Heroin: What Has It Done To Our Society?
Heroin:
What has it done to our society?
Figure 1
(Some smoking heroin, Drug and Alcohol Rehab Headquarters, 2010)
Talia Krebs-Oppenheimer
Animal Behavior
Professor Goldberg
Abstract:
Heroin is one of the worlds most dangerous drugs when addicted. It is widely used in American culture and many other places. This drug can be found throughout the world, one of the largest producers of opium in Afghanistan with Mexico coming in after it. Heroin comes from the opium poppy, which looks like a regular poppy, but when it is cultivated and grown in the right climate it can be turned into heroin, morphine or codeine. Heroin is one of the drugs, which you are less likely to become addicted too except if you are in a hard emotional …show more content…
stage in life and using heroin. The United States is one of Mexico’s biggest buyers of heroin, which helps keeps Mexico generate money, even if it is illegally. There have also been many celebrities that have overdosed on heroin, for example the Glee star Cory Monteith recently passed away because he overdosed on heroin.
Purpose of Paper:
This paper has been written to discuss the use of heroin in our society.
Heroin is one of the few drugs that come from the opioid plant. This drug can be highly addictive because of the type of high that it gives off. It does not give you the same type of high that marijuana does but it feels like a rush of energy rushing through your body. With many drugs, they can consume your body and your life making your addiction one of the most important duties that you’re body needs you to help feed.
Introduction:
Heroin is an opium derivative, which means that it comes from the opium poppy. Opium became a popular drug in the 1800’s when the Chinese immigrants brought it to the United States when they came here to work on the railroads. Heroin is sometimes called the “flower of joy” because of the feeling it gives off when smoked or taken. It is one of the most powerful painkillers known to man. It is one of the three drugs that can be made from the opium poppy; the other two are morphine and codeine. Morphine and heroin are very similar drugs because they have some of the same effects but because it is not a natural drug it is more powerful. Opium poppies grow best when they are in dry, warm climates, similar to China, Mexico and now more popularly found in Afghanistan, which are some of the locations that are poppy rich. This drug has affected many of societies biggest celebrities have been affected by. It can be a very powerful drug when it is used frequently …show more content…
enough.
Figure 2
(Opium poppy with sap dripping out taken from Wayne’s World)
What is Heroin? :
The opium poppy has been cultivated for more than five thousand years for many different uses in the medical field.
Up until 1920, heroin, morphine and other opium derivatives were sold legally and Congress did not regulate them. It was not until 1920 when Congress realized that these drugs could potentially be dangerous to the users (http://www.narconon.org/, 2013). Before heroin became such a lethal and popular drug, morphine was the choice for many people. It was developed as a painkiller because it eliminated severe pain and with the numbers of people who were returning to the United States with war related injuries the numbers of users increased highly (http://www.narconon.org). Within 10 years of morphine being introduced to the United States, the numbers of users rocketed. Heroin was introduced to the United States as a substitute for morphine because it was “safe, non-addictive”. There are many different names for heroin: smack, brown, black or in medical terms diamorphine. The drug is only called heroin when it is being sold illegally otherwise it is called by the medical name of diamorphine. It is not used on a daily bases in the medical field but when it is used, it is used to treat severe pain such as someone who is recovering from a heart attack or a severe
injury.
Can you become addicted?
When looking at the many kinds of drugs that are cycling through our society on a daily bases, heroin is moderately addictive when comparing it next to other drugs for example methamphetamine. If the user has had emotional problems with their self or a history of trauma and perhaps a disadvantaged lifestyle, the risk of becoming addicted to heroin is very high. There are many symptoms that may be seen when someone is addicted to heroin; examples of them are shortness of breath, small pupils, sudden changes of behavior, cycles of hyper alertness followed by nodding off (http://www.timberlineknolls.com/). Many of these effects are shared between different drug addictions as well. One of the most common ways to know that someone is using heroin is finding unique heroin paraphernalia that is only used with heroin, this may be aluminum foil with burn marks, burned silver spoons, straws with burn marks. It is very important if you know someone who is addicted to make sure that they get the proper help that they need to stop the use of heroin. Even though it may not be the most dangerous drug available, it is still very dangerous when abused.
Effects of Heroin Use:
Heroin is an opioid analgesic, which means that it is a drug that comes from the opium plant and is used to help relief pain. It is an active drug, but when in the body it is converted into morphine. There are many effects that can happen when addicted to heroin. The reasons why most addicts continue to use drugs is because their bodies have gotten very accustomed to the way the body feels when it is high off of the drug. The heroin high is termed “heroin intoxication” is for many reasons why the users continue to take this dangerous drug. It can create many problems that the person will have to live with for the rest of their lives because of a tiny decision they made when they were younger. When injected into the body heroin becomes morphine and other metabolites, which bind to opioid receptors in the brain. Some of the side effects of heroin can appear shortly after the first dose but then may disappear for some hours. When using heroin, the user should know that there could be very severe circumstances when using. Many people have overdosed on heroin; the symptoms for overdosing are slow and shallow breathing, muscle spasms that can lead to a coma, which could possibly lead to death.
Diseases That Can be Contracted When Using:
Heroin addicts may be at risk for contracting different diseases that may be shared through the use of dirty syringes or the reuse of needles. Some of the diseases could be HIV, Hepatitis B and C and other blood-borne pathogens that we can become infected with by sharing needles or injection paraphernalia that have been used by a user whom is affected by one of these diseases (http://www.drugs.com/opium.html, 2013). NIDA has done research and found that after a user finds out that they have contracted HIV or another infectious disease, they are interested in changing their behaviors and stopping the use of the drug. It can be very hard to quit using drugs, after being addicted but when there you have exposed to HIV/ AIDS, there can be a much bigger want to stop using and attend a treatment center to get better. These centers can be highly effective when the patient is willing to stop using the drug (http://www.dsd.gov.za/, 2013).
Figure 3
Diagram of symptoms of AIDS (Taken from http://www.drugs.com/opium.html) Where does heroin come from? :
Heroin is cultivated from opium poppies. The poppies grow best when they are in dry, warm climates. Some of the countries that it is most prevalent are China, Mexico, around some of the mountains that border Pakistan and Afghanistan. These areas are very poppy rich, which means that the soil there is very good for growing poppies. Many of the poppy fields are on small plots of land. The opium is then refined into morphine and then into acetic anhydride, which is a chemical that is also used in the production of aspirin. Opium poppies are mostly grown in Afghanistan Southeast Asia because of the weather that they have there. As of 2004 Afghanistan was accounted for producing 87% of the worlds diacetylmorphine. There is also some cultivation of opium in Sinaloa, Mexico and in Columbia. Most of the heroin that is found in the United States comes from Mexico and Columbia. In past years, before the Mexican drug cartels had become so large, most of the heroin came from Columbia, but recently, the Mexican drug cartels have become more violent and powerful at making sure that they are the sole providers and cultivators of heroin in this area.
Mexican Drug Cartel:
For many years there have been problems for the Mexican government that have been caused by drugs. Mexico is a natural supplier of illegal drugs to the biggest market in the world, the United States (Chabat, 2002). It makes it very hard for the government to fight the cartels because of how much power they have over many of the countries in Mexico. There has been a war on drugs going on in Mexico since 1912, when Mexico supported the Hague International Opium Convention (Chabat, 2002). After this, Mexico became a large producer of heroin and opium and provided for the United States. In 1970, Operation Condor was implemented because of the pressure that the Nixon administration showed towards the Mexican government. They wanted to see what a country could do about fighting drugs if there was political help. For a long time, it was hard to attempt to stop the cartels from drug trafficking because many of the large cartels had partnerships with members of Mexico’s government. The four largest cartels are the Sonora Cartel, Tijuana Organization, the Juarez Cartel and the Gulf Group (Chabat, 2002). It is very hard to get rid of these organizations because of their partnerships with administrators who work for the government. Another reason as to why the government is working with the cartels is that, they generate nearly $15 billion dollars annually (Chabat, 2002). The cultivation of marijuana and opium require lots of manual labor, which is when the labor of many Mexicans whom are looking for work comes into play. Since the rise of the drug cartels, Mexico has become a very dangerous country for its people and for its visitors. There have been many murders of innocent people because the drug cartels have invaded their land and are using it as a “safe” haven for its people.
Heroin in Popular Culture:
Over the years, there have been many well-known actors who have used heroin in the past or whom have died from an overdose. It can be very hard for the public to see actors that we look up to die because of an overuse of a certain drug. Recently the Glee star, Cory Monteith was found dead in a hotel room with heroin and a few bottles of alcohol on the nightstand table. For many of the Glee fans, they are young children who looked up to Cory because he was such a powerful character on the TV show. Even though they may be too young to know what heroin is, there is still a chance that they find out. Children have been learning about topics that they should not know about until they are older at very young ages. There have been many studies done that show that children know what different types of drugs are, starting in middle school. It is very disturbing to know that children are learning about these activities at such young ages. Another famous actor that has been influenced by heroin in Robert Downey Jr., he has for a long time battled heroin abuse.
Harm Reduction:
There are many organizations/groups that are working to help heroin and other drug addicts, either completely stop using or giving out sterile needles for free. In big cities, there is usually a certain area, in which drug addicts can be found in, because drugs are readily available there and perhaps cheaper than in other locations. With this, come many dirty needles thrown around improperly, that people have already used. Addicts who have less money may find these dirty needles and use them regardless of the fact that they know that they have been previously used. When sharing needles, you are not just sharing a needle; you are also sharing any diseases that the person may have contracted throughout their life. With groups similar to Avert, which is a needle exchange program to reduce the spread of blood- borne viruses like HIV or Hepatitis C (http://www.avert.org/needle-exchange.htm, 2013). These types of organizations, as well as providing clean needles, also educate the users on safe sex, access to prevention programs and ways for safe injection practices. Needle exchange programs may be run by NGOs, hospitals or different medical facilities.
Conclusion:
There have been many studies that involve heroin addicts and the extent of their abuse to the drug and how it may affect them short term and long term. Heroin is a very powerful drug when it is abused, but out of many of the other hard-core drugs it is one of the less likely drugs to be addicted to. The use of drugs has affected our society in many ways. Younger and younger teenagers are able to acquire drugs in ways that 50 years ago, nobody would have imagined. Even if they are not acquiring hard drugs they are becoming aware of different types of drugs that are being used today. There are many actors and actresses that have overdosed on heroin or other drugs, that have been made open for the public to know about and comment on. It is very hard to keep overdoses out of the public eye.
Literature Cited
Avert. Needle Exchange & HIV Prevention. 2013. http://www.avert.org/needle-exchange.htm Chabat, J. 2002. Mexico’s War on Drugs: No Margin for Maneuver. Journal of Annals of the American Academy of Political Science and Social Science 582:134-148
Department of Social Development of the Republic of South Africa. 2013. http://www.dsd.gov.za/Figure 1. Diagram of someone smoking heroin from a spoon taken from Drug and Alcohol Rehab Headquarters
Figure 2. Diagram of opium poppy dripping sap taken from Wayne’s World
Figure 3. Diagram of different symptoms of AIDS that can be contracted when using heroin taken from Opium and Heroin Factsheet
Narconon International. 2013. http://www.narconon.org/Opium and Heroin Factsheet. 2013.
http://www.drugs.com/opium.html
What has it done to our society?
Figure 1
(Some smoking heroin, Drug and Alcohol Rehab Headquarters, 2010)
Talia Krebs-Oppenheimer
Animal Behavior
Professor Goldberg
Abstract:
Heroin is one of the worlds most dangerous drugs when addicted. It is widely used in American culture and many other places. This drug can be found throughout the world, one of the largest producers of opium in Afghanistan with Mexico coming in after it. Heroin comes from the opium poppy, which looks like a regular poppy, but when it is cultivated and grown in the right climate it can be turned into heroin, morphine or codeine. Heroin is one of the drugs, which you are less likely to become addicted too except if you are in a hard emotional …show more content…
stage in life and using heroin. The United States is one of Mexico’s biggest buyers of heroin, which helps keeps Mexico generate money, even if it is illegally. There have also been many celebrities that have overdosed on heroin, for example the Glee star Cory Monteith recently passed away because he overdosed on heroin.
Purpose of Paper:
This paper has been written to discuss the use of heroin in our society.
Heroin is one of the few drugs that come from the opioid plant. This drug can be highly addictive because of the type of high that it gives off. It does not give you the same type of high that marijuana does but it feels like a rush of energy rushing through your body. With many drugs, they can consume your body and your life making your addiction one of the most important duties that you’re body needs you to help feed.
Introduction:
Heroin is an opium derivative, which means that it comes from the opium poppy. Opium became a popular drug in the 1800’s when the Chinese immigrants brought it to the United States when they came here to work on the railroads. Heroin is sometimes called the “flower of joy” because of the feeling it gives off when smoked or taken. It is one of the most powerful painkillers known to man. It is one of the three drugs that can be made from the opium poppy; the other two are morphine and codeine. Morphine and heroin are very similar drugs because they have some of the same effects but because it is not a natural drug it is more powerful. Opium poppies grow best when they are in dry, warm climates, similar to China, Mexico and now more popularly found in Afghanistan, which are some of the locations that are poppy rich. This drug has affected many of societies biggest celebrities have been affected by. It can be a very powerful drug when it is used frequently …show more content…
enough.
Figure 2
(Opium poppy with sap dripping out taken from Wayne’s World)
What is Heroin? :
The opium poppy has been cultivated for more than five thousand years for many different uses in the medical field.
Up until 1920, heroin, morphine and other opium derivatives were sold legally and Congress did not regulate them. It was not until 1920 when Congress realized that these drugs could potentially be dangerous to the users (http://www.narconon.org/, 2013). Before heroin became such a lethal and popular drug, morphine was the choice for many people. It was developed as a painkiller because it eliminated severe pain and with the numbers of people who were returning to the United States with war related injuries the numbers of users increased highly (http://www.narconon.org). Within 10 years of morphine being introduced to the United States, the numbers of users rocketed. Heroin was introduced to the United States as a substitute for morphine because it was “safe, non-addictive”. There are many different names for heroin: smack, brown, black or in medical terms diamorphine. The drug is only called heroin when it is being sold illegally otherwise it is called by the medical name of diamorphine. It is not used on a daily bases in the medical field but when it is used, it is used to treat severe pain such as someone who is recovering from a heart attack or a severe
injury.
Can you become addicted?
When looking at the many kinds of drugs that are cycling through our society on a daily bases, heroin is moderately addictive when comparing it next to other drugs for example methamphetamine. If the user has had emotional problems with their self or a history of trauma and perhaps a disadvantaged lifestyle, the risk of becoming addicted to heroin is very high. There are many symptoms that may be seen when someone is addicted to heroin; examples of them are shortness of breath, small pupils, sudden changes of behavior, cycles of hyper alertness followed by nodding off (http://www.timberlineknolls.com/). Many of these effects are shared between different drug addictions as well. One of the most common ways to know that someone is using heroin is finding unique heroin paraphernalia that is only used with heroin, this may be aluminum foil with burn marks, burned silver spoons, straws with burn marks. It is very important if you know someone who is addicted to make sure that they get the proper help that they need to stop the use of heroin. Even though it may not be the most dangerous drug available, it is still very dangerous when abused.
Effects of Heroin Use:
Heroin is an opioid analgesic, which means that it is a drug that comes from the opium plant and is used to help relief pain. It is an active drug, but when in the body it is converted into morphine. There are many effects that can happen when addicted to heroin. The reasons why most addicts continue to use drugs is because their bodies have gotten very accustomed to the way the body feels when it is high off of the drug. The heroin high is termed “heroin intoxication” is for many reasons why the users continue to take this dangerous drug. It can create many problems that the person will have to live with for the rest of their lives because of a tiny decision they made when they were younger. When injected into the body heroin becomes morphine and other metabolites, which bind to opioid receptors in the brain. Some of the side effects of heroin can appear shortly after the first dose but then may disappear for some hours. When using heroin, the user should know that there could be very severe circumstances when using. Many people have overdosed on heroin; the symptoms for overdosing are slow and shallow breathing, muscle spasms that can lead to a coma, which could possibly lead to death.
Diseases That Can be Contracted When Using:
Heroin addicts may be at risk for contracting different diseases that may be shared through the use of dirty syringes or the reuse of needles. Some of the diseases could be HIV, Hepatitis B and C and other blood-borne pathogens that we can become infected with by sharing needles or injection paraphernalia that have been used by a user whom is affected by one of these diseases (http://www.drugs.com/opium.html, 2013). NIDA has done research and found that after a user finds out that they have contracted HIV or another infectious disease, they are interested in changing their behaviors and stopping the use of the drug. It can be very hard to quit using drugs, after being addicted but when there you have exposed to HIV/ AIDS, there can be a much bigger want to stop using and attend a treatment center to get better. These centers can be highly effective when the patient is willing to stop using the drug (http://www.dsd.gov.za/, 2013).
Figure 3
Diagram of symptoms of AIDS (Taken from http://www.drugs.com/opium.html) Where does heroin come from? :
Heroin is cultivated from opium poppies. The poppies grow best when they are in dry, warm climates. Some of the countries that it is most prevalent are China, Mexico, around some of the mountains that border Pakistan and Afghanistan. These areas are very poppy rich, which means that the soil there is very good for growing poppies. Many of the poppy fields are on small plots of land. The opium is then refined into morphine and then into acetic anhydride, which is a chemical that is also used in the production of aspirin. Opium poppies are mostly grown in Afghanistan Southeast Asia because of the weather that they have there. As of 2004 Afghanistan was accounted for producing 87% of the worlds diacetylmorphine. There is also some cultivation of opium in Sinaloa, Mexico and in Columbia. Most of the heroin that is found in the United States comes from Mexico and Columbia. In past years, before the Mexican drug cartels had become so large, most of the heroin came from Columbia, but recently, the Mexican drug cartels have become more violent and powerful at making sure that they are the sole providers and cultivators of heroin in this area.
Mexican Drug Cartel:
For many years there have been problems for the Mexican government that have been caused by drugs. Mexico is a natural supplier of illegal drugs to the biggest market in the world, the United States (Chabat, 2002). It makes it very hard for the government to fight the cartels because of how much power they have over many of the countries in Mexico. There has been a war on drugs going on in Mexico since 1912, when Mexico supported the Hague International Opium Convention (Chabat, 2002). After this, Mexico became a large producer of heroin and opium and provided for the United States. In 1970, Operation Condor was implemented because of the pressure that the Nixon administration showed towards the Mexican government. They wanted to see what a country could do about fighting drugs if there was political help. For a long time, it was hard to attempt to stop the cartels from drug trafficking because many of the large cartels had partnerships with members of Mexico’s government. The four largest cartels are the Sonora Cartel, Tijuana Organization, the Juarez Cartel and the Gulf Group (Chabat, 2002). It is very hard to get rid of these organizations because of their partnerships with administrators who work for the government. Another reason as to why the government is working with the cartels is that, they generate nearly $15 billion dollars annually (Chabat, 2002). The cultivation of marijuana and opium require lots of manual labor, which is when the labor of many Mexicans whom are looking for work comes into play. Since the rise of the drug cartels, Mexico has become a very dangerous country for its people and for its visitors. There have been many murders of innocent people because the drug cartels have invaded their land and are using it as a “safe” haven for its people.
Heroin in Popular Culture:
Over the years, there have been many well-known actors who have used heroin in the past or whom have died from an overdose. It can be very hard for the public to see actors that we look up to die because of an overuse of a certain drug. Recently the Glee star, Cory Monteith was found dead in a hotel room with heroin and a few bottles of alcohol on the nightstand table. For many of the Glee fans, they are young children who looked up to Cory because he was such a powerful character on the TV show. Even though they may be too young to know what heroin is, there is still a chance that they find out. Children have been learning about topics that they should not know about until they are older at very young ages. There have been many studies done that show that children know what different types of drugs are, starting in middle school. It is very disturbing to know that children are learning about these activities at such young ages. Another famous actor that has been influenced by heroin in Robert Downey Jr., he has for a long time battled heroin abuse.
Harm Reduction:
There are many organizations/groups that are working to help heroin and other drug addicts, either completely stop using or giving out sterile needles for free. In big cities, there is usually a certain area, in which drug addicts can be found in, because drugs are readily available there and perhaps cheaper than in other locations. With this, come many dirty needles thrown around improperly, that people have already used. Addicts who have less money may find these dirty needles and use them regardless of the fact that they know that they have been previously used. When sharing needles, you are not just sharing a needle; you are also sharing any diseases that the person may have contracted throughout their life. With groups similar to Avert, which is a needle exchange program to reduce the spread of blood- borne viruses like HIV or Hepatitis C (http://www.avert.org/needle-exchange.htm, 2013). These types of organizations, as well as providing clean needles, also educate the users on safe sex, access to prevention programs and ways for safe injection practices. Needle exchange programs may be run by NGOs, hospitals or different medical facilities.
Conclusion:
There have been many studies that involve heroin addicts and the extent of their abuse to the drug and how it may affect them short term and long term. Heroin is a very powerful drug when it is abused, but out of many of the other hard-core drugs it is one of the less likely drugs to be addicted to. The use of drugs has affected our society in many ways. Younger and younger teenagers are able to acquire drugs in ways that 50 years ago, nobody would have imagined. Even if they are not acquiring hard drugs they are becoming aware of different types of drugs that are being used today. There are many actors and actresses that have overdosed on heroin or other drugs, that have been made open for the public to know about and comment on. It is very hard to keep overdoses out of the public eye.
Literature Cited
Avert. Needle Exchange & HIV Prevention. 2013. http://www.avert.org/needle-exchange.htm Chabat, J. 2002. Mexico’s War on Drugs: No Margin for Maneuver. Journal of Annals of the American Academy of Political Science and Social Science 582:134-148
Department of Social Development of the Republic of South Africa. 2013. http://www.dsd.gov.za/Figure 1. Diagram of someone smoking heroin from a spoon taken from Drug and Alcohol Rehab Headquarters
Figure 2. Diagram of opium poppy dripping sap taken from Wayne’s World
Figure 3. Diagram of different symptoms of AIDS that can be contracted when using heroin taken from Opium and Heroin Factsheet
Narconon International. 2013. http://www.narconon.org/Opium and Heroin Factsheet. 2013.
http://www.drugs.com/opium.html