What are the characteristics of heroin addiction?
Physiological/Psychological Characteristics: The effects of heroin last four to six hours and during the initial period of use, are highly pleasurable (euphoria, pain relief, calming). To continue feeling these desired outcomes, however, increasing amounts of the drug must be used to achieve the same effect. This is known as ‘tolerance’. The user may at first inhale (“sniff”) heroin or inject it into the skin or muscle, but as tolerance builds, direct injection into a vein (commonly known as ‘mainlining’) often results.
