HEROIN ALTERS BRAIN'S STRUCTURE

Chemical Effects Make Opiate So Addictive, Destructive

Within seconds -- as short as 10 seconds -- heroin can produce the
most imaginable feeling of pleasure and euphoria, especially for
first-time users.

The poppy plant opiate, a morphine derivative, activates several
regions in the brain, specifically those linked to the sensations of
pleasure and physical dependence, according to the National
Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information. It's the most
rapid-acting opiate, almost immediately crossing the blood-brain
barrier. There, it is converted to morphine and binds rapidly to
opioid receptors.

This intense rush often comes in warm waves across the skin,
heavy-feeling hands and feet, and a clouded yet comforting mindset
about the world, users say.

Yet heroin is also the most addictive opiate, a double-edged sword
cutting to the chemical truth behind heroin's power over users: An
infamous, single-minded and relentless return to a newfound normalcy,
said Carmen Arlt, director of chemical dependency and addiction for
Porter-Starke Services Inc.

This triggers a compulsive and vicious behavioral syndrome to achieve
the same effect again and again -- despite adverse social,
psychological or physical consequences, experts agree.

One in four people who try heroin become addicted to it, according to
National Institute of Health data.

Simple daily joys like enjoying food or liquor, being with family or
friends, and even having sex fail to deliver the newfound level of
pleasure that heroin offers, users say. Only heroin can return users
to this new normalcy they feel.

Once the addiction gets a choke-hold on users, their new purpose in
life becomes seeking and using heroin or other opiate-related drugs
- -- which literally change the structure of their brains.

This is why experts say opiate addiction is a brain disease.

Heroin, with street names such as dope, smack, junk, TNT, H and
Mexican brown, often is administered with a needle by shooting up
directly into veins or muscles. It can come as a white powder or a
brown, tar-like substance and can be smoked, snorted, taken orally,
anally or as a speedball, a mixture of heroin and a stimulant -- such
as crack cocaine or crystal methamphetamine.

Users say intravenous injection offers the best bang for the buck,
and the fastest, usually within seconds. Intramuscular injection
kicks in after five to seven minutes, and other forms are felt in 10
to 15 minutes, according to the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol
and Drug Information.

Laboratory rats will happily take dose after dose of heroin until
they die, Arlt said.

"And we're no better than those rats when it comes to heroin
addiction," she said.

Withdrawal, on the other hand, can creep up within a few hours, when
the chemical reaction dissipates, when Dr. Jekyll transmogrifies into Mr. Hyde.

It's the haunting yet inevitable flip-side to heroin's initial
promise of euphoric pleasure, typically and repeatedly peaking
between 24 and 48 hours later.

Users say it's like having the flu 1,000 times over, where pain,
insomnia and vomiting join forces to clamor for just one more hit,
one more return to normalcy, one more feeling of euphoria, no matter
the consequences.