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Danny Trejo has been sober for over 50 years, a staggering length of time in a person’s recovery journey. The famed actor—known for a plethora of hit movies and TV shows including Machete, Con Air, Desperado, Spy Kids, Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, and more—is the most recent guest of American Addiction Centers’ (AAC) Addiction […]

It would be so much easier if life was black and white. Good and bad. Hot and cold. Clear and vivid sides. However, there is so much gray area in the middle that it bleeds into the opposing sides, blurring the bridge between perceptions of right and wrong choices. Helping an individual addicted to drugs […]

Black tar heroin is a specific variety of heroin. It is much different in appearance than the common powder form of the drug, which if usually either white or brown in color. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), black tar heroin comes in the form of a dark, sticky substance.1 Distinguishing between […]

While people seek out the euphoric rush associated with heroin use, it is often accompanied by dangerous side effects like clouded thinking, nausea, and depressed respiration.1 The respiratory effects can be especially serious for heroin users, as they can lead to lung complications. Overdose is always a possibility with every use of heroin, and this […]

People who use heroin are not only at risk of deadly overdose but of several other short- and long-term effects that can impact an individual’s health, including issues with several organ systems, life-threatening infections, and declining mental health. Regular heroin use can also lead to the development of a heroin use disorder, a diagnostic term […]

While most people are aware that there is a problem with heroin abuse and addiction in the US, some people still don’t know what heroin actually is and why it is such a problem. As a result, many myths and misunderstandings have built up around the origin of the drug, what it does in the […]

How Does Heroin Addiction Develop? Individuals smoke, snort, sniff, or inject heroin, which enters the brain, converts to morphine, and binds to the opioid receptors.2,3 As heroin use continues, the neurons in the brain adapt to the heroin exposure, diminishing the drug’s sensitivity and making it harder for the individual to to function normally without […]

Heroin was one of the first painkillers derived from morphine in the 19th century. It was created to be less addictive than morphine but was found to be more addictive, and heroin has been a Schedule I drug, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, for decades. Unfortunately, many people struggle with heroin addiction. Starting with […]

While an opioid epidemic is poisoning communities and neighborhoods across the country in staggering numbers, it’s easy to forget how damaging such drugs can be to just one person. Heroin has long been at the center of America’s drug woes, and its short-term and long-term mental health effects on users explain how and why the […]

Heroin is an opiate derived from the opium poppy, but it is a synthetic substance. Although heroin was once a prescription painkiller, the drug was outlawed in the early 20th century because it was extremely addictive. To this day, heroin is a Schedule I drug, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Controlled […]