Facts about how heroin is used covers inhalation, injection, smoking, and other means such as oral ingestion. In the past, heroin was primarily used by injection. Today users are ingesting heroin in other ways which are just a dangerous and deadly. Heroin users who inject the drug expose themselves to additional risks, including contracting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B and C, and other blood-borne viruses. Chronic users who inject heroin also risk scarred or collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and liver and kidney disease. While heroin can be sniffed, snorted or smoked, most users inject the drug into a muscle or vein. Heroin facts show that pregnant women who share needles are at risk of contracting HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) and passing it on to their babies. Cocaine powder is also dissolved in water and used intravenously ("slammed"). In this form, it has a high melting point, so it cannot be smoked. Those who choose to smoke cocaine utilize a method known as freebasing. |
