Why I Shouldn 't Use Heroin

This paper is intended to educate those who almost nothing about heroin and those who use it. Many people have been associated with friends or families who have used some kind of drug. There are many people who have not had any contact with heroin users or if they have, don’t understand much about it. Using various sources about heroin to explain where it came from, how it is used, who uses it and how a person starts on the path towards heroin, preventing addiction, and global issues surrounding this drug. Although the topic of heroin is inexhaustible, it is my hope to spark reader’s curiosity. Knowledge of this drug might just help the reader join in on discussions about 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

Most users prefer to ingest heroin  through  injection. Which takes the mind altering substance straight into the bloodstream, resulting in what most users describe as a "rush".  In addition to injection through the bloodstream, heroin can also be taken in through different methods. These include to snort or to smoke.  Furthermore, the short term effects of heroin last a couple hours then disappear. Theses include; a rush, dry mouth, respiratory depression, nausea and warm flushed skin. Long term effects include; Bad teeth, Inflammation of the gum, Constipation, Cold sweats, Itching Depression, Pustules on the face, Loss of appetite, and Insomnia. In addition to the long term effects of this mind altering drug, heroin  can also clog blood vessels that lead to major organs causing organ failure.  Not only are users exposed to the effects of the drug, but they are also susceptible to diseases from unsanitary habits. Addicts who inject drugs like heroin are at risk of contracting HIV or HCV through blood contact. Which occurs through the use of sharing needles and other equipment.   Furthermore, once heroin reaches the brain, it turns into morphine. It connects to the opioid receptors. Which in turn is in charge of the major components of the brain. Nonetheless, like any other drug users can overdose on heroin. Once this occurs the supply of oxygen reaching the brain ceases causing hypoxia.

Users report experiencing intense pleasure and numbness of pain.  Each time the brain is exposed to heroin, it craves more of the drug to get the same effectiveness, which in turn causes the person to build up a tolerance.  The person begins to spiral into a vicious cycle of using more and more of the drug until they ultimately become addicted.  Heroin raises blood pressure and heart rate.  Overtime, the brain is physically altered and the white brain matter deteriorates.  This causes a decline in the person’s ability to make good decisions.   In the case of an overdose, the rate of breathing is lowered causing a lack of oxygen to the body.  Narcan is a drug that can be administered to combat the effects of heroin, however, it needs to be given before the heart stops.  There have been some people who seek an ultimate high and have purposely overdosed on heroin, with the hope that Narcan will prevent death.  Sadly, too often this plan does not work and the person has died as a result.

After an intravenous injection of heroin, users report feeling a surge of euphoria (“rush”) accompanied by dry mouth, a warm flushing of the skin, heaviness of the extremities, and clouded mental functioning. Following this initial euphoria, the user goes “on the nod,” an alternately wakeful and drowsy state. Users who do not inject the drug may not experience the initial rush, but other effects are the same.(2000, Smith, C.)

Heroin is an opioid narcotic that is 2-3 times more potent than morphine. The chemical structure of heroin allows it to enter the brain quicker than morphine, so the euphoric high is achieved both faster and stronger. Overdosing on heroin is both easy and common to do, since there’s no way for a user to know how strong it is or what’s really in it. For instance, “888-- that’s the jaw-dropping number of Milwaukee County residents who have died from heroin or opiate overdoses between 2012 and 2015...Since 2005, we’ve seen a 500% increase in opiate and heroin overdose deaths” (Lemoine, 2016). Furthermore, overdose deaths have exceeded deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents in Wisconsin for the first time in history in 2013 (Fox6 News, 2015). Each time a person takes heroin, he or she is at risk for overdosing and dying. Dealers mix in toxic additives and other potentially dangerous substances to increase their profits by making their heroin last longer. Additionally, fentanyl is becoming more commonly mixed with heroin to create a more potent batch, leading to further complications. Heroin deaths are preventable

For a person who is abusing heroin, two obstacles must be overcome for treatment to be a success. The short term effects of heroin treatment involve withdrawing from the drug. Because heroin creates such a strong physical dependence, an addict will often continue taking the drug in order to ward off the physical pain of withdrawal symptoms. The second obstruction is the ability to stay off the drug. “After detoxification, the long-term problem of drug dependence remains. The craving for heroin persists and the abuser most often has little choice but to return to a drug-orientated

You ever walk through Philadelphia and see somebody on the corner nodding off as if they were just falling asleep? Well it is pretty bad because those people are not falling asleep nor are they just tired; they’re high on heroin. If a person walks through certain parts of Philadelphia, he or she will most likely see it a few or more times than they often would in any other city because the drugs in the “City of Brotherly Love” are getting worse everyday. In our city, people are falling victim to drugs whether they are rich or poor. Day by day, the addiction to heroin is killing people, ruining families, and causing violence in our neighborhoods we call

Heroin abuse is a growing concern in the United States, particularly in young adults. Heroin, produced from morphine, is a highly addictive and fast acting opiate. Opiates are used for treating pain, and are derived from opium, which comes from the poppy plant. They provide people with a sense of intense euphoria, which is partly why they are so addictive. Because heroin is so addictive, especially in comparison to other drugs, it leads to many deaths due to overdoses. This topic is increasingly important because heroin usage not only leads to death, but often leads to diseases like Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV, and others, creating more public health issues.

The initial effects are physical ones. Users get a rush, which makes their skin warm and flushed, dries out their mouth, gives them heavy feelings, makes them nauseous, makes them vomit, and gives them severe itching. For a few hours after heroin is taken, users continues to feel the effects, but more psychological ones. They may feel drowsy for hours. Their breathing and heart function may be slowed down, and their brain may become cloudy. There are also long-term psychological effects of using heroin. It can deteriorate the brain. This affects decision-making, the ability to regulate behavior, and the ability to respond to stressful situations. These effects, both long-term and short-term, can be detrimental to health, and some people’s

The Neurotransmitter affects the Endogenous Opioids. Heroin increases the Neurotransmitter causing you to not feel pain, for an example if someone pinch you it's possible you won't feel it.What's affected is the Analgesia and mood. Endogenous Opioids is known as the pain relieving system and it controls pain through communication. It changes the communication system because by using the drug it sends wrong messages to the brain. It changes the way you process messages.

One day I was listening to the police radio and I heard 3 overdoses on heroin, so I decided to make this article. What is Heroin? Heroin is drug made in multiple places around the world. It is predominantly made in South America, and to a lesser degree Southeast Asia. It is a white powder that is made from sugar, starch, powdered milk, quinine. Who uses it? Heroin is used by 4.2 Americans over the age of 12 as of 2012. How is it used? Well, heroin is used by injecting it in the vein, muscle, or under the skin. Heroin, once injected and in the brain is turned into morphine and attaches to opioid receptors. As a result there is the "rush", which is warm flushing skin, dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, and severe itching. After the "rush" users

“I am clean,” she quietly spoke. I didn’t understand what this meant. Clean? She had quite obviously bathed that day, because she smelled like the cologne she wore, and you could still, faintly, smell soap on her skin. I assume she saw the look of confusion on my face, so she reached into her back pocket and pulled out her wallet, which she then retrieved a small token. She placed it in my hand, and I spun it around. A triangle fit the entire coin, which had a number one in the middle of it, and around the perimeter read “to thine own self be true” and then below it read “unity, service, recovery”. I gripped it in my hand and then looked up at her. “I am a recovering heroin addict. I have been clean for a year. That is the token I received at my A.A. meeting on the anniversary of me being released from rehab and of me finally being released from heroin’s vice-grip”. The pit of my stomach jumped to my throat. Heroin? Like the stuff you see videos about, where people are practically zombies? In Paulding County” Yes, and one of her victims were sitting right in front of me. I sat back, trying my hardest to take this information in. Paulding County was not known for drug use; it’s a stereotypical suburban town, with SUVs in the driveway, kids playing in the cul-de-sac, all the while mothers were making casseroles and pies in the kitchen. My mind was racing, trying to figure out what the hell I had gotten myself into. Cade Evans, my girlfriend of five months, sat before me, her

When an individual has been a heroin addict he/she often recounts on his or her life as a functional purpose and tries to relate what goes on in the environment with what they feel about themselves. To them, their addiction is not only about recalling of events that they went through, rather, it is about using these stories for interpersonal persuasion, psychological regulation of self-concept and their moods (Singer 2013). Most importantly, they use it in pursuit of what they would want to achieve in life. They understand what goes on around them in terms of how they would relate with what they are going through and the impact that it would have in their present life. The focus is more on how it makes them feel at the moment and how it would