The Effects of Smoking Opium

When people begin to abuse opium drugs they are a risk for developing an addiction to them. Opium alkaloids such as morphine and codeine are used in both illegal and legal drugs and many people begin to abuse the drugs for their euphoric effects. As people being to abuse drugs such as heroin or prescription painkillers they begin to form tolerances to these drugs and they may begin to take more of the drug, or they may begin to start using the drug in different ways. For example, a person may begin to crush up and snort pills to get quicker and stronger effects from the drugs than they were getting when they were taking them orally.

Many people first use heroin by snorting it or smoking it. Smoking or snorting heroin will cause a person to receive a fast acting high from the drug and this feeling of euphoria that they receive quickly is what causes many people to continue to use heroin.

Smoking opium has a number of negative health effects, such as lung damage, and can lead to further drug use.

According to the Center for Substance Abuse Research, in regards to heroin use, a common misconception that people have is the idea that smoking or snorting is not as addictive as injecting heroin. However, this is not true. Heroin is a highly addictive drug regardless of how a person takes the opiate.

Ten Reasons Why a Person Should Not Smoke Opium

1. Smoking opium increases a person’s chance of lung cancer.
2. Smoking opium could lead to respiratory failure.
3. Smoking opium will lead to a person developing a tolerance faster.
4. Smoking opium creates stronger effects, which leads to addiction.
5. Smoking opium can cause quicker dependencies to form which will lead to a person feeling sick whenever they cannot use the drug.
6. Smoking opium commonly leads to injection so that the person can receive a faster high, and injection can lead to numerous health problems. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, injecting opiates have many consequences that can lead to lung, heart and skin infections as well as collapsed veins and tetanus. Furthermore, using dirty injecting equipment and sharing needles increases a user’s risk of contracting HIV and hepatitis.
7. A person who smokes opium will go through their drug supply quicker, which leads to them having withdrawals frequently.
8. A person who smokes opium drugs will lose their money quickly since the drug will run out quickly.
9. Smoking opium can lead to sudden cardiac arrest or stroke.
10. Smoking opium can lead to permanent brain damage.