What Does Opium Do to Your Stomach
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Opium is an opioid, a drug made from the poppy plant, and one of the first places its effects show up is the stomach and gut. People often think of opium as a drug that affects the brain, because it changes mood and dulls pain, but the gut has the same kind of docking points that opium acts on, and it reacts strongly. The gut slows down. Food moves through it more slowly. The stomach empties later than it should. The person feels sick, loses their appetite, becomes constipated, and starts to dread eating. These are not rare side effects. They are among the most common problems caused by regular opium use, and they affect almost everyone who uses the drug often, even if they do not talk about them.
This article explains, in plain words, what opium does to the stomach and digestion: why the gut slows down, what constipation and nausea feel like when they become daily problems, how eating less leads to weight loss and weakness, what warning signs should not be ignored, and why the damage gets worse the longer use continues. It is general information only, not medical advice for any one person. It does not describe how to use opium, how much to take, or how to treat the problems yourself. If you are worried about your stomach, or about someone else’s, a qualified health professional is the right person to talk to.
Why the Stomach Slows Down
To understand what opium does to the stomach, it helps to understand how the gut normally works. The gut is a long tube of muscle, and it moves food along by squeezing in waves, a motion called peristalsis. Those waves are controlled by nerves, and the nerves respond to chemical signals, including the body’s own natural opioids, which help to calm the gut when it needs rest. Opium, and the morphine it contains, binds to the same docking points on those nerves, but far more strongly than the body’s own signals do. The result is that the waves slow down dramatically, and in some parts of the gut they almost stop.
When the gut slows, everything downstream slows with it. The stomach holds food for longer, so a person feels full after only a few mouthfuls, and feels heavy and uncomfortable for hours after a meal. The small intestine, where most nutrients are absorbed, moves its contents slowly, so digestion becomes sluggish and incomplete. The large intestine, where water is absorbed from waste, holds waste for much longer than normal, so it becomes dry, hard and difficult to pass. This is not a small change. It is a change in the basic rhythm of the digestive system, and it affects every meal, every day, for as long as the drug is used.
The slowing does not go away with time, the way some other effects of a drug can fade as the body gets used to it. With many drugs, the body adapts and the side effect weakens. With opium and the gut, the opposite is often true: the constipation and slowness persist, and they can get worse, because the gut becomes less responsive and the person needs more of the drug to get the same effect on mood and pain. That is why stomach problems are one of the most reliable signs of regular opium use, and why they are so hard to live with. The person is caught between a drug that makes them feel calm and a gut that will not work properly.
Constipation That Lingers
Constipation is the most common stomach problem caused by opium, and it is also the one that people find hardest to talk about. It starts simply: bowel movements become less frequent, from daily to every few days, and then less often still. The stools become hard and dry, because they have sat in the large intestine for so long that most of their water has been absorbed. Passing them becomes painful, and sometimes it causes small tears and bleeding. The person feels bloated, heavy and uncomfortable all the time, and the discomfort grows day by day until the next bowel movement brings only partial relief.
Over weeks and months, this becomes a daily burden. The person may spend long periods in the bathroom, straining, and feel that they have not fully emptied their bowel even after trying. They may develop piles, which are swollen veins around the back passage, and these can be painful and can bleed. In severe cases, the bowel can become blocked, a condition in which waste builds up and cannot pass at all, causing severe pain, vomiting and swelling of the belly. A blocked bowel is a medical emergency, and it needs urgent care. It is a real risk of long-term opium use, not a rare one, and it is one of the reasons doctors take opioid constipation so seriously.
There is a cruel aspect to this problem, which is that it is embarrassing, so people do not mention it. They suffer in silence, they try home remedies that do not work well, and they do not tell their doctor, because they are ashamed, or because they do not want to admit how much opium they are using. That silence makes the problem worse, because constipation caused by opioids does not usually improve on its own while the drug is still being used. It needs medical attention, and the person needs to be honest with the health professional about what they are taking, so that the right help can be given.
Nausea That Will Not Settle
Nausea, the feeling of being sick without necessarily vomiting, is another very common effect of opium on the stomach. It happens for two reasons. First, opium acts directly on the part of the brain that controls vomiting, a small area that is sensitive to drugs in the blood. Second, it slows the stomach, so food sits there for longer and the stomach feels full and unsettled. The two effects together mean that many people feel sick after taking opium, especially when they first start using it, and many continue to feel sick at mealtimes for as long as they use it.
For some people the nausea is mild, a queasy feeling that passes after an hour or two. For others it is constant, a background sickness that makes the thought of food unpleasant and makes ordinary activities, like travelling in a car or working in a hot kitchen, much harder. Vomiting can follow, and repeated vomiting brings its own problems: loss of fluid, loss of salts the body needs, soreness in the throat and mouth, and damage to the teeth from stomach acid. A person who vomits often becomes dehydrated without realising it, and dehydration makes the constipation worse, makes the head ache, and makes the person feel even more tired and unwell.
The nausea also feeds the loss of appetite, because it is hard to want food when eating makes you feel sick. That creates a circle: the person eats less, becomes weaker, and the gut, which needs regular food and movement to work well, slows down even more. Breaking that circle is difficult while opium is still being used, because the drug is causing the nausea in the first place. That is why health professionals focus on the cause, the drug use itself, rather than only on the symptom, although they can also give general advice about eating small amounts and keeping fluid intake up.
Eating Less and Losing Weight
When the stomach is slow, the appetite is poor, and food brings nausea or pain, it is natural to eat less. At first the change may be small: skipping breakfast, leaving half a plate, avoiding foods that feel heavy. Over weeks and months, the change becomes large. The person eats far less than their body needs, they lose weight, their clothes become loose, their face becomes thinner, and they become weaker. They may feel cold more easily, because they have less body fat. They may feel dizzy when they stand up, because they are not getting enough food or fluid. They may find that wounds heal slowly, and that they catch colds and other infections more easily, because their body does not have the nutrients it needs to fight illness.
Weight loss from opium is not healthy weight loss. It is the loss of muscle as well as fat, and it leaves the person less able to work, less able to walk far, and less able to recover from illness. In a household where money is already tight, the problem is made worse, because the money that should buy good food is often spent on opium instead, so the family eats worse as well. Children in the house may also eat less well, and the whole household becomes thinner and more tired, not from one bad week, but from months of eating too little.
It is worth noting that some people using opium do not lose weight at first, especially if they eat sweet foods or drink sugary tea, which are easy to take even with a poor appetite. But the pattern is the same underneath: the diet is poor, the nutrients are missing, and the body is running on empty. A person can be thin and malnourished, or they can be a normal weight and still malnourished, because what matters is not only how much they eat but what they eat. Either way, the gut is not working properly, and the body is paying the price.
Cramps, Bloating and Pain
Pain in the belly is one of the most distressing stomach effects of opium, and it comes in several forms. There is the dull, heavy ache of constipation, the feeling that the belly is full of something that will not move. There is cramping, the sharp, gripping pain that comes in waves when the gut tries to push its contents along against the slowing effect of the drug. There is bloating, the tight, swollen feeling caused by gas building up in a slow gut, which can make the belly look larger and make clothes feel tight. And there is a burning pain in the upper belly, which may be linked to acid, to an empty stomach, or to irritation of the stomach lining.
These pains are not only uncomfortable. They change how a person lives. A person with cramps and bloating may avoid going out, because they are afraid of needing a toilet, or of being in pain in public. They may avoid work that involves bending, lifting or walking far. They may sleep badly, because the pain wakes them, or because they are afraid of the pain getting worse in the night. They may become anxious about eating, because every meal brings the risk of pain afterwards, and that anxiety makes the gut even more sensitive, in a circle that is hard to break.
It is important to say that belly pain in a person using opium should never simply be assumed to be a side effect of the drug. Pain can also be a sign of something else: a blocked bowel, an inflamed gut, a problem with the gallbladder or the liver, or an ulcer. A person who has severe pain, pain that is getting worse, a swollen belly, vomiting that will not stop, or blood in the stool or vomit, needs urgent medical care, not a wait-and-see approach. The drug may be the cause, but only a health professional can tell, and waiting can turn a treatable problem into a dangerous one.
Acid Rising Into the Throat
Many people who use opium regularly report a burning feeling rising from the stomach into the chest and throat, the symptom commonly called heartburn or acid reflux. It happens because opium relaxes the muscle at the top of the stomach, the valve that normally keeps acid in the stomach where it belongs. When that valve is relaxed, acid can flow back up into the food pipe, and the acid burns the lining of the pipe, causing a burning pain behind the breastbone and a sour taste in the mouth. Lying down makes it worse, because gravity no longer helps to keep the acid down, so the burning often gets worse at night and disturbs sleep.
Over time, repeated acid reflux can damage the food pipe. The lining becomes inflamed, swallowing can become painful, and in long-standing cases the damage can lead to narrowing of the pipe or to changes in its lining that need medical attention. The person may start to avoid foods that trigger the burning, such as spicy food, fried food or large meals, and they may eat less, which adds to the weight loss and weakness already caused by the drug. They may also develop a persistent cough or a hoarse voice, because acid reaching the throat irritates it, and they may mistake these symptoms for a cold or a chest problem.
There is also a link between opium use and the stomach itself. Opium can increase the risk of irritation and ulceration of the stomach lining, especially when combined with poor eating, alcohol, or other medicines that irritate the stomach. An ulcer can cause burning pain, nausea, and in serious cases bleeding, which shows up as black stools or vomit that looks like coffee grounds. These are warning signs that need urgent medical attention. They are not side effects to be endured quietly at home.
The Gut Over Weeks and Months
The stomach effects of opium do not stay the same. They build up over time, and the longer a person uses the drug, the harder they become to live with. In the first weeks, the constipation and nausea may be the main problems, and they may seem manageable. After a few months, the person may be eating much less, losing weight, and spending a large part of each day thinking about their gut: when they last went to the toilet, whether they will be in pain after eating, whether the nausea will come back. After a year or more, the gut may be so slow and so damaged that it does not return to normal quickly even after the drug is stopped. Recovery is possible, and the gut often improves a great deal, but it can take weeks or months, and it needs medical support, good food, fluids and patience.
That slow build-up is part of why the stomach effects are so dangerous. They do not arrive as a single dramatic event. They arrive as a hundred small changes, each one easy to ignore on its own, that add up to a body that is weak, thin, constipated, nauseated and in pain. The person gets used to feeling unwell, and stops noticing how far they have moved from normal. Their family gets used to it too, and stops asking why they are not eating, why they are always in the bathroom, why they look so thin. That normalisation of suffering is one of the saddest parts of long-term opium use, and it is why it matters to notice the pattern early and to talk about it honestly.
The gut also affects the rest of the body. When the gut is slow, medicines taken by mouth are absorbed slowly and unpredictably, so they may not work as well as they should. When the person is constipated and dehydrated, their kidneys have to work harder. When they are malnourished, their immune system weakens, their muscles waste, and their mood falls, because the gut and the brain are closely linked, and a gut that is in constant discomfort sends constant signals of distress to the brain. So a stomach problem caused by opium is never only a stomach problem. It is a whole-body problem that starts in the gut and spreads outward.
Warning Signs Worth Noticing
Most stomach problems from opium build up slowly, but some signs mean the person needs medical help promptly, not in a few weeks. Severe belly pain that does not ease, a belly that is swollen and hard, vomiting that goes on for more than a day, inability to pass wind or stool at all, blood in the stool or vomit, black stools, unexplained weight loss, or feeling faint and dizzy are all warning signs. They can mean a blocked bowel, bleeding in the gut, a severe infection, or another serious problem, and they need to be checked by a health professional urgently.
Other signs are less dramatic but still important. If a person has not had a bowel movement for many days, if they are eating less than half of what they used to eat, if they are losing weight month after month, if they feel sick most days, or if they are in pain after most meals, those are signs that the gut is in trouble and that the situation needs attention. It is easy to put these signs off, to say that they will get better on their own, or that there is no time or money to see a doctor. But the gut does not usually heal on its own while opium is still being used, and waiting makes the problem harder, not easier, to treat.
If you are the person using opium, try to be honest with the health professional about what you take and how often. Doctors have heard this before, and they are not there to judge you. They need the truth to help you safely. If you are a family member, try to notice the signs and to encourage the person to seek help, gently and without blame. Offer to go with them to the clinic, offer to help with the cost if you can, and keep a simple note of what has been happening, when the pain comes, what they have eaten, when they last went to the toilet, because that information helps the doctor a great deal.
How a Slow Gut Affects Daily Life
A stomach that does not work properly does not stay a private problem. It reaches into every part of the day. A person who is bloated and in pain may not want to go to work, and if they do go, they may work slowly, take more breaks, and make mistakes because they cannot concentrate. A person who feels sick after eating may skip lunch at work, and then feel faint and shaky by the afternoon. A person who needs a toilet urgently, or who is afraid of being caught short, may avoid travelling far from home, may avoid buses and crowded places, and may turn down jobs that involve being away from a toilet for long periods.
Sleep is affected too, because acid reflux is worse when lying flat, and because cramps and bloating can wake a person in the night. Poor sleep then makes everything worse the next day: the appetite is lower, the mood is lower, the pain feels sharper, and the person has less energy to cope. It becomes a circle in which a bad gut makes for a bad night, and a bad night makes for a worse gut the next day, and the circle turns faster the longer it goes on.
Social life shrinks in the same way. Meals with family, meals with friends, weddings, religious gatherings, all of these involve food, and a person who dreads food starts to dread the gatherings as well. They may eat little and leave early, or they may not go at all, and the family may stop inviting them, or stop expecting them to come. That isolation adds to the low mood that already comes with poor nutrition and constant discomfort, and low mood itself can make the gut more sensitive. The stomach, the sleep, the work and the social life are not separate problems. They are one problem, seen from different sides, and they all improve together when the cause is addressed.
My Take:
I will be honest with you. When people talk about opium, they usually talk about addiction, about the mind, about crime and money, and they forget the stomach. I think that is a mistake, because the stomach is where many people feel the harm first, every single day, in a way they cannot ignore. A person can pretend that their mood is fine. They cannot pretend that they have not been to the toilet for five days, or that every meal makes them feel sick, or that their belly is cramping so badly they cannot stand up straight. The stomach does not let you pretend. It tells the truth, day after day, and I think we should listen to it.
What strikes me most is how ordinary the suffering is, and how quietly it is endured. Constipation is not a dramatic subject. Nobody makes a film about it. Nobody talks about it at a wedding or in the market. And yet a person who is constipated for months on end is a person in real, daily pain, whose sleep is broken, whose appetite is gone, whose mood is low, and whose whole life has narrowed to the question of whether their gut will work today. I think that kind of suffering deserves more respect than it gets. It is not a small side effect. It is a large part of what opium does to a human body, and it is a large part of why the drug is so hard to live with.
I also think about the shame around this subject, because shame is what keeps people silent. A person who is constipated, who is vomiting, who has piles or bleeding, is embarrassed to talk about it, and that embarrassment is doubled when the cause is a drug they are ashamed of using. So they say nothing. They try a home remedy, or they buy something from a shop without telling the shopkeeper the whole story, or they simply endure it. I understand that shame, and I do not want to add to it. But I do want to say that doctors have seen this many times before, and they are not shocked by it, and they cannot help unless they know the truth. Telling a doctor that you use opium is not a confession. It is information that lets the doctor help you safely, and it is one of the bravest and most useful things a person in this situation can do.
The eating is the part that worries me most, because it is so easy to miss and so damaging over time. A person who eats less every day does not suddenly collapse. They get thinner slowly, they get weaker slowly, they catch infections more easily, and they start to think that feeling tired and weak is just how life is. But it is not how life is. It is what happens when a body is starved of food, slowly, over months. I think about a person who used to work all day in the fields or in a workshop, and who now cannot walk far without feeling dizzy, and I think about how much of that loss is invisible to everyone around them, because it happened so gradually. The body does not send a single alarm. It sends a hundred small ones, and if nobody listens to them, the damage goes on.
Nausea is another effect that I think is underestimated. People imagine nausea as a brief unpleasant feeling, like the queasiness before a journey. But nausea that lasts for weeks and months is a different thing entirely. It makes food disgusting. It makes the smell of cooking unbearable. It makes the person dread mealtimes, which are supposed to be a pleasure, and it makes them avoid the table, avoid the family, avoid the normal life of the house. I think that loss matters. A person who cannot enjoy a meal has lost one of the simple daily pleasures that make life worth living, and that loss, repeated three times a day, adds up to a great deal of misery.
I am also honest about the pain. Cramps, bloating and burning are not abstract words. They are real pains, and they change how a person moves, sleeps, works and talks. A person in pain is a person who is less patient, less kind, less able to concentrate, and less able to enjoy the company of others. That is not a character fault. It is what pain does to a human being. When I read about the stomach effects of opium, I do not only see a list of symptoms. I see a person who is in pain most of the day, every day, and who has come to accept that pain as normal. That acceptance is itself a kind of harm, because it stops the person from seeking help, and it stops the family from insisting that help is needed.
The acid rising into the throat is a good example of how one problem leads to another. The drug relaxes a valve, the acid comes up, the food pipe is burned, sleep is broken, the throat is sore, the person eats less, the weight falls, and the whole body gets weaker. None of those steps is dramatic on its own. Together they form a chain that is hard to break, because each link makes the next one more likely. I think that chain is the real story of opium and the stomach. It is not one effect. It is a series of effects, each one feeding the next, until the gut, which should be a quiet and reliable part of the body, has become the centre of the person’s daily life, and not in a good way.
I think the warning signs matter more than most people realise, because they are the difference between a problem that can be treated and a problem that becomes an emergency. A blocked bowel, bleeding in the gut, a swollen and hard belly, these are not things to wait out at home. They are things that need a doctor, urgently, and I would rather a person go to a clinic too early than too late. I know that going to a clinic costs money and time, and that many people are afraid of what the doctor will say, or of being judged for using opium. But a doctor who knows the truth can help, and a doctor who does not know the truth may give the wrong treatment. Honesty with a health professional is not a luxury. It is part of the treatment.
If you are a family member, I would ask you to pay attention to the stomach signs, because they are often the clearest evidence of what is happening. A person can hide their mood, and they can hide how much money they have spent, but they cannot easily hide that they are not eating, that they are in the bathroom for a long time, that they are thin and weak and in pain. Those signs are not a reason to accuse or to shout. They are a reason to speak gently, to ask how the person is feeling, and to offer to go with them to get help. The person may refuse at first. They may get angry. But the fact that someone noticed, and cared enough to ask, is often the beginning of a change, even if the change does not come at once.
I do not want to pretend that stopping opium fixes the stomach overnight, because it does not. The gut is slow to recover, and the constipation, the nausea and the poor appetite can take weeks or months to improve, even with good food, plenty of fluids, and medical support. That slow recovery can be discouraging, and I understand why a person might feel that stopping is not working, when the pain is still there a month later. But the direction of travel matters. A gut that is slowly improving is a gut that is healing, and every week without the drug is a week in which the gut has a chance to remember its normal rhythm. Patience is part of the recovery, and so is good food, regular meals, water, and walking, which all help the gut to move again.
I also think it is worth saying that the stomach effects of opium are a reason to take the drug seriously even before addiction is obvious. A person who uses opium occasionally may already be constipated, may already feel sick after eating, may already be eating less. Those are not signs of a minor problem. They are signs that the drug is already changing the body in a real and harmful way. If you are that person, or if you love that person, I would not wait for the problem to become severe before acting. The earlier the use stops, the faster the gut recovers, and the less damage there is to undo. That is true of almost every harm opium causes, and it is especially true of the stomach, because the gut is remarkably good at healing when it is given the chance.
Finally, I want to end with something simple. Your stomach is not a small part of your health. It is the part that turns food into energy, that keeps you strong enough to work, to walk, to look after your children, to enjoy a meal with your family. When opium takes that away, it takes away a large part of what makes a normal life possible. I think that is worth saying plainly, without exaggeration and without shame. If your stomach is telling you that something is wrong, listen to it. If someone you love is thin, weak, constipated and in pain, do not look away. Talk to a health professional, get help, and give the gut the chance to heal. It is a slow process, and it is not easy, but it is possible, and the body that recovers is a body that can eat, work, sleep and live again, which is a great deal to gain.
I think it is also worth remembering that the gut affects the mind, and the mind affects the gut. A person who is in pain every day, who cannot eat properly, who sleeps badly and who is losing weight, is very likely to feel low, anxious and hopeless, and that low mood makes the gut even more sensitive to pain and discomfort. It is a two-way street, and it is one of the reasons that treating only the stomach, or only the mood, is rarely enough on its own. The whole person needs help, and the help needs to cover the drug use, the gut, the food, the sleep and the mood together. That sounds like a lot, and it is a lot, but it is also the approach that gives the best chance of a real recovery, rather than a short improvement that fades when the next problem appears.
One thing I would say to anyone reading this for themselves is that you do not have to wait until you are seriously ill before you ask for help. You do not need to be in an emergency to deserve a doctor’s time. If you are constipated most days, if you feel sick after most meals, if you are losing weight and you do not know why, those are enough reasons to see a health professional, and to tell them the truth about what you are taking. Early help is simpler, cheaper and more effective than late help, and the gut, which is good at healing, will thank you for giving it the chance sooner rather than later. Waiting, in my view, is the one choice that never helps.
Finally, I want to say something to the family of a person in this situation, because the family often sees the stomach problems first and feels helpless about them. You cannot force another adult to eat, and you cannot force them to see a doctor, and trying to do so often leads to arguments that make things worse. But you can cook small, plain, regular meals and leave them where the person can eat them without a fuss. You can keep water nearby. You can notice the warning signs and speak about them calmly. You can offer to go to the clinic together. And you can look after your own health too, because a family that is itself exhausted and unwell cannot help anyone else for long. Small, steady kindness, repeated every day, is often more powerful than one big confrontation, and it is the kind of help that a person remembers when they are finally ready to change.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does vomiting after heavy use from Opium go away after stopping?
Vomiting and nausea often ease after a person stops using opium, because the drug is no longer acting on the vomiting centre in the brain and no longer slowing the stomach, but the improvement is not instant. The gut can take weeks to return to its normal rhythm, and some people feel worse for a short time during withdrawal before they feel better. With good food, plenty of fluids, rest and medical support, most people find that the sickness fades steadily, though anyone who keeps vomiting after stopping should speak to a health professional promptly.
Can Opium really cause a slow gut?
Yes. Opium acts on the same docking points in the gut that the body’s own natural opioids use, but far more strongly, and it slows the waves of muscle movement that push food along. The stomach empties later, the intestines move their contents slowly, and waste stays in the large intestine for much longer than normal. This slowing is one of the most common and reliable effects of regular opium use, and unlike some other side effects, it does not usually fade with time while the drug is still being used.
What should I do if Opium is causing a slow gut?
The most important step is to speak to a qualified health professional and to be honest about the opium use, because the treatment for a slow gut caused by opioids is different from ordinary constipation and needs proper medical guidance. In general, keeping fluid intake up, eating regular small meals with fibre where possible, and walking help the gut to move, but these measures alone do not solve the problem while the drug is still being used. Do not try strong laxatives or other treatments on your own without medical advice, and seek urgent care if there is severe pain, a swollen belly, or no bowel movement at all for many days.
Is trouble digesting normal meals from Opium dangerous?
Yes, it can be dangerous, especially when it goes on for a long time. Poor digestion leads to weight loss, weakness, dehydration and a lack of the nutrients the body needs to fight illness and heal. In severe cases the bowel can become blocked, which is a medical emergency, and the stomach lining can become irritated or develop an ulcer, which can bleed. Anyone who is eating very little, losing weight month after month, or in pain after most meals should speak to a health professional, and anyone with severe pain, vomiting that will not stop, or blood in the stool should seek urgent care.
How soon can acid rising into the throat appear after using Opium?
Acid reflux can appear within weeks of regular opium use, because the drug relaxes the valve at the top of the stomach that normally keeps acid down. At first it may be an occasional burning feeling after a large meal or when lying down, but with continued use it often becomes more frequent, especially at night, and can disturb sleep and make swallowing uncomfortable. The timing varies from person to person, and it can be worse after large meals, spicy food, or lying flat soon after eating.
Who is most at risk of a slow gut from Opium?
Anyone who uses opium regularly is at risk of a slow gut, but the risk is higher for people who use it often or in larger amounts, older people, people who eat little fibre, drink little water, or move very little, and people who already have gut problems. People who combine opium with other medicines that slow the gut, or with alcohol, face extra risk. Teenagers and people with existing health problems are also more vulnerable, because their bodies have less reserve to cope with the strain.
Sources
- National Institute on Drug Abuse — https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/opioids
- U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration — https://www.dea.gov/drug-information
- Mayo Clinic, Drug addiction — https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/drug-addiction/symptoms-causes/syc-20365112
- World Health Organization, Substance abuse — https://www.who.int/health-topics/substance-abuse
- NHS, Drug addiction: getting help — https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/addiction-support/drug-addiction-getting-help/
This article is general information only. It is not medical advice. If you are worried about your health or about someone else, speak to a qualified health professional.
