Will a heroin detox center report you to the police? No, not at all. A detox center’s purpose is to safely and comfortably wean you off heroin, period. They are not affiliated with law enforcement and will not report you to the police if you are there voluntarily. If you’re attending the heroin detox under court order, then the center will be obligated to report your attendance and progress to the court or probation or parole officer supervising your case. However, this is something you would have agreed to in writing beforehand. You would have full knowledge of this and would have consented to it, usually in lieu of incarceration. Otherwise, the detox center must keep your treatment confidential. They can’t tell the police or anyone else anything about your medical treatment without your express permission.
The only exception to this would be other medical professionals directly related to your care, but these people must keep the information confidential, too. If an insurance company is paying for your detox care, then they also have a right to certain information. However, they can’t repeat or release this information to unauthorized persons, and they certainly aren’t going to call the police.
Heroin and Fentanyl
Heroin abuse has become even more risky in recent times. This is because so many drug dealers are now cutting the drug with cheap fentanyl or its analogs in order to increase profits. Since fentanyl, and especially some of its analogs, such as carfentanil, are so much more powerful than heroin, the potential for dangerous and fatal overdose is very high. You cannot tell just by looking if the heroin you just purchased contains fentanyl or not. Although there are fentanyl test kits available, these are limited in their usefulness. These kits can only tell you if fentanyl is present or not, not how much there is and whether it’s a fatal amount or not. These kits also can’t reveal what other contaminants may be present. You can also be assured that the heroin contains bacteria and is not safe to inject.
Add to the fentanyl danger that of intravenous use of a non-sterile substance and you have a potentially very serious health hazard. Bacteria in the heroin can cause abscesses and also serious infections of the heart, especially the cardiac valves that direct and control blood flow throughout the heart and body. These bacteria can also attack the kidneys and other vital organs. Snorting the drug reduces the risk of infection, but not the risk of fentanyl overdose and death. Heating heroin on tin foil and then inhaling the smoke as it curls upwards, a practice known as chasing the dragon, poses the same risk as snorting.
The History of Heroin
Heroin is a semisynthetic opioid easily converted from morphine by acetylation. Discovered by Bayer in the 1890s, its chemical name is diacetylmorphine. It’s approximately twice as strong as morphine and produces a far more intense rush when injected intravenously because of its ability to rapidly cross the blood-brain barrier. Marketed heavily by Bayer and other medicinal companies of the day, heroin was a common, unregulated ingredient in patent medicines for cough, menstrual cramps and even teething. Not understanding the danger, parents gave heroin syrup to colicky and teething infants. Sometimes, these babies died of accidental overdose. The drug was named heroin because it was thought to cure the morphine addiction so common in soldiers who fought in the Civil War. This apparent ability to cure morphine addiction was hailed as “heroic,’ hence the name heroin. Of course, today we know that the heroin was simply acting as a morphine substitute and was curing nothing at all.
The end of unregulated heroin sales in the United States came in 1914 with the passing of the Harrison Narcotic Act. However, the Act didn’t outlaw the drug. It just required a doctor’s prescription, which many people obtained with little trouble. This went on for about 10 more years, until heroin was declared illegal in 1924. It has remained so until this day, although other countries, such as Britain, do allow for medical use of heroin in some situations.
If you need help with heroin use, please don’t hesitate to seek help. There’s no reason to be concerned about the police. We’re not going to report you, either. We’re here at 833-497-3808 24 hours a day. We’re here to listen and help you get the treatment you need. Fentanyl contamination has made heroin abuse even more dangerous than ever before. Let us help you find the best solution for you.