Heroin

Heroin is one of a group of drugs known as 'opiates' (sometimes called 'narcotic analgesics'). Other opiates include opium, morphine, codeine, pethidine and methadone. Heroin can also be referred to as smack, skag, hammer, h, or horsHer.

On 21 November 2002, the Hon RJ Carr, MP, Premier of NSW, released a paper titled Heroin: An Assessment Current Situation, Trends, and Potential Risks for Australia and NSW. This paper was prepared by the Office of Drug Policy, The Cabinet Office, NSW Government.

• NSW Government
• Australian Federal Government
• Governments of Other States & Territories
• Australian NGO's
• International
• Factsheets

NSW Government

NSW Health

• Information for Medical Practitioners and Pharmacists on the Treatment of Heroin Dependence
  March 2002
• Heroin in NSW
• Heroin Information
• Heroin Factsheet
  A factsheet on heroin containing an overview of this drug plus information on effects, overdose, tolerance and dependence, withdrawal, mixing with other drugs, legal information, heroin and pregnancy, heroin and driving, plus helplines for information and advice.
• Heroin Overdose and Prevention Management Study. Project
  This project is a recommendation from the NSW Drug Summit Government 1999 Plan of Action. The strategy provides a framework for action and aims to reduce the incidence of fatal and non-fatal heroin overdose
• Heroin Overdose and Prevention Management Strategy
  A publication directed towards the reduction of the incidence of both fatal and non-fatal heroin overdoses.

NSW Police
Heroin and the Law

Attorney Generals Department

• The impact of the Australian heroin drought on robbery in NSW
  This bulletin is from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. It examines the factors behind the robbery trends and discusses their significance for future drug law enforcement policy. 2004
• The Australian Heroin Drought and its Implications for Drug Policy
  Around Christmas 2000, heroin users in Sydney and other large capital cities in Australia began reporting significant shortages in the availability of heroin. This bulletin presents the results of a more detailed study into the scale and effects of the Australian heroin drought on heroin use, heroin expenditure, heroin overdose, entry into methadone treatment, use of other illicit drugs and crime. The study results indicate that the heroin drought in NSW has led to sharp falls in heroin use, expenditure on heroin and the number of heroin overdoses. By Don Weatherburn, Craig Jones, Karen Freeman and Toni Makkai. Available in HTML and in PDF format. October 2001

State Library of NSW - drug info @ your library 
Information on the drug info @ your library site directs you to links with information about heroin.  drug info @ your library is designed to help libraries in NSW provide drug information.

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Australian Federal Government

Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC)

• Researching heroin supply. June 2003
  Overview
  An overview of the drug, plus further information on effects of the drug, legal aspects, common street names, etc. This site also provides links to other sites with information on heroin.
• Heroin Overdoses and Duty of Care (46Kb PDF)
  A discussion paper by Paul Williams and Gregor Urbas on the concept of "duty of care" in the context of witnessing heroin overdose. 2001

National Drug Strategy 

• Treatment Options for Heroin and Other Opioid Dependence Guidelines - A Guide for Users. 2004
• Treatment Options for Heroin and Other Opioid Dependence Guidelines - A Guide for Families and Carers. 2004
• Treatment Options for Heroin and Other Opioid Dependence Guidelines - A Guide for Frontline Workers. 2004
• National Heroin Overdose Strategy. 2001

The National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund (NDLERF): The Causes, Course and Consequences of the Heroin Shortage in Australia

• Australian Executive Summary. 2004 (Adobe Acrobat PDF 115kB)
• New South Wales Executive Summary. 2004 (Adobe Acrobat PDF 1.23MB)
• Victoria Executive Summary. 2004 (Adobe Acrobat PDF 1.07MB)

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Governments of Other States & Territories

Victoria
The Australian Treatment Outcome Study (ATOS): Heroin
The Australian Treatment Outcome Study (ATOS): Heroin is a study of treatment outcomes for heroin dependence. The report describes the typical characteristics of clients entering treatment for heroin in Victoria and the results highlight the need for an understanding of the many issues these people face in addition to their drug problem.

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Australian NGO's

Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD)

• Heroin Related Overdoses
  Position paper from the ANCD outlining established and innovative strategies that could reduce the number of heroin overdoses if adopted. (76Kb PDF)
• High Risk Groups and Behaviours: A Secondary Position Paper on Heroin Related Overdoses
  This position paper provides further advice to Government on the reduction of heroin related deaths. It specifically identifies high risk groups and behaviours, as well as providing measures that can be implemented to reduce the potential risk from heroin related overdoses.
• Heroin Overdose: Prevalence, correlates consequences and interventions
  An overview of the epidemiology and circumstances of heroin overdose, and of interventions that may potentially reduce mortality from overdose. By Matthew Warner-Smith, Michael Lynskey, Shane Darke and Wayne Hall. 2001 (2.1MB PDF).

Druginfo Clearinghouse
Heroin Factsheet
Includes information about usage, effects, tolerance and dependence, treatment, driving, social problems, pregnancy, legal issues, etc.

myDr
Heroin
myDr is an Australian healthcare Web site. This links to the myDr information on heroin - including information on effects, tolerance, treatment, dependence, effects on pregnancy and breastfeeding, etc. It also contains information on heroin use in Australia.

National Drug and Alcohol Research Council (NDARC)
Heroin: Factsheet 

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International

Central Committee on the Treatment of Heroin Addicts (CCBH)
Website
CCBH are located in the Netherlands. Their task is to report the effects of medical prescription of heroin to heroin addicts who have benefited insufficiently from the currently available treatments.

Drug Enforcement Agency
Heroin

Drug Policy Alliance
Heroin Overdose Bibliography

Interpol
Heroin
Information on production, seizures, trafficking, etc.

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Publications
Research reports, publications, other websites, etc.  

Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
Drug Facts: Heroin
An overview of heroin, consequences of usage, information on production, distribution and trafficking , street terminology, sources for more information, etc.

Parents. The Anti-Drug
Drug Information: Heroin
Information about heroin from the US Government. Information on this site is aimed at parents. This information is also available in Spanish, Cambodian, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese.

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Factsheets

NSW Health:
Heroin

NSW Police:
Heroin and the Law

American Council for Drug Education

Family Drug Support (FDS)

NDARC:

IDRS Drug Trends Bulletin - December 2006
IDRS Drug Trends Bulletin – October 2006
Drug use trends among injecting drug users (IDU): Findings from the Australian Needle and Syringe Program (NSP) Survey, 2001-2005
IDRS Drug Trends Bulletin – June 2006
Examining gender differences among regular injecting drug users (IDUs) in Australia
Australian Drug Trends 2005
Findings from the Illicit Drug Reporting System (IDRS)
Heroin
Opioid Overdose Deaths in Australia: 2003 Edition
Opioid Overdose Deaths in Australia: 2002 Edition

Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)

Queensland Health (ATODs)

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