However, the brain produces its own opioid chemicals in response to pain. Heroin works by triggering the brain’s dopamine receptors, causing these receptors to grow reliant on the drug to feel good. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), heroin is classified as a Schedule I drug in the U.S., meaning it poses an elevated risk for addiction and has zero legitimate medical use.
Being an opioid, heroin can be classified in a category that also includes morphine, fentanyl, opium, and prescription painkillers like oxycodone (Ox圜ontin), hydrocodone (Vicodin), and methadone. Some people mix heroin with cocaine to create a “speedball” to achieve a more intense “high” than either drug provides on its own. Heroin can be a white powder, a brown powder, or a sticky dark substance known as “black tar heroin.” Morphine is a natural substance from the seed pod of various opium poppy plants grown in and around Southeast and Southwest Asia, Mexico, and South America.
Heroin is an opioid drug made from morphine.
