Opium is extracted from poppy seeds and used to produce heroin, an illegal and highly addictive drug. Heroin is typically a white or brownish powder that is often "cut" with other substances, making the strength unpredictable and dangerous. It is usually injected but can also be snorted or smoked. Short term effects include euphoria, mental clouding, constricted pupils, and nausea. Overdose can cause shallow breathing, convulsions and even death.

1. OPIUM

2. What is Opium?
Opium is a naturally
occurring substance found in
the seeds of the opium
poppy. Opium, which
contains morphine, is
extracted from the poppy
seeds and used to produce
heroin. Heroin is an
illegal, highly addictive drug
and its use is a serious
problem in America. It is both
the most abused and the
most rapidly acting of the
opiates.

3. Pure heroin is a white powder with a bitter taste. Most illicit
heroin is sold as a white or brownish powder and is usually "cut"
with other drugs or with substances such as
sugar, starch, powdered milk, or quinine. It can also be cut with
strychnine or other poisons. Because heroin abusers do not
know the actual strength of the drug or its true contents, they
are at risk of overdose or death. Another form of heroin known
as "black tar" may be sticky like roofing tar or hard like coal, and
its color may vary from dark brown to black. Street names for
Heroin include Smack, H, Skag, Junk, Brown sugar, Horse, Mud
and Black tar.

4. Methods of Use
Heroin is most often
injected, however, high-purity
heroin may also be snorted or
smoked. Although smoking and
sniffing heroin do not produce a
"rush" as quickly or as intensely as
intravenous injection, researchers
have confirmed that all three
forms of heroin administration are
addictive.
Other Terms For Opium:
- Dope
- Big O
- Tar

5. Effects of Opium Use
The short-term effects of heroin abuse
appear soon after a single dose and
disappear in a few hours. After an
injection of heroin, the user reports
feeling a surge of euphoria ("rush")
accompanied by a warm flushing of the
skin, a dry mouth, and heavy extremities.
Following this initial euphoria, the user
experiences an alternately wakeful and
drowsy state. Mental functioning
becomes clouded due to the depression
of the central nervous system. Other
effects that heroin may have on users
include respiratory
depression, constricted pupils and
nausea. Effects of heroin overdose
include slow and shallow
breathing, clammy
skin, convulsions, coma, and possible
death.

6. By:
Ralph Lery U. Guerrero
II- Sampaguita