Exact Answer: Up To 3 Days
Heroin belongs to a group of pain-relieving drugs called narcotics. The drug is derived from the opium poppy which is a flower growing in Asia, Mexico. and South America. Pure heroin has a white powder-like consistency.
Although some narcotics like codeine and morphine are legal if prescribed for pain relief, heroin is an illegal narcotic. It is an illegal opioid, classified as a schedule I controlled substance in the US due to its addictive quality and damaging nature.
Heroin has dangerous side effects and is extremely addictive. It is injected into the body or smoked for a euphoric high followed by sensations of contentment, relaxation, and sleepiness. Purer forms of heroin are inhaled. As it is a very addictive drug, many people find it extremely difficult to stop using it even after using it for just the first or second time. Heroin users constantly crave their next drug dose.
How Long Does Heroin Stay In Your Urine?
| Presence Of Heroin | Duration |
| Urine Test | Up to 3 days |
| Hair Test | Up to 90 days |
| Blood Test | Up to 6 hours |
| Saliva Test | Up to 1 hour |
Heroin’s effects last longer than the effects of drugs like cocaine and meth. However, the half-life of heroin is particularly short of only 30 minutes. This implies that if a person takes a single dose of heroin, it will take 30 minutes for half of the drug in the system to be flushed out.
The most commonly used drug test for verifying the presence of heroin in the system is a urine test. A urine test is the least expensive to carry out. Generally speaking, heroin remains detectable in a user’s urine for about 3 days, though it can be as short as 1 day or as long as 4 days. Many different factors impact the actual duration of heroin in the urine, but the 3-day mark is typical of how long the drug can be detected.
Not only urine but heroin can also be found in blood and hair too. Heroin is detectable in blood for about 6 hours as it is metabolized quickly. A hair test keeps a detailed, long-term record of the subject that the person ingests. Thus, the hair test drug test may detect heroin for up to 3 months after it is used.
Why Does Heroin Stay In Your Urine For So Long?
Heroin provides a burst or rush of good feelings, and the users feel “high” and relaxed. This is followed by drowsiness and nausea. Taking an overdose of heroin can cause a person to stop breathing and die. This is especially true if heroin is mixed with a synthetic opioid like fentanyl which is even stronger than heroin and can cause an overdose even more quickly.
Many people who are addicted to heroin inject the drug into a vein with needles and may repeat this activity several times a day. Over time, the needed marks, or tracks, can become permanent scars.
If heroin addicts suddenly try to stop using the drug or are unable to get another dose, they withdrawal symptoms, like feelings of nausea, panic, sleeplessness, bad chills and sweat, muscle pain, stomach cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea
Heroin is broken down into morphine and they are further broken down into hydromorphone. Many people addicted to heroin simply feel helpless to their addiction and believe that their lives will always be governed by the drug. This leads many users to continue using heroin due to their strong addiction to it.
Conclusion
Heroin is an opiate made from morphine and is rarely detectable in bodily fluids. Heroin may stay in a person’s urine longer or for less time, depending on the person’s metabolism. However, as an average time, heroin is detectable in urine for up to 3 days. Despite the time it stays in the body, its effects last for a short duration. This is because it is a fast-acting drug having a short half-life.
The length of time it stays active may also depend on which drugs or substance it is mixed with if any. Some additional factors impacting how long the effect last include the dosage and how heroin was taken i.e whether by injection, smoked, or inhaled.
References
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395917301676
- https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mahipal-Singh-Sankhla/publication/337533214_Time_Duration_for_Detection_of_Drug_Abuse_through_Urine_Analysis/links/5ddcd927a6fdccdb44657348/Time-Duration-for-Detection-of-Drug-Abuse-through-Urine-Analysis.pdf
