Heroin Addiction
Heroin is an illegal opioid that is considered a Schedule I drug by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). It has a strong addiction potential and causes severe, detrimental side effects. Opiates are naturally derived from the opium poppy. Many opioids are prescription painkillers. However, heroin is an illegal opioid found with no medical benefits.
Heroin is known as one of the most addictive substances because of how it works in the brain. Heroin, like all other opioids, binds to natural opioid receptors in the brain, resulting in a euphoric feeling throughout the body and a decrease or elimination of physical pain. The body produces natural opioids known as endorphins. Heroin binds to the same receptors, causing these natural endorphins not to work as effectively. In other words, heroin hijacks the brain and the body.