programs are more likely to be found in big cities or other densely populated areas.

A variety of treatments are available for heroin addiction. Treatment tends to be more effective when heroin abuse is identified early. The treatments that follow vary depending on the individual, but methadone, a synthetic opiate that blocks the effects of heroin and eliminates withdrawal symptoms, has been used on people addicted to heroin. Many heroin addicts become addicted to methadone and end of feeling as though they are not able to live their life drug-free once and for all. Other pharmaceutical approaches, such as Buprenorphine, and many behavioral therapies also are used for treating heroin addiction. Buprenorphine is a recent addition to the array of medications now available for treating addiction to heroin and other opiates. This medication is different from methadone in that it is thought to have less risk of addiction and can be prescribed in the privacy of a doctor's office.

History has demonstrated that drug-free heroin rehab programs have a longer-term effect on the individual. With so many millions of Americans addicted to drugs, a different approach to heroin addiction treatment needs to be taken. We need to open our eyes and realize that substituting one drug for another is not working and more needs to be done. The focus needs to be taken off of what prescription drug a person can take for their illegal drug addiction and needs to be put on how the person addicted can live a drug free life without the assistance of any medication, legal or illegal, ever again. Many do not believe that addiction can be overcome because they believe that it is a disease that you are going to live with for the rest of their lives. Addiction is not a disease and something can be done about it!


Heroin Rehab
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Heroin Facts

  • Reports from SAMHSA's 1995 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), which collects data on drug-related hospital emergency room episodes and drug-related deaths from 21 metropolitan areas, rank heroin second as the most frequently mentioned drug in overall drug-related deaths. From 1990 through 1995, the number of heroin-related episodes doubled. Between 1994 and 1995, there was a 19 percent increase in heroin-related emergency department episodes.
  • Respiratory failure is possible if an user begins to experience slower, shallow breathing. Risks/Side Effects: Although heroin can be sniffed, more often it's injected or smoked. Needle use carries the most risks: Hazards include bacterial and HIV infection, collapsed veins, and hepatitis. Some people experience withdrawal symptoms for as long as a few months after stopping the drug.
  • South American heroin is the most prevalent type of heroin in the United States. Colombian criminal groups, operating independently of major cocaine cartels, dominate the smuggling of South American heroin into the United States. Others involved in the transportation of South American heroin include Bahamian, Dominican, Guatemalan, Haitian, Jamaican, and Puerto Rican criminal groups.
  • Street heroin carries prophetic names: "DOA," "Body Bag," "Instant Death," and "Silence of the Lamb." Rather than scaring off young initiates, the implied danger seems to actually increase the drug's allure.  Street heroin is rarely pure. A "bag," or single dose, may contain 50 milligrams of powder. In the past, very few of those milligrams were likely to be heroin—most of the bag was filled with such additives as milk sugar, powdered milk, or quinine. In 1980, the average bag was only 4 percent pure heroin. By the mid-Nineties, however, purity was generally 40 percent or higher. In the Northeast, it averaged between 60 and 75 percent.
  • Street names for heroin include "smack," "H," "skag," and "junk." Other names may refer to types of heroin produced in a specific geographical area, such as "Mexican black tar." Street Names: Junk, skag, dope, smack, horse. Often sold on the street under such "brand names" as "body bag" and "homicide."
  • The 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) estimated that there were 149,000 new heroin users in 1998 and that nearly 80 percent of them were under the age of 26. The 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that from 2005 to 2006, there was an increase in the drug's use from 136,000 users to 338,000.
  • The average heroin addict spends between $100 and $200 a day to support their heroin addiction. Street-level heroin usually sells for $10 per dose, although prices vary throughout the country. The average heroin dependent person uses between 150 - 250 milligrams per day, commonly divided into 3 doses.