Health effects

Short-term effects
Under medical supervision, the short-term use of opiates do not produce significant health problems, and many people are prescribed opiates such as pethidine for a few days following an operation.

Using greater amounts may cause loss of concentration, nausea, sweating, itching falling asleep ('on the nod'), and slow and shallow breathing. This is potentially dangerous and could lead to death.

Pure opiates, such as pure heroin, are relatively non-toxic to the body. However, heroin bought from the illicit market and homebake are usually cut with other substances, such as caffeine and sugar, and some of these additives can be very poisonous. Not knowing the purity and therefore, not knowing how much to take, can lead to overdose.

Because much of the opiate supply in New Zealand is homebake or derived from morphine sulphate tablets, and not pure heroin, the risk of abscesses is high. Other substances used to process homebake could be toxic.

Long-term effects
The long-term effects of opiate use include irregular menstrual cycles, constipation, infertility and loss of sex drive. In addition, long-term and heavy opiate users tend to spend less money on housing, food and other essentials, which can lead to malnutrition and increased susceptibility to infection.

Injecting opiates can lead to skin, heart and lung infections, collapsed veins and tetanus. Using dirty injecting equipment and sharing needles increases the risk of contracting HIV and hepatitis.