“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.
Heroin is a white or brown powder. Sometimes it’s a black paste that's known as black tar heroin. Heroin is wicked by many other drugs, sugar, flour and milk. It may have a vinegar smell to it. People who do heroin usually snort or smoke it. There is also an option to inject the drug into your body. It costs $70 to $300 a gram. “In the brain, heroin is converted into morphine, which binds to opioid receptors. This causes a pleasurable "rush," and a user's skin becomes warm and flushed. The user's arms and legs may feel heavy. Some users experience severe itching and vomiting. After the rush, a user's heart rate and breathing slow down, sometimes to the point of death. Heroin is considered highly addictive. Euphoria occurs within seconds of an intravenous injection, five
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
A person on heroin trades the false sense of well-being to a host of harmful effects. When enters the body it slows down the heart and lungs. By doing so it raises your body temperature. At the injection site with
Heroin is an opiate. Opiates are common drugs that are used as painkillers for terminal disease. To make heroin, they collect the resin from the poppy flower pod and dilute that down into morphine. The morphine is then further diluted to make heroin. There are multiple ways heroin can be taken, the notorious “black tar heroin” is boiled down and injected directly into the bloodstream. There is what's know as “Hell Dust” which is a white or grey powder that is snorted, and some heroin can even be smoked. Even though there are many ways to take it, they all have the same effects. The problem with buying heroin off the street is what it is cut with and the needles that are used. If you use a dirty needle you can get AIDS or other diseases that are transmitted through blood. Also street heroin can be cut with rat poison or ethanol. The poison then procedes to create blood clots that can travel around the bloodstream killing off vital organs. Another strong point against buying street heroin is dosage. You never know how strong that specific dosage is.
Heroin itself can be taken in three ways, injecting a solution of heroin and water into your vein, snorting it, or inhaling it. A person will receive maximum effects if they inject it. Basically heroin makes people feel as if they are in a state of Euphoria for a small amount of time, and cause people to be drowsy warm and content, which kind of detaches you from pain.
The colors of heroin vary from dark brown to white because of the impurities from the developing process. The Eastern and Western parts of the United States are divided into a few different types of heroin (United States).
In a short term perspective the user talks about a “rush” of pleasure. Depending on the the intensity of the rush show how fast the drug enters the brain and binds to the MORs. With heroin, the rush can be associated with flush and warm skin, heavy sensation of extremities, reduced feeling of pain, and drowsiness. Sometimes these effects can also come with vomiting, itching and dry mouth. After several hours of the initial effects the user body slows. This includes the heart, mind and breathing, which can be life threatening. (What Effects) If slowed enough the user could fall into a coma causing severe brain damage.
A popular drug most commonly known as heroin can also be referred to as Big H, Brown Sugar, Junk, or Horse. It can be sticky and tar-like, or hard and coal-like depending on what type is being used. Heroin is taken by injecting, snorting, or smoking it. Heroin is a narcotic drug, meaning it relieves pain. The botanical name for this natural drug is Opium poppy, which is the name of the plant it comes from. A common painkiller, morphine, also comes from this plant. To create heroin, morphine has to be synthesized. In 1874, the English chemist and physicist Charles Romley Alder Wright synthesized
Most heroin addiction begins with overuse of prescription pain medication, marijuana, and cocaine. In fact, up to seventy-five percent of heroin users started with the abuse of pain medication. They turn to heroin when the prescription is no longer available or becomes to costly to maintain. Heroin is cheaper and more readily available, making it appealing to potential users. Heroin is also extremely dangerous
What is Heroin is it a drug, a plant, or some sort of animal? Heroin is a very dangerous and highly addictive drug made from the seed pods of the opium poppy plant. Heroin is so harmful to your body and it has been a highly sought for and used drug for about 150-200 years. This drug is addictive, dangerous, and extremely deadly drug. Heroin affects the body in very bad ways creating several sensations that include: heavy limbs, a rush of warmth(this is because when it enters the brain it is converted into morphine), drowsiness, a dry mouth, etc. The short-term effects are bad but the long-term are much worse, the effects include: a higher tolerance to the drug, so a much larger dose is needed to achieve “peak high” in result to this the user
The effects of heroin are presented after using for long time. It starts with addictions and then it escalates with the medical consequences. Addiction is the greater effect because this will generate damage to physical health of the use. Overdose can be very dangerous for the user and can provoke convulsions, confusion, comma, and even death, among others. Heroin works as a central
According to the National Institute on Drug abuse; Heroin is an illegal, highly addictive drug. Heroin is so powerful and dangerous that it can alter both your brain and vital organs. It is the second largest death producing drug besides cocaine, in the United Sates. Heroin use in the United Sates is growing in such rapid numbers it now has become an epidemic.
In a home without parents, you’re drug addicted and dropped out of high school freshman year. How could God possibly use you for anything good? For 16 years you give others what they need to stay addicted. But it supports your unhealthy habits. You don’t want to be a drug dealer and all you want is to be clean and a good father but you just can’t do it. You ask yourself how can I stop? The situation I just described sounds like something from a movie or something you see on the news but this was the reality for Mr. Heath Duncan.
Drug addiction is a complex problem in society today. Addiction is a condition that extremely affects the person’s mind and body. Addiction also has wide sweeping effects on that person’s social connection and functioning. Unfortunately, many addicts don’t realize the social influence of their addiction until much of their functioning has greatly deteriorated.
Heroin production began in Asia and made its way to the United States via smuggling, heroin is classified as an opiate; which is a class of drugs known to depress the respiratory system (Louria, Hensle & Rose, 1967). Heroin is a drug which can be injected intravenously, intranasally or through a intramuscular path (Sahni, Garg, Garg, Agarwal & Singh, 2008), users tend to experience a rush as there is a rapid uptake of heroin into the central nervous system (Sporer, 1999). The effects of heroin on the individual user can range from overdose, hepatitis B, C and contracting HIV as a result of shared needles (Louria et al., 1967; Mark, Woody, Juday & Kleber, 2001, Sahni et al., 2008). Heroin overdose can also lead to death which can be preventable if medical treatment is provided within the space of 1 to 3
It’s painful to watch someone you love overtaken by the monster of addiction – many of us wonder if there’s anything that we can do to help.