Heroin

Heroin is known as morphine diacetate or diamorphine when it is used in medical environment, it is also referred to as “black tar” among other names in colloquial language. Alder Wright was the first person to synthesize heroin in 1874 when he added two groups of acetyl to morphine molecules (Rubin, 2013). Heroine is an active drug which can also be used in medicine to treat severe pain that results from heart attack or injuries; it is absorbed in the body as morphine. According to Levert (2005), the word “heroin” is only used when discussing it in illegal form. Heroin is made from opium- a substance produced from the poppy plants’ resin and it is the raw material for heroin, the opium is further processed to make morphine and then refined to make heroin, its contents are a white crystalline substance that is majorly formed by hydrochloride salt whose low melting point makes it to be smoked like cigarettes (Rubin, 2013). Heroin is a highly addictive and illegal drug that is used by millions of people around the world, the victims are unable to overcome the urge to continue taking this dose in their every day lives, they become addicts and the consequences are fatal (Levert, 2005). International statistics on drugs estimated that about 13.5 million people globally takes opioids substances and more than 9.2 million out of that number used heroin in 2007. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported that more than 900,000 people were using heroin in United States by the year 2007 and the figure was on the rise. It is believed that more than 90% of the world’s opium supply comes from Afghanistan with an export economic value of more than $4 billion annually, only 25% of the income goes to farmers while 75% goes to traffickers and terrorism activities (Levert, 2005). This drug brings more destructive effects than the income it generates to poppy plant farmers, starting with the devastating effects it has on the user’s health, more negative consequences that are

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