Opioids Side Effects

Opium and its derivatives, well-known as opioids, are substances which reduce the physical sensibility and the capacity to respond to stimuli, leading to the deprivation of the central nervous system. Opioids are used in the medical field in order to reduce pain, but its capacity to change disposition and to reduce anxiety led to its consumption on a larger scale.

Opium, which is the essence of the capsule of a species of poppies, contains a number of chemical substances such as codeine and morphine. Codeine is a regular ingredient used in the composition of analgesics and has relatively soft effects. By contrast, morphine and its derivatives (heroin) are significantly stronger. The greater part of opioids which are illegally used imply heroin because it is much more concentrated and it can be easily hidden and transported, comparing to morphine.

All the opioids connect to the same molecules in the brain, well-known as opioids receptors. Differences between these substances depend on the speed they need to reach the receptors and also on the time needed to activate them. The rate in which opioids get inside the body depends on the way they are ingested. When they are smoked or injected they reach the brain in a few minutes. As fast they reach the brain as high is the chance to die from overdose.

Heroin is an opioid which can be injected, smoked or inhaled. In the beginning it produces a feeling of well-being. Some people describe this sensation as an intense pleasure, similar to an orgasm. Teenagers who use heroin declare they completely forget about their problems and after the usage they feel no more hunger, pain or sexual urges. Unlike a person intoxicated with alcohol, a heroin user can offer adequate answers and a high level of competence at the intelligence tests and he rarely becomes aggressive. The changes in level of consciousness are not very obvious; there are not extraordinary visual experiences or the feeling that the user is transported in another place.

Nevertheless, heroin leads to addiction very easily; even when the drug is used for a very short period of time. After a period in which an individual had inhaled heroin, the tolerance increases and this method does not produce anymore the desired effect. By trying to recreate the initial state of euphoria, the individual can go to skin popping and then to mainlining. After the user had started to inject heroin in veins (mainlining), he needs higher and higher doses in order to produce the feeling of well-being and to avoid the physical discomfort caused by the abstinence syndrome.

In addition, consuming heroin has extremely high risks. One of them is death, which comes by suffocation because the respiratory centers in the brain are being blocked. An overdose always represents a possibility because the concentration of the heroin bought on the street fluctuates very much and the user can never be sure of the powder's power from a newly bought dose. Another negative effect of using this drug is the serious deterioration of the personal and social life. Because maintaining this bad habit is very expensive, often times the user starts to take part in illegal actions in order to obtain money to buy the drug.

Another high risk is represented by AIDS, hepatitis and other infections caused by the injections made with unclean items. Using the same needle for the injection of drugs is an extremely easy way to get infected with AIDS; the blood of an infected individual can remain on the needle, being afterwards injected directly in the blood of the following person who uses the same needle.

In conclusion, opioids appear under different forms: codeine, heroin, morphine. Unlike the codeine, which has little effects, the morphine and the heroin significantly reduce the perception of pain and they also induce euphoria, which is eventually followed by a sensation of calm and comfort. Opioids are in generally used in the medical field, but because of the side effects they have, people tend to use them illegally. The worse part is that these drugs lead to serious addiction and eventually causing death. It would be extremely beneficial if these effects would be a lot more presented on the media and serious campaigns would take place in order to educate the entire population about the serious side effects these drugs have.