Learn More About Our Heroin Addiction Treatment Program in Lakewood, CO
If you need a heroin addiction treatment program in Colorado, AspenRidge Recovery offers hope for a life of sobriety. Our first-class facilities are luxurious and affordable, blending a relaxing break from the stress of home with a chance to get your daily needs met through group sessions, counseling, and our drug detox center in Colorado.
Heroin: A Brief Introduction
Heroin has rightfully gained a reputation as one of the world’s most addictive and dangerous drugs. Colorado is currently facing a heroin epidemic. In 2013, 112 people died from the drug compared to 91 in 2012. Heroin rehab admissions have also increased exponentially, and anecdotal evidence suggests that heroin may be becoming more accessible, especially to teens. About 1% of 12th graders have used the drug, and 60% report that heroin is easy to obtain.
Heroin addiction has a long and storied history in the United States, and a brief perusal of that history reveals just how dangerous the drug is. In the late 19th century, a morphine epidemic swept the country, leaving doctors scrambling for an alternative. That alternative was heroin, which was originally marketed by the Bayer aspirin company as a virtual panacea for everything from headaches to anxiety. In a short time, this move led to an epidemic of heroin addiction, and the federal government quickly acted to stem the tide. By 1924, the Heroin Act rendered the drug completely illegal, including for medicinal purposes.
Heroin Use Today
Of course, making heroin illegal hasn’t stopped its use or production. Heroin remains one of the most popular illegal drugs available, due in part to the intense high it offers. Colloquial street names for the drug include:
- H
- smack
- tar
- skag
- junk
- brown sugar
- boy
Heroin also contributes directly to organized crime. The overwhelming majority of heroin derives from Afghanistan’s poppy crops, which have been used to fund terrorism, illegal wars, and an assortment of human rights abuses for decades. In short, if you abuse heroin, you’re doing much more than just harming yourself. You’re potentially contributing to a dangerous international political culture and directly harming criminals’ victims. Enter our heroin addiction treatment program to overcome its abuse today.
Am I a Heroin Addict?
The first time you use heroin, the intense high may bring you back for more. But if you’re like most heroin addicts in Colorado, you’ll find that your second high isn’t nearly as good as your first. This is due to a process known as tolerance. The first time you use heroin, your body begins changing its chemistry in a variety of ways to reduce the effects of the drug. This means you’ll feel less high, even though the drug is still affecting your organs in dangerous ways. Many heroin users react to this experience by using larger and larger quantities of the drug in an attempt to get the same high they once got. This process, known colloquially as chasing the dragon, helps explain why heroin overdoses are so common. About half of heroin users report at least one overdose scare in the previous year.
Why Do I Use Heroin In The First Place?
So why do users stick with such a dangerous drug? The answer lies in the disease model of addiction. Addiction might seem like a personal choice, perhaps even a moral failing. Addiction, though, is a medical illness no different from osteoporosis or congestive heart failure. The disease component of addiction begins with chemical tolerance. Over time, this tolerance can give rise to a chemical dependency. With dependency comes the belief that you need heroin to survive. And your body reacts as if you do! When you try to quit using heroin, you may experience intense – and even life-threatening – detox symptoms that keep you using for months, or even years.
Heroin is notoriously difficult to quit. Indeed, some users resort to methadone to steadily transition themselves off of this dangerous drug. But methadone is addictive in its own right, and many users end up developing a secondary addiction. Inpatient treatment remains the safest way to treat your heroin addiction. With the right treatment and Colorado heroin resources, you can fight this disease and get clean once and for all.
Effects of Heroin Use
You probably already know that heroin is bad for your health and your emotional well-being, but it’s easy to underestimate the far-reaching effects of this drug. In the moments after you use heroin, it’s common to experience some of the following side effects:
Over time, chronic heroin use can lead to more serious side effects, including the following:
The effects can vary depending on your age, social status, health history, and similar factors. Over time, though, things tend to get worse. Heroin addiction is a progressive disease that will not go away on its own, so it’s always best to seek early treatment, especially if you haven’t yet experienced some of the more severe effects of heroin addiction. Heroin rehab in Colorado is available throughout the state in cities such as Boulder, Denver, Aurora, Fort Collins and more!