Heroin

Heroin

The History of Heroin

• It was first a popular opium during the mid to late 1800’s

• It was brought by Chinese immigrant railroad workers

• The opium was then produced into morphine, a powerful numbing agent, but morphine became highly addictive during the Civil War when soldiers were being treated for injuries

• A new drug, heroin, was invented in Germany in 1874 and was said to be a better substitute for morphine

• Heroin and morphine was then produced in OTC drug kits and was sold between the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. They were marketed to cure all types of physical and mental illnesses

• They were pulled in 1920 after Congress enacted the Dangerous Drug Act and made OTC purchases of these drugs illegal after they realized the dangers of these drugs

How Is It Administered?

• Heroin can enter the body through injection, inhalation, snorting, sniffing, or smoking

• It doesn’t matter as all of these still reach the brain at rapid rates making it highly addictive

• Heroin is so highly addictive that users’ bodies can build up a heavy tolerance which can affect how much is needed to create the same high

• Heroin can also lead to dependance and the user will need to continuously use the drug to avoid withdrawal

Street Names

• Smack

• Brown Sugar

• Dragon

• Dope

• H

• Brown Crystal

• Mexican Mud

Classifications of Heroin

•Its federal classification is Schedule 1

•Schedule 1 is the most dangerous type of drug as it is highly abusive and causes severe psychological and physical dependance

What Chemicals are in Heroin?

•Heroin is made from the opium poppy plant

•the opium poppy plant is found in Middle E., SE Asia, Central and South America

•The main ingredient extracted is morphine

Physical Effects of Heroin

•The body feels heavy and sleepy right after use

•difficulty breathing

•dry mouth

•difficulty coughing

•nausea

Mental/Emotional Effects of Heroin

• Injection into the bloodstream is the fastest and most common way of administering the drug into the body as it starts working in about 10 seconds

• The “rush” lasts as long as the body breaks down the heroin into morphine

• The morphine gets absorbed into the opioid receptors and the user then starts to feel pleasurably drowsy for 4 to 6 hours

• The first high that the user experiences is usually always the strongest and as tolerance builds, the user needs more of the drugs to get the same feeling and to avoid withdrawal

Social Effects of Heroin

•Users eventually turn to a life of crime to obtain more heroin to avoid withdrawal

•A lot of the drug is imported from other countries through drug trafficking

Legal Consequences

•Users can face up to a year in jail and be fined from $1,000 to $100,000

•If death or serious bodily injuries occur, the distributor can face a life sentence or a fine of up to $8,000,000

Short-Term Drug Effects

• Nervous system- depresses the central nervous system and clouds mental functions

• Cardiovascular system- cardiac function slows, scarred or collapsed veins, infections of blood vessels and heart valves

• Respiratory system- difficult to breathe or cough, can result in a coma

• Digestive system- nausea

Long-Term Drug Effects

•Tolerance sets in making it harder to produce euphoric behavior

•Users become addicted and want more of the drugs and begin to crave it

•Withdrawal can occur 8-12 hours after the users last dose and can last for 7 to 10 days.

Medical Uses for Heroin

•Heroin is used for pain management or as a strictly controlled prescription medication

•Heroin is also used as addiction management when all other treatments fail

•Doctors prefer heroin over morphine because it is more fat soluble and can be given in smaller doses

Heroin w/ Alcohol

•Mixing these two can be very fatal and result in a coma and permanent brain damage

•The reason being is they both slow the central nervous system and disrupt blood and oxygen flow to the brain

Effects On Family & Society

•overwhelming stress on family members

•financial issues with maintaining the users addiction, which can result in spending an entire life savings, a child’s college fund, etc.

•The user can end up finding ways to make money illegally, for example, prostitution

Work Cited• http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/heroin

• http://casapalmera.com/nicknames-street-names-and-slang-for-heroin/

• http://www.justice.gov/dea/druginfo/ds.shtml

• http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/hero.html

• http://b.passagesmalibu.com/physical-effects-of-heroin-abuse/

• http://www.heroinaddiction2.com/heroin-mental-effects.htm

• http://thecyn.com/heroin-addiction/social-effects/

• http://www.drug-effects.com/heroineffects.htm

• http://healthyone.org/medical-uses-of-heroin/

• http://www.narconon.org/drug-information/heroin-history.html

• http://www.alcoholic.org/research/what-are-the-effects-of-mixing-heroin-and-alcohol/

• http://www.livestrong.com/article/57563-effects-heroin-addiction-families/