Heroin Consumption Preference: Smoking or Injections
QUESTION
Would they be more inclined to consume heroin if it were smoked than if it were injected by needle? To what extent is the “non-injectability” of smoked heroin attractive to people? How does the way a drug enters the body impact our views on addiction?
Heroin Consumption Preference: Smoking or Injections
ANSWER
Heroin
Heroin Consumption Preference: Smoking or Injections
Heroin use is performed through the two main ways of injection and chasing. Chasing or “chasing the dragon” is a heroin slang that describes the practice of heating heroin and then inhaling it in pursuit of an unattainable high. The determination on whether individuals would be more inclined the smoke heroin than if a needle injected assesses the effects of the drugs on the individual and the health risks and implications both practices have, according to a study by Morgan et al. (2019) conducted on the comparison of treatment outcomes within smoking and injection participants in heroin determined that those using heroin through injection have a poor prognosis in all treatment interventions. However, the injection participants have high abstinence, few heroin usages; however, the injectors have a significant risk of contracting immune deficiency diseases. Smoking heroin has significant risks in progressive spongiform leukoencephalopathy (PSL), a rare brain illness in which fluid-filled pockets overrun the brain’s white matter. PSL presents the potential of irreversible brain injury, with mortality occurring in around 20% of cases (Stoppler, 2021). Individuals would be more inclined to inject heroin as smokers have high relapse rates and unmanageable health consequences, resulting in increased mortality rates.
Why Smoking heroin is attractive to individuals
Heroine smoking is referred to as chasing the dragon to pursue the ultimate high. The concept of smoking is perceived injection as harmful because it involves using needles. This perspective might result from a lack of knowledge about the dangers and consequences. Or they may be concealing their addiction because they are terrified to accept it. Sniffing is less stigmatized than shooting up, and teenagers can disguise it easier at first.
Views on Drug Addiction
The pathophysiology of a drug in the body influences addiction through various dynamics. The most perceived concept of addiction is the reliance on the drug for the normative function of the body. However, Addiction is described as a recurrent, chronic brain disorder marked by obsessive drug seeking and use despite adverse effects. It’s a brain illness because drugs alter the brain in ways that might last a long time and result in undesirable habits (National Institute of Drug Abuse, 2014). The extensive use of the drug can impair self-awareness and control in decision making, which fosters drug addiction.