Question about Heroin and Addiction

[DigDug]

It has always been an unquestioned assumption that Heroin is one of the most dangerous drugs known to man. They say that heroin is so addictive that a use of it a few times means certain addiction.

I was recently prescribed Hydrocodone for a back injury, which resulted in me being prescribed 4 pills of Vicodin ES a day for over 2 months. While I noticed that after cessation of the medicine, I suffered what I imagine to be withdrawal symptoms, I had no difficulty in stopping its use.

If this stuff is chemically related to Heroin, how is it that it is being prescribed - along with Morphine and other powerful opiates and opiods - as widely as it is?

Is Heroin is as bad as they say? Or is there some war on drugs propaganda making out something admittedly dangerous to be even more dangerous than it is?

 

[Capt Caveman]

Where's Zane Johnson when you need him?

 

[Oil]

Yes, it really is that bad

 

[Joemonkey]

opiates are great if you can keep them under control. Very few people can however.

 

[Zorro]

Sternfannetwork that way -------->

 

[Legendary]

From what I understand, painkillers and heroin both have similarly terrible withdrawal symptoms, but heroin becomes addictive much faster.

 

[Nik]

http://www.erowid.com <-- educate yourself before you do anything stupid

 

[JohnCU]

the number of people addicted to pain killers is staggering.

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: Joemonkey
opiates are great if you can keep them under control. Very few people can however.

I took tons or lortab after my shoulder surgeries. I had a good doc that weaned me off them by slowly decreasing the dosage and monitoring my usage. But it still took self control because I could have easily gone to a pain clinic and get whatever I wanted.

My sister-in-law was not so lucky... she is addicted and it cost her and my bro-in-law a house. She spent every penny they had on meds.

 

[XZeroII]

You're lucky. Either that or you're still addicted and don't know it.

 

[tasmanian]

Heroin is a stronger morphine. They are all in the same opiate family.

Addictiveness scales.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Originally posted by: tasmanian
Heroin is a stronger morphine. They are all in the same opiate family.

Addictiveness scales.

That's what I was thinking. Kinda like saying that 89 octane and rocket fuel are just gas. One is definitely a little more potent than the other.

Edit... just looked at your link. It smells an awful lot like one of those "marijuana is good... alcohol is bad" websites.

 

[1sikbITCH]

Originally posted by: DigDug
It has always been an unquestioned assumption that Heroin is one of the most dangerous drugs known to man. They say that heroin is so addictive that a use of it a few times means certain addiction.

I was recently prescribed Hydrocodone for a back injury, which resulted in me being prescribed 4 pills of Vicodin ES a day for over 2 months. While I noticed that after cessation of the medicine, I suffered what I imagine to be withdrawal symptoms, I had no difficulty in stopping its use.

If this stuff is chemically related to Heroin, how is it that it is being prescribed - along with Morphine and other powerful opiates and opiods - as widely as it is?

Is Heroin is as bad as they say? Or is there some war on drugs propaganda making out something admittedly dangerous to be even more dangerous than it is?

I was addicted to heroin for several years. I snorted it. I started out snorting some at lunch every day. I would get super high, nodding out, but I found that it kept me from wanting any crack.
Yes I got a dope habit to break my crack habit Dope was MUCH cheaper, much safer, and much more manageable.
It took about 2 weeks before I noticed that I felt run down and had a slight stomach ache just before lunch. My coworkers told me that I was "ill" and had finally caught a habit.

I chased dope to keep that sickness away for the next few years, but when I finally put my mind to it, I kicked with relative ease compared to the horror stories I had heard. Kicking isn't hard; finding the balls to face it is the biggest hurdle.

 

[CKent]

I tried it a few times. I know how dangerous it is so I never used it more often than once a week, if even that. Never had any problems. My addictions are tobacco (quit) and caffeine (*twitch*). I like to drink alcohol but am not an alcoholic by any means. So there you have it yet again, the safe legal stuff will get you, and the big bad hard drugs aren't as bad as the DEA wants you to think. After all, marijuana never caused me to grow breasts even though my dare officer in 7th grade assured us it would do so for boys, as well as cause girls to grow beards

 

[Colt45]

Originally posted by: DigDug

If this stuff is chemically related to Heroin, how is it that it is being prescribed - along with Morphine and other powerful opiates and opiods - as widely as it is?

Can't beat opiods for serious painkilling ability. Nothing can touch them in effectiveness, they have a fairly high therapeutic index, they're cheap, etc. If they didn't exist, they'd have you on APAP + IBU + nitrous + ketamine... Probably come out of that thinking you saw god or something.