heroin, opiate made from milk of the opium poppy. Brownish powder; smoked, snorted or dissolved and injected.

Heroin:

An opiate made from the gum of the opium poppy. Brownish powder; smoked, snorted or dissolved and injected.

White powder when in it's pure form (diamorphine)
Also known as 'smack', 'brown', 'horse', 'gear', 'junk', 'H' or 'scag' and 'diacetylmorphine' or 'diamorphine' when in pharmaceutical form
Use (smoked/injected) is increasing. The common drug among people using drug services, among whom injecting is most widespread in parts of Scotland and south-east London

Class A drug
Penalties for possession: maximum 7 years in prison and/or fine.
Penalties for possession with intent to supply: maximum life in prison and/or fine.

Nineteenth-Century painkiller (name derived from 'heroisch'-German for 'heroic')

Most heroin entering Britain comes from south-west asia, particularly Afghanistan, via Europe see map

Suppresses the sensation of, and the emotional response to, pain, inducing euphoria, drowsiness, lethargy and relaxation
Causes concentration difficulty, mild anxiety or fear, constricted pupils, blurred vision and suppression of cough reflex, slow breathing, nausea, vomiting, sweating and reduced libido

Often mixed with starch, sugar, milk powder, or quinine -(a drug used to treat fevers such as malaria}
Other contaminants include: Stone or brick dust, and nutmeg

Excessive doses produce stupor and coma (known as 'overdose'). Risk of death from respiratory failure, especially with other depressant drugs.

Rachel Whitear - death with a syringe in her hands: When Rachel Whitear first used heroin she smoked it, soon after moving to injecting the drug she was discovered dead in rented accommodation in a house in Exmouth on Friday 12th May 2000, aged 21 (these photographs were used in a government anti-drug campaign).

Injecting risks include:

There are also significant rates of behaviour disorder in the children of heroin using parents.

Users need to increase the amount they take to continue to feel the effects (tolerance); they react if they stop taking it (withdrawal symptoms)
Aches, tremor, sweating and chills, sneezing, yawning and muscular spasms begin a few hours after the last dose, peak after two to three days and generally fade away after seven to ten days. A feeling of weakness may persist for several months
psychological symptoms of withdrawal include depression, mood swings and hypersensitivity to pain.
The main treatment is Methadone