Rosa Lee's Case Study

Heroin, a powerful narcotic, acts upon the brain as a painkiller, increasing physical addiction and ongoing emotional dependence (Schaffer Library of…). Heroin has many challenging and highly risky effects on the user, all the more hazardous if overdosing is present. This extremely dangerous drug, heroin, will never cease being used, but may cease the existence of an individual.

After Heroin is injected or inhaled, it crosses the blood brain barrier, and once in the brain, it is converted to morphine and will bind with opioid receptors. This transferring is what gives the user their rush, and the more of the drug, the faster it binds and the stronger the rush. Heroin

In her lifetime, she has been incarcerated 12 times, serving a total of five years, receiving her first prison term in 1966 for theft. She began selling drugs and prostitution in the 1970’s. She has had numerous incarcerations for a variety of charges ranging from sale of drugs, possession of drugs, prostitution, shoplifting, theft, and others. She is currently involved in legal proceedings related to a theft charge as well as two of her children are also facing unrelated charges. As a result, her life has been a persistent labyrinth of poverty, drug abuse, hospitalizations, and periodic incarcerations that are the result of her criminal behavior, both petty and violent. Her family, with the exception of two of her sons, has also been multigenerationally involved in the penal system, not only her children but her grandchildren as well. Many of her children, and grandchildren, have learned their criminal behavior directly from Rosa Lee’s tutelage.

Heroin provides a rush feeling in the brain which is can be accompanied by the following symptoms; a warm flushing of the skin, a dry mouth, and a heavy feeling in the extremities. The following side effects often present themselves nausea, vomiting and severe itching. After the initial effects of heroin have faded, abusers will be drowsy for several hours. With heroin the individual's mental function is often clouded because of the drugs effect on the central nervous system. Long term abuse of the drug can result in respiratory and cardiac functions slowing this are often the cause of death in heroin

“Heroin has analgesic and euphoric properties” (Abadinsky, 2014, p. 45). When the drug is taken and enters the body, heroin relieves pain, works as a sedative, decreases one’s anxiety, relaxes muscles, slows motor activity, drowsiness, and a feel of well being (Abadinsky, 2014). When taken, heroin will typically start to work within ten seconds, depending the method used to ingest the drug (Abadinsky, 2014). Most users will take a needle full of heroin after he or she cooked the powder into a liquid, and injected through the skin into a vein (Abadinsky, 2014). Heroin can also be smoked by inhaling the fumes like when marijuana is smoked (Abadinsky, 2014). There are four different stages that can occur when a person uses heroin, including the rush, the high, the nod, and being straight (Abadinsky, 2014). The rush is when the user experiences multiple types of euphoric feelings, instinctive sensations, a flushed face, and deeper vocals (Abadinsky, 2014). “Heroin activates brain systems that are responsible for reinforcing peoperties of such natural rewards as food and sex” (Abadinsky, 2014, p. 45). The high is a feeling of well-being that can last for hours, but the high can be less effective depending on the user’s tolerance to the drug (Abadinsky, 2014). Therefore, if a user has a high tolerance to the high, he or she must increase dose size in order to experience the effects of the high (Abadinsky,

Heroin has been a quiet crisis on the rise over the last few decades, wreaking havoc on communities and families. Hesitance to talk about the heroin crisis makes it difficult to fight the growing trend of abuse. According to the National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health, the increase of heroin abuse has risen 80 percent since 2002 (Jones). The medical effects of addicts abusing their bodies and neglecting their health are a variety of medical conditions. A short term abuser may experience depressed respiration, distorted mental functioning, nausea and vomiting (Volkow). The long term effects of heroin abuse can be addiction, infectious disease as in HIV, hepatitis B and C, collapsed veins, bacterial infections, abscesses and infection of the heart

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

Chronic use of the drug can cause collapsed veins from injection, heart infections, abscesses, constipation, gastrointestinal cramping, and liver disease. Street heroin is known to contain additives that can clog the blood vessels that may lead to the lungs or brain. This can lead to infection in the cells of vital organs. If used heavily and then stopped, withdrawal symptoms will occur, causing the user to become restless, have drug cravings, muscle and bone pain, diarrhea and vomiting, cold flashes, insomnia, and kicking movements. Withdrawal symptoms typically occur between 24 to 48 hours after the user's last dosage and usually subside after a week (Types of Prescription

“Heroin use results in a massive amplification of dopamine activity (Sherman, 2007)”, which produces intense pleasure. It mimic's the brain’s naturally occurring opioid endorphin neurotransmitter. The chances that heroin use will lead to addiction is associated the speed in which heroin promotes dopamine, the intensity of dopamine effects and the reliability that dopamine effects will occur. It has high activity on opioid receptors, which means that there is a very high intensity of pleasure. It also has near perfect reliability for producing pleasure (Sherman, 2007).

She used meth and alcohol that night and decided that seeing him was a bad idea, and completely cut him off. A few weeks passed, and she started seeing another ex-girlfriend, and was almost pulled back into the life of addiction. She was able to walk away due to having regained custody of her children, and not wanting to let them down again.

Heroin addicts have the psychological dependence on heroin that leads them into the state of self-destruction and the possibility of leading to death by the extreme use of heroin. Never estimate the poppy flower for its power that withholds the fiends to their mentality enduring the euphoria enslavement of the mind that contained for many centuries. The heroin addiction nation is a self numbing injection and dry approach to have the mind under the state of the greatest feeling of great happiness leaving the pain behind under the spell of heroin. Heroin comes in many forms for addicts to enjoy in their own way. They come in powder and rock like form that is combined with other narcotics. The snorting form for heroin is not

a so- called "junkie" if you use it. It affects the hygiene and personal appearance of the user a great deal, because nothing is as important to the user anymore as where that next hit will come from. Heroin is injected and sometimes snorted. It causes great euphoria, but also nausea and

Rosa Lee has a long-term heroin addiction. Reports have indicated that she does use cocaine with her heroin as well. Other than using heroin and cocaine, there is no indication of Rosa Lee abusing any other substances on a consistent basis. This does not mean that Rosa Lee does not consume other drugs, it just simply does not exhibit to be on the same level as her heroin addiction. When Rosa Lee is using heroin, she does displays the symptoms such as red eyes, stomach pains, quaking and shivering, drooping eyelids, and constant rubbing on her swollen hands. Rosa Lee uses heroin on a daily basis and using heroin results in “deterioration of the brain’s white matter, which may affect decision-making abilities, the ability to regulate behavior, and responses to stressful situations” (National Institute of Drug Abuse 2014).

He shoots up his first time, while most user progress from snorting to popping and then to using needles. Many heroin users report feeling a “rush” when shooting up heroin.While a scene of Jim running through a field plays, he describes, “It was like a long heat wave through my body, any ache and pain or feeling of sadness was completely flushed out.” This “rush” is causes by the rapid entry of heroin into the brain and the attachment of 6-acetyl-morphine and morphine to opioid receptors. It usually last one or two minutes right after administration. The euphoric effect is caused by the reduction of GABA neurons, which ultimately increases the amount of dopamine produced. Jimmy also compares it to one of the most intense orgasms he has ever had. Recent imaging studies have found that the areas the brain most active during ejaculation are also most active following heroin injection. After his first time using Jim describes,“I felt dazed, like I just came out of a four hour movie I did not understand.” Many people who take opiates experience a subjective sense of mental dullness and often report feeling dreamy or spacey The movie does a legitimate job describing and interpreting the “rush” phenomenon and the after effects of first time use.

Withdrawal can set in as soon as 8 hours after previous heroin use, and can include any of the following symptoms: drug craving, restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea and vomiting, kicking movements, goose bumps, and depression (3).