Heroin By Sam Robinson, Rico Baltazar, and Abhay Srinivas
Dec 25, 2015
Heroin
By Sam Robinson, Rico Baltazar, and Abhay Srinivas
What is heroin?
Heroin is a powder that can be multi-colored due
to additives put into it.
The drug is highly addictive and illegal; people
continuously use it because they don’t want to
experience withdrawal.
Comes from poppy plants
Usually injected into body, but can be smoked
or snorted as well
OriginsHeroin was first manufactured in 1898 by the
German company Bayer Pharmaceutical, for use in the
treatment of tuberculosis. Surprisingly, heroin was
also used as a remedy for morphine addiction.
Heroin became a major problem after it became a
substitute for the morphine dilemma in the U.S.
Origins (continued)Heroin was first synthesized by C.R. Alder Wright in
1874, and made by adding two acetyl groups to the
morphine molecule.
Soon after the heroin “craze”, methadone, a drug
first manufactured in 1937 by German scientists in
their search for a surgical painkiller, was shipped to
the U.S., becoming even more addictive than heroin.
Stats9.2 million people use heroin in the world
In the U.S., 153,000 people use heroin
4 out of every 5 drug related deaths were caused by opiates,
mainly heroin.
16 million people worldwide use opiates
Opiates, mainly heroin, are responsible for 18% of
submissions into drug and alcohol treatment in the U.S.
Between 1995 and 2002, the number of teens who use heroin
has increased by 300%.
Effects: Short term
Extroverted Feeling
Temporary sense of
heightened sexual
performance
Aches and pains (in
bones)
Hypothermia
Drowsiness
Initial feeling of
heightened senses –
people feel a “rush”
Warmer skin
Dry mouth
Clouded mental
functioning
Effects: Long termBad teeth
Collapsed veins
Infections of the blood
vessels and heart valves
Arthritis
AIDS
Hepatitis C2
Inflamed gums
Constipation
Cold Sweats
Thin, bony, sick feeling
Itchiness
Effects (continued): Long term
Immune system weakens and
deteriorates/breaks down, leading
to severe impacts on the body
(more disease prone) and
ultimately death
Warmer skin
Dry mouth
Clouded mental functioning
Increased tolerance after every
dose
Reduced sexual capacity
Menstrual disturbance in women
Inability to achieve orgasm
(men and women)
Insomnia
Loss of memory and appetite
Depression
The Heroin “Look”Fashion designers, photographers, and advertising
people/companies like Calvin Klein have encouraged
heroin use in youths because the drug is portrayed
as fashionable and desirable. One of the most
famous/popular heroin portrayals was the “heroin
chic”.
This has increased the overall usage of heroin in
people.
Types of Heroin
Cheese heroin – a mix of black tar, Mexican heroin,
and over the counter cold medication
• Relatively cheap
• Effects include – Slow breathing and heartbeat, death
• Children as young as 9 have become hooked on/addicted to cheese heroin
Street Names for Heroin Big H
H
Hell Dust
Nose Drops
Horse
Smash
Thunder
Brown
Gear
Smack
Skag
Why do people take heroin?Peer pressure
Want to be “cool”/fit in
Persuasion from dealers
Want to feel heightened and experience a “rush”.
Increased sexual performance (only temporary)
Even a single dose of heroin can make people addicts
and put them on the “road to
addiction”.
Interesting FactsBy the 1990s, the mortality rate of heroin addicts
was 20 times higher than the rest of the population
of drug users/addicts.
Heroin once frightened people – then, as heroin
became portrayed as fashionable and “cool”, the
massive addiction to the drug started.
Davide Sorrenti, a famous photographer whose
works often included and were associated with the
“heroin chic”, died due to a heroin overdose.
He was only 20 years old.
Interesting Facts(continued)
Heroin's various forms have increased in number in
recent years, making more tempting for people to take
and get hooked on than ever.
Many teenagers think that smoking heroin is less
risky (poses less dangers) than injecting it. This is a
myth, and it is completely false.
Dealers of heroin are extremely persuasive, and admit
using buyers/consumers of the drug as “pawns in a
chess game” - their only goal is to get the cash from
users and addicts.
Reasons People Take Drugs
To solve their problems
To fit in
To escape from life or relax
To relieve boredom
To appear grown up and adult - like
To rebel
To test the drug out and experiment (with it)
Don’tDo
Heroin,Kids.