Heroin is an opiate, a drug having a sedative or narcotic effect. 
Derived from opium, heroin is created from the dried milk of the 
poppy plant. The poppy plant is commonly grown in the regions of 
Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

Heroin is mostly used as a “get away” drug, says Heather 
Meschery, Executive Director of the Santa Cruz County Needle 
Exchange Program. It is considered a “get away” drug because it 
affects the nervous system in a way that makes everything seem 
slow and relaxing; it’s a way to escape. This is why runaways, 
kids from broken homes and people that need something to help 
them cope with their everyday lives find themselves especially 
vulnerable to this drug. “But there are as many different reasons 
for using heroin as there are people,” says Heather about who 
takes heroin and why.

There are three ways of using heroin: shooting up, snorting and 
smoking. Most people start off by smoking it, which is 
called “chasing the dragon.” Despite what most people think, 
smoking and snorting heroin is just as addictive as shooting up. 

With regular and continued usage, your body will grow to depend 
on it. Once addicted, the body adapts to the presence of the drug 
and severe withdrawal symptoms usually occur when the drug is 
no longer used.  That’s why heroin is a hard drug habit to kick. 
Some of the side effects of quitting are diarrhea, nausea, 
headaches, inability to sleep or relax, throwing up, tremors and 
muscle cramps. It takes about 4-5 days to kick the physical 
addiction. The mental addiction, the lifestyle and the habits can 
take anywhere from a few months to a lifetime to overcome.

The true amount of pure heroin found in what is commonly 
bought on the streets varies. Most street bought heroin is about 
five percent to eight percent pure. In Watsonville the amount is 
usually less; around three percent pure. The rest of it is junk, 
sometimes even crap (literally). 

Dealers always cut or mix pure heroin with other things. There 
are two main reasons for this: 100 percent pure heroin would kill 
the user, and dirt, unlike heroine, is free. Other substances such 
as rat poison, dehydrated milk, dirt, tar and feces (yes, crap) are 
commonly mixed with heroin. Heather told us that, a while back, a 
Santa Cruz dealer was adding ground-up glass to the heroin he 
was selling. That is messed up in my book. As Tom Hanks said in 
the movie Forest Gump, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you 
never know what you’re going to get.” This is one of the reasons 
so many people overdose on heroine.

A “rig” is the most common name for the syringe used for 
shooting heroin. The “works” is used to describe all the pieces 
needed to shoot heroin: the needle, cotton, cooker and the 
tourniquet (or tie-off which is used to reduce blood circulation to 
make finding a vein easier). 

Street names for heroin include “chiva,” “smack,” “H,” “Charlie,” 
and “Horse.” White heroin is found mostly on the east coast and 
black heroin is more commonly found in the west. Though they 
look different, they both have the same effect on the mind and 
body.

While researching this article, I had the opportunity to talk to 
Jane, an ex-heroin addict whose real name has been changed for 
the purpose of maintaining her anonymity. Jane gave me an 
insight into the ups and downs of heroin usage. I asked Jane 
about her life while she was using. “I know what it’s like to be 
close to death,” she says. “I overdosed a number of times and 
lost a lot of close friends and partners to the drug.” 

When Jane said this, I realized that there are a lot of kids out 
there using heroin and they don’t know what they're doing. They 
may have seen a couple of movies and have friends that do it, 
but that doesn’t mean that they are being safe and know how 
not to die. 

I asked Jane if she had any final words or advice to give teens 
who are thinking about trying heroin. Her reply, “Don’t do it. You 
don’t want to f--k with this drug. It’s not worth it.”