Heroin
Facts About Heroin Addiction and Recovery
Heroin addiction kills thousands of people across the United States each year. It was initially viewed as a low-income, inner city problem, but now has spread to Caucasian, suburban communities along with all other neighborhoods and demographics. Heroin addiction can affect anyone, and it is important for all people to understand the facts.
What is Heroin?
Heroin, originally developed by the Bayer Pharmaceutical Company as a cough suppressant in 1895, is an illegal drug that belongs to a class of drugs known as opiates. Opiates, originally derived from the seedpods of the opium poppy, have been used for thousands of years for both recreational and medicinal purposes. Morphine was the
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Dangers of heroin use may include:
• Breathing stomach contents into the lungs which can cause choking, pneumonia, or death
• Vomiting and diarrhea which can cause dehydration and life-threatening electrolyte imbalances
• Depression which may lead to suicidal thoughts
Long-Term Effects
Long-term effects of heroin use may include:
• Tolerance (represents a diminished response to a drug, such as heroin, and ultimately requiring a higher dose of the drug to achieve the same effect)
• Dependence/addiction (represents the body’s physical need, or addiction, to a drug, such as heroin)
• Impaired decision-making
• Impulsivity
• Memory loss
• Bad teeth
• Hepatitis C
• HIV/AIDS
• Blood and skin infections
• Collapsed veins
How Addictive is Heroin?
Heroin is highly addictive regardless of the method of administration. In fact, 53% of individuals who have ever used heroin become addicted, as opposed to 11% of alcohol users and 15% of marijuana users. Heroin users have a death rate 13-17 times that of their age-matched peers and a 14-fold risk of suicide.
Signs and
Heroin is a painkilling drug that is made from the Papaverum Somniferum, also known as the opium poppy plant. All opiates are addictive painkillers. Heroin starts as a milky sap of the opium poppy. The sap is then dried and becomes a gum. After washing the gum, it becomes opium. Morphine and codeine are two painkilling alkaloids that
Heroin overdoses, have become a bigger issue over the last few years. Heroin is made from morphine, which itself is a very powerful and addictive drug. In an article on nlm.nih.gov they found that around .6% of people between the ages of 15-64 use heroin. About 23 percent of people who use the drug become dependent on it. Overdoses frequently involve suppression
rate and cities are struggling to find solutions. The CDC reports that 27,000 people die each year due to heroin overdoses. The jails are filled with offenders, that once released go out and use again, continuing a cycle of insanity without producing answers. Youths experiment with drugs, which is nothing new, but the availability of heroin, meth and the lack of education has contributed greatly to this epidemic. No one seemed to be paying any attention until it reached epidemic proportions, or as some have suggested, became "a white middle class problem" that surpassed the poor minority population.
Heroin was initially created by Charles Wright in 1874 to combat Morphine addiction amongst Civil War soldiers. The commercial production of heroin began in 1898, by the Bayer Pharmaceutical Company, and their “sales pitch” persuaded people that Heroin was a “safe, non-addictive” substitute for morphine, therefore, gaining popularity amongst healthcare professionals and their morphine addicted patients. As a result, numerous
Heroin addiction does not discriminate it reaches across all social classes, age groups and genders. For instance, in Louisiana alone the rate of heroin overdose rose from 5 in 2008 to 110 in 2012. Heroin users often start off as patients who become addicted to prescription drugs for pain. The strict procedures that surround prescription drugs have caused many individuals to turn to Heroin which can be purchased cheaply on the street. Production of heroin in Afghanistan has actually increased since the United States entered the war on terror in that
“In 2002, 404,000 people used heroin in the United States. By 2016, there were 948,000 people. This is a 135% increases in the past 14 years” (Kounang). I decided to research about heroin, because I want to know what heroin is and which celebrities have done it and survived or died. I knew it was an addictive drug that many people overdose on. There was a lot of misconceptions that I had about heroin. Originally I thought heroin users become addicted instantly. I still have some questions about heroin. Why is heroin so popular? Who has done it? Even though some people think heroin is not bad, people should not take heroin because it's a highly effective drug and tons of people are dying from overdosing.
The widespread availability of heroin and relatively low price have caused a heroin epidemic. Unfortunately, this problem affects big cities and small towns across the country. While some people try heroin after developing a painkiller addiction, other people become addicted after experimenting with the drug.
Heroin was introduced by a German chemical company around 1874 and ¨ was imported into the United States shortly after it was invented. The sales pitch that created an instant market to American doctors and their morphine addicted patients was that Heroin was a “safe, non-addictive” substitute for morphine.¨ (International,2016) Our bodies
What does drug addiction mean to you? Did you know nearly 90 percent of first time heroin users in the past decade were white, middle-class, or wealthy people? Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found significant increases in heroin use were found in groups with historically low rates of heroin use, including women and people with private insurance and higher incomes. Heroin deaths have surged mostly among caucasians in the suburbs and small towns.
Heroin, derived from morphine, is classified in the opioid family of painkilling drugs, made from the opium poppy plant, specifically the opium from the sap of the plant which is harvested from the seed pods after the flower falls off. The opium poppy is generally grown in Southeast Asia, Mexico, the Middle East and parts of Central and South America (Weintraub 16). Opium was used in the past in countries such as Egypt as a “cure-all” drug and a poison; It was then sold to parts of China and used as a recreational drug that had many users addicted and ruined their lives (Weintraub 16-17). A majority of the heroin in the United States today is smuggled in from South America and Mexico, and is coming over in record amounts
Heroin is no longer being used in the medical field whereas; codeine, liquid morphine, pethidine, and methadone are still being found. In the 1970’s that is when scientists came across the real reasons why people were abusing the drug. Opiates are similar to endorphins, which are produced in the brain that help to relieve pain or fear. The chemicals form small chain peptides binding to form receptors in the brain. Heroin affects the brain by the “Opioid receptors are also located in the brainstem, which controls automatic processes critical for life, such as blood pressure, arousal, and respiration” (DrugFacts 2). Heroin is an organic and plant derived compound that is mixed with morphine, acetic acid, and acetic anhydride. The farmers drain the sap and boil it into sticky gum. After the gum is boiled, they use a water base with lime, ammonium chloride, activated charcoal, and hydrochloric acid. Once the product becomes dry it is in the shape of bricks. “The bricks are then sent to other secret laboratories that mix the morphine with acetic anhydride, more activated charcoal, and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)” (Bigelow 5). The particles sit in water and after drying is treated with hydrochloric acid which produces a white powder. The product is never just pure heroin, but contains water-soluble substances, sugar, painkillers, baking soda, powdered milk, and talcum powder. Since the heroin is broken down it decreases the purity and the dealer has more of a supply. A “Tar heroin” is produced in Mexico, Central America, and South America, which is a black sticky substance with an odor of
The portrait of a heroin addict. Images emerge of a homeless junkie huddled in the corner of a subway seat at 3:00am feening for his next hit. Or the drug addict laid out on a New York City bench, just skin and bones, with syringes littering the ground below. What probably does not come to mind is a picture of the perky cheerleader rooting her team on to victory at a Friday night football game, nor does a vision of the mother of three living in the suburbs with her husband working for a Fortune 500 company in her Executive position. However, these are some of the real people who are falling victim to the temptation of heroin on a daily basis. Heroin deaths are surging amongst suburban whites and the impact of the drug has taken a devastating turn. The heroin epidemic in the United States is entering a new stage in the war on drugs.
Heroin addiction is a chronically relapsing disease, usually characterized by tendencies such as drug seeking, drug abuse, tolerance and physical dependence. Substance abuse disorders have increased the levels of morbidity and mortality and with a consequent significant increase in HIV spread across the globe. Heroin increases psychiatric disorders, especially with mood anxiety, impulse control, and imbalance –related disorders.
Heroin addiction is disturbing. The problems encountered by addicts do not end at the cravings for more and more injections of the body to maintain the feel-high. The chemicals in the body of an opiate addict will further disturb the patient and lead to more body complications. Consequences of use can be adverse effects to your social and sexual life. It can take all the life out of an individual leaving them with nothing but a disturbed personality. Many people will lie to you about how normal it is to live with heroin addiction.
Although it is made from morphine, it is 2-3 times more potent. As early as 3400 BC, the opium poppy flowers were grown and harvested in Mesopotamia. Now it is grown and harvested in many countries to produce heroin and illegal drugs. Heroin is generally illegal to make, possess, or sell without a license. The term "Heroin" came into play in 1895, it came from the German word "heroisch" meaning heroic from the German Bayer medicine corporation. It received this name because of its believed "heroic" actions by the user. Starting in 1898 and continuing till 1910 Bayer promoted Heroin as being a non-addictive substitute for morphine as well as a cough suppressant. In some countries, Heroin also served medical purposes and was used as a powerful form of pain relief for severe physical trauma, post-surgical pain, and chronic pain caused by end-stage cancers and other terminal illnesses. Heroin is classified as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 and has no medical use in the United States due to the dangers and risks associated. (Anderson, 2014)