Smack, dope, mud, black tar, big H, junk, brown sugar. Maybe you’ve heard these names. They all mean the same thing.

Heroin.

If that word makes you think of drug addicts shooting up in abandoned buildings, think again. Over the past several years, heroin has become dangerously popular with teens and young adults, who often snort or smoke the new, purer form of the drug.

Photography by Dan Strange

“I was pretty depressed about things that were going on in my life and I had thought about using heroin many times,” says Matt, 18. “When I finally got the chance at a party, I couldn’t take the pressure and decided to use it.”

Matt snorted the drug instead of injecting, because he was afraid of catching a disease. He threw up afterwards and never tried it again.

“I could’ve easily started to use the drug whenever I felt down,” he says.

Rates of heroin use roughly doubled between 1991 and 1995, according to a study conducted at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. Other studies estimate that use among teens quadrupled from the 1980s to 1995.

That’s because people started to believe that heroin is less dangerous since the purer form out today can be snorted or smoked, according to Lloyd D. Johnston, a researcher at the University of Michigan. Before, when heroin was much less pure, people couldn’t get as high by smoking or snorting it.

But heroin is dangerous in any form.

First, some facts

Heroin is a downer that kills pain. When people use it, they usually get a rush that feels like intense pleasure. After the rush, their skin often feels warm. They get a dry mouth and their limbs feel heavy. Sometimes, they feel sick to their stomach or throw up, like Matt did.

Heroin basically changes your brain, so that you crave it. It’s one of the most addictive drugs there is. Once addicted, you can’t think of anything except how and when you’re going to get your next fix. This is true even if you snort or smoke it, researchers say.

If you keep using heroin, your veins eventually collapse (if you’re injecting). You can get infections of the heart lining and valves and arthritis, according to information provided by the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Addicts who shoot up are also at great risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, like hepatitis B and C, which are spread through dirty needles.

An overdose of this drug could cause unconsciousness, coma, and even death. Using heroin while consuming another downer, like alcohol, increases the chance of an overdose.

People who become addicted and then stop taking the drug, go through withdrawal. That usually means aches, sweating, chills, tremors, and muscle spasms that last for days or weeks.

“Thinking about getting addicted makes me glad I threw up after taking heroin,” says Matt. “From then on, I slowly washed my hands clean of drugs.”                  

Editor's Note: If you need treatment for substance abuse, you can look for a program here.