An opioid derived from morphine, heroin is a highly addictive substance that people quickly become dependent on due to its pain-relieving qualities. The drug also primes users for dependency due to the way repeated heroin use changes the physical structure of the brain. Potential side effects of using heroin include collapsed veins, kidney disease, heart infections, skin infections, deterioration of brain matter, liver disease, pulmonary infections and death from overdose. What’s more, intravenous needle use also puts heroin users at risk for hepatitis and HIV.

More than 15,000 people die from drug overdoses involving heroin in the United States annually. That works out to a rate of nearly five deaths for every 100,000 Americans. Heroin is one of the most challenging drugs to stop using due to the challenging, painful withdrawal process involved with coming off of the drug.