What Kind of Drug Is It?

Heroin is a powerful narcotic drug that is very habit-forming. It is derived from the opium poppy plant. Its sale and use are illegal in most parts of the world. However, this has not stopped the cultivation or farming of poppies and the creation of heroin in many countries in Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, Central America, South America, and Mexico.

Highly addictive and quick-acting, heroin is a Schedule I controlled substance in the United States. The federal government does not believe that heroin has any medical value in treating illness, but it does consider heroin a very dangerous drug for RECREATIONAL USE or experimentation.

Production Soars

In December 2004, the Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service reported that prices for heroin being sold on the street had reached twenty-year lows, while the purity of illegal heroin had increased. The major reason this occurred was...