Drug Addiction Essay

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

Since the 19th century, the illicit drug, heroin, has been a part of American society. When heroin was first discovered it was thought to be a wonder drug because of the euphoric feeling a person is said to feel after using it. However, once the debilitating effects of this highly addictive drug was realized the anti-drug law, the Harrison Narcotics Act, was enacted that restricted its use to medicinal purposes only. In 1920, heroin was banned altogether through the Dangerous Drug Act (Habal, 2011). Heroin for the most part was thought to have gone underground until the Vietnam War.

The Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914 was the first of many laws due to the laissez-faire attitude toward drug use in the United States. Brecher 1972 states (as cited in Powell & Redford, 2016) society’s view on drugs was not problematic until the end of the nineteenth century. After the Civil War, a widespread epidemic of drugs swept across the nation, which fuels the drug wars of today (Powell & Brecher, 2016).

Drug Trafficking has been a big problem in the United States along with many other countries for over a decade. In the United States, opium was widely used after the Civil War to help the soldiers stay up for nights on end, and recreational or “what they thought was medicinal” cocaine followed around the 1880’s. Eventually more drugs such as morphine and heroin were discovered and used for “medicinal purposes”. On top of this, Coca-Cola was brought about, with one of the active ingredients being cocaine. The new century brought a wide knowledge to people and exposed the potential of addiction. In 1914 the Harrison Narcotics Act was the first federal drug policy in the United States. It restricted people from manufacturing or selling marijuana, cocaine, heroine, and morphine. This brought a lot of trouble for physicians because they were prescribing these drugs to addicts for so called “rehabilitation”, and from 1915 to 1938 more than

Drugs were legal for many years before the 1914 Harrison Act. The period of massive availability of drugs and the consumption of the same was in the 19th century (Defeis 101). For the better part of the century morphine, cocaine, and opium were legally available at drugstores as well as grocery stores without prescription (O 'donnell et al. 66). What is significant is that the period was not characterized by drug-paralyzed workers or drug-crazed criminals, rather it was a period marked by unprecedented economic development and productivity (Defeis 102).

Since the 1960’s heroin use disorders has become worse when pertaining to societal issues since Heroin an opioid drug made from morphine, which is a natural substance this various opium poppy plant is highly addictive. Heroin may be smoked, snorted, or injected, the reason for this use has increased across the United States particularly amongst gender, various age groups, and typically all income levels through legal and illegal purchase of this drug. Several dynamics contribute to the severity of the recent societal prescription drug abuse which is problematic from a global perspective. Basically the number of prescriptions written by physicians that’s distributed to patients. Partaking in countless social acceptability of using medications

Eventually, however, opium was promoted as a cure for alcoholism by the late 1800’s.” The opium addiction soon died out and morphine, a derivative, was developed as a panacea. By 1810 people were using morphine as a painkiller, cough medicine, a sleep inducer, or for any malady that plagued them. Users soon got hooked and doctors were perplexed as to how to cure the epidemic that was spreading through out the country. By 1874 a cure was created, or so they thought. Germany introduced a new wonder drug called Heroin; they claimed that Heroin was a safe and non-addictive substitute. The drug was sold without regulation until 1920 when the government realized the danger of the narcotic. According the aforementioned Narconon article (2017) “By 1925 there were an estimated 200,000 heroin addicts within the country. It was a market which would persist until this day.” Continuing Neil Young’s tragic ballad, “…the damage done…A little part of it in everyone,” how detrimental will society let this epidemic

Illegal narcotics is not a new thing to America, in fact is very much common. These illegal substances can take a toll on the average human’s lives, if measures are taken to the extreme. One of the most addictive and commonly abused type of narcotics is Heroin. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) , in 2012 about 669,000 Americans were reported using heroin in the past year. First starting off as a substance that was used as a non addictive substitute for morphine, it later on then was discovered in 1874 that it was just as addictive as morphine. Heroin is made from the opium part of the poppy plant. This later on was discovered that many were now using this drug as a sort of tranquilizer that made them have a feeling

Heroin addiction is not a new problem. Heroin is an opiate and opiates have been around since as early as 3400 B.C., when poppies were cultivated in lower Mesopotamia for the euphoric effects they provided. In 1803 opium was turned into morphine and by 1874 was synthesized into heroin. In 1895 production of heroin began, and because heroin addiction became such a large-scale problem in the United States by 1903, opium was banned in 1905. In 1952 there were 200,000 addicts and by 1965-1970 the number had grown to roughly 750,000 (Frontline | PBS, 1998).

Since the 1900’s we have seen the effects of heroin in our society. Heroin comes from the opium poppy flower, also used to make morphine. The poppy seeds go through a chemical process to become what we know as heroin. During the 1900’s times were full of uncertainties due to the mass amount of people that had become addicted to the evil drug. Doctors did not foresee the problem that will soon unfold. Civil war veterans became addicted due to the treatment received during the war. Researchers tried to gather data on the number of people who developed an addiction, but the numbers ranged abundantly making it hard to have reliable information. Heroin was sold over the counter as a cough suppressant and pain killer, making it available to

We know that opium has been around for a very long time; however, we have only dealt with it in the United States for a couple hundred years. It was from opium that morphine, a derivative, was developed as a pain killer in approximately 1810. During the Civil War the numbers of people exposed to morphine in the course of being treated for their war-related injuries sky-rocketed. Tens of thousands of Northern and Confederate soldiers became morphine addicts. By 1874 the answer to this increased problem was thought to be found in the invention of a new drug in Germany. This new wonder drug was called Heroin, after its German trademark name. By 1925 there were an estimated 200,000 heroin addicts in the country (Narconon, 2015).

In the 1850’s, opium addiction was a major problem in the United States. To help reduce the rates, opium addicts were provided with morphine. The idea behind their logic was that it was less potent and a non-addictive substitute. Scientists and doctors quickly learned this was not the case as morphine addiction became a bigger issue than opium addiction. This morphine substitute was heroin (The Truth about Heroin). Heroin was first synthesized from morphine in 1874 by C.R Alder Wright whom was part of a German pharmaceutical company called Bayer. From 1898 through to 1910, Bayer marketed it under the trademark name Heroin as a cough suppressant claiming that it was a non-addictive morphine substitute that is until it was discovered

In the world today, drug abuse has become a real problem. In the 1800s there was a drug called opium that was commonly used. Opium came from the poppy seed plant and became very popular here in America, starting in the west. There used to be opium dens where cowhands would stop and stay and smoke opium. From opium, along came the drug morphine. Morphine was derived from the drug opium and was also introduced in America in the 1800s. Morphine became a very popular pain killer in America during that time, and it still is today. During the Civil War is when people started to realize how addictive the morphine was. There was a huge morphine epidemic in America after the Civil War and doctors did not know how to treat it. In 1874,

Drugs have been around for a lot longer then many would believe. Some of the first drugs to be used by mankind were opioids as far back as 5000 bc by the Sumerians during religious rituals (Timeline). Since then drugs have been used by almost every culture on the Earth. One of the first large scale drugs issues to have happened in the past 500 years was in China with opium that was bought through the British traders. The British started the war over Chinese produced teas The war disrupted the opium trade that Britain had with China. Those addicted to opium in China had no where to get their drugs and many died from the side effects of withdrawal from the drug. After a few hundred years the US began having its own issues with tobacco, alcohol and many new drugs that were first used for medical purposes but were quickly deemed harmful and addictive (Cannabis). First attempt to fix this was prohibition

Have you ever walked down the street or in a grocery store and bumped into someone you know, and they look really bad? Drugs have “eaten them alive” and they are barely recognizable. You can remember how beautiful they were “before” the drugs but you’re staring the “after” directly in the face. It is not a pretty sight, is it? Just think, it could be one of your family members or loved ones. The more I walk down streets, in grocery stores, at my child’s ball games, at work and even on my college campus it is more evident that drug abuse, is much more than a personal problem that everyday people, have in common