Killer Heroin Research Paper
Killer Heroin Drug consumption is one of the most discussed and analyzed topics in society, literature, and scientific works. Drug use and abuse has persistently puzzled researchers, scientists, and law makers. During the last twenty years scientists have continued performing experiments, researchers have continued to research drug abuse and use, and law makers have continued to create new laws in hopes of regulating drug use.
Drug specialists and scientists have developed an assortment of methodologies for fighting ever-increasing drug consumption and law enforcement have made many attempts at gaining control of the drug trade. In order to narrow down the extent of drug use and abuse, focus will be placed on one particular drug – heroin. During the course of this essay we are going to investigate the history of heroin from its beginnings to present day. Next we will investigate the evolution of heroin. Lastly we will focus on what makes it so addicting and why so many people choose to use it.
What is heroin? Why is the death rate from using this drug increasing every year?
Heroin comes from opium. Opium is a milky white liquid that is extracted from immature poppy plants. Two opiates, codeine and morphine, are found in this milky white liquid and are used for …show more content…
pain medication today (MacKinnon, 2007).
Heroin was synthesized from morphine in 1874 by an English chemist, but was not produced commercially until 1898 by Bayer Pharmaceutical Company (Sneader, 1998). Later on, attempts were made to use heroin in place of morphine because of what was considered morphine abuse, but it turned out heroin was also highly addictive and eventually classified as an illegal drug in the United States. Heroin has been around for over 100 years and still to this day the use and abuse is increasing every year. The evolution of heroin is complicated because it didn’t start out as an actual drug, it was created using morphine (UOA, n.d.).
In 1805 morphine was isolated from opium and proved to be a much better pain reliever than codeine. It was used during the Crimean war and the U.S. Civil war for wounded soldiers. 69 years later a British chemist developed heroin from morphine in an attempt to find a more effective painkiller that didn’t have the addictive properties of morphine. This drug started out as a new pain medication to help people that were abusing morphine but in fact became something even worse and more addicting. The creation of heroin produced a subculture of compulsive heroin users (MacKinnon, 2007).
History shows that heroin started as an attempt to relieve pain but instead the new drug became more addicting, dangerous, and in the end, illegal. It started out as pain medication given to soldiers for war injuries and given to other people as a regular pain reliever. Heroin also became an easily attainable source of recreation. As heroin evolved, so did the concern of government and state law enforcement officials. As the twentieth century turned, governments began to enact laws prohibiting the production and the non-medicinal use of opiates. The hope was to create laws that would help reduce and eventually stop the use and abuse of opiates like heroin (Sneader, 1998).
There have been two major heroin epidemics in the United States. The first one began in the late 1940s and early 1950s; the second took place between 1969 and 1977. It was hard to find pure heroin and it is believed that heroin use dwindled because of the impurities found in it during the first epidemic. Heroin was mixed with many different substances before being sold on the streets. Heroin sold on the street is typically mixed with other drugs or substances. Heroin may be mixed with sugar, starch, powdered milk, talc, baking soda, caffeine, cocaine, or quinine. Heroin is also very expensive (UOA, n.d.).
During the second epidemic, heroin use was widespread amid soldiers serving in Vietnam. Opiates were cheap and available in Vietnam from 1969 to 1971, so soldiers could not only afford to buy heroin it was easy to get. Most of these soldiers were between 18 and 20 years old and were not allowed to purchase and consume alcohol so it is possible that they turned to heroin as recreational use, oblivious to the dangers of addiction. Most soldiers either snorted the heroin or mixed it with smoking tobacco and marijuana (Welsh-Huggins, 2014). There are different street names for heroin such as black tar, chiva, china white, junk, Mexican brown, skag, and smack. As you can see heroin has been around for quite some time and is still affecting people today. The state of Connecticut reported 10, 183 people were admitted for treatment just last year, up from 8,954 in 2012 (Welsh-Huggins, 2014). That is an increase of almost 2000 people. If this increase were to continue, the United States would be over taken by heroin abuse.
Last but certainly not least, what makes heroin so addicting? When heroin first arrived it was used as a pain reliever, but as studies have shown it was a highly addicting pain reliever and with addiction to heroin came abuse. Many people experiment with heroin thinking that they will try it once or twice and stop. People that start using heroin find it almost impossible to stop (UOA, n.d.).
A 15 year old named Sam was asked about his heroin use and his reply was, “When you first shoot up, you will most likely puke and feel repelled, but soon you’ll try it again. It will cling to you like an obsessed lover. The rush of the hit and the way you’ll want more, as if you were being deprived of air—that’s how it will trap you (FDFW, 2006).”
The risk of addiction is not always the most horrible outcome of experimenting with heroin. Jim was a 21 year-old man that would typically spend his evenings having a few beers with his friends. Jim had experimented with heroin in the past. Some of his friends offered him a line to snort so he accepted never imagining what might happen (FDFW, 2006). It did not take long for heroin to claim another victim. About fifteen minutes after inhaling the heroin Jim passed out. Jim fell into a deep coma that lasted for more than two months. Today, Jim must use a wheelchair, he is unable to write and can hardly read. Any dreams and hopes for the future Jim may have had, are now gone because of heroin (FDFW, 2006).
How does heroin make the user feel? What kind of feelings does it cause? According to researchers and scientists heroin creates a hazy type of ecstasy in the user. The first time a person tries heroin it creates a high feeling. It may cause the person to be more talkative and increase his or her ability to communicate with others. It may cause heightened sexual sensations (FDFW, 2006).
The first effect of heroin is like a rush and the user will feel a warm sensation and dry mouth. Once the first effects wear off the user feels drowsy and his or her heart and breathing will slow down. It does not take long for the effects of heroin to wear off. The intense feelings the user experiences may only last a few minutes and with continued use the user starts to need larger doses to create the same high feelings (FDFW, 2006).
Once the effect of heroin starts to wear off the user’s body starts to crave more heroin and he or she starts to experience withdrawal symptoms. The user starts to feel physical pain that is unbearable. Withdrawal from heroin brings restlessness, bone and muscle pain, diarrhea, and vomiting. These withdrawal symptoms create a need for more in the user (FDFW, 2006).
Long term use of heroin destroys the user’s body. Frequent use of heroin by injection causes the user’s veins to collapse and can lead to severe infections of the heart and blood vessels. Sharing needles is common among users so there is a high risk of hepatitis and HIV/AIDS among users. Long term use of heroin also causes bad teeth, gum irritation, constipation, cold sweats, a damaged immune system, severe itching, breathing troubles, weakness, paralysis, weight loss, coma, and possible death (FDFW, 2006).
In conclusion heroin is an overly addictive pain killer. What started out as a simple pain medication during war time, turned out to be one of the most addictive drugs in the world. It does not matter how old the person is he or she can become addicted. Preventing heroin addiction depends on a person’s will power and the ability to say no.
With addiction comes consequences, remember 21 year old Jim?
He snorted one line because his friends offered it to him. Because Jim said yes to that one line he ended up in a coma for two months then a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Heroin not only paralyzed Jim, heroin took his ability to read or write away. My sister-in-law’s sister was introduced to heroin at the age of 13, her addiction ended her life. Just like everything else addiction can be prevented with proper parenting, personal will power, and the ability to say no. Saying no and getting away from the users could ultimately help with the spreading of this addiction, but the truth is it all starts at
home.
ReferencesFoundation for a Drug-Free World (FDFW). (2006-2014). the Truth about Heroin. Retrieved from http://drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/heroin/i-ll-just-try-it-once.htmlMacKinnon, K. (2007). The evolution of heroin. Retrieved from http://thelabradorian.ca/opinion/columns/2007-05-08/article-1515373/The-Evolution-of-Heroin/1Sneader, W. (1998). The discovery of heroin. Lancet, 352 (9141) 1697-1699. Retrieved from http://www.web.a.ebscohost.com.exproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=e0aa1054-002a-4d2d-a7bc-00ad7fpb89c%40sessionmgr4001&vid=9&hid=4209The University of Arizona (UOA). (n.d.). Methamphetimine and other illicit drug education (MethOIDE). Retrieved from http://methoide.fcm.arizona.edu/infocenter/index.cfm?stid=174Welsh-Huggins, A. (2014). A look at heroin use, deaths in some US states. Retrieved from http://www.wral.com/a-look-at-heroin-use-deaths-in-some-us-states/13543183
Drug specialists and scientists have developed an assortment of methodologies for fighting ever-increasing drug consumption and law enforcement have made many attempts at gaining control of the drug trade. In order to narrow down the extent of drug use and abuse, focus will be placed on one particular drug – heroin. During the course of this essay we are going to investigate the history of heroin from its beginnings to present day. Next we will investigate the evolution of heroin. Lastly we will focus on what makes it so addicting and why so many people choose to use it.
What is heroin? Why is the death rate from using this drug increasing every year?
Heroin comes from opium. Opium is a milky white liquid that is extracted from immature poppy plants. Two opiates, codeine and morphine, are found in this milky white liquid and are used for …show more content…
pain medication today (MacKinnon, 2007).
Heroin was synthesized from morphine in 1874 by an English chemist, but was not produced commercially until 1898 by Bayer Pharmaceutical Company (Sneader, 1998). Later on, attempts were made to use heroin in place of morphine because of what was considered morphine abuse, but it turned out heroin was also highly addictive and eventually classified as an illegal drug in the United States. Heroin has been around for over 100 years and still to this day the use and abuse is increasing every year. The evolution of heroin is complicated because it didn’t start out as an actual drug, it was created using morphine (UOA, n.d.).
In 1805 morphine was isolated from opium and proved to be a much better pain reliever than codeine. It was used during the Crimean war and the U.S. Civil war for wounded soldiers. 69 years later a British chemist developed heroin from morphine in an attempt to find a more effective painkiller that didn’t have the addictive properties of morphine. This drug started out as a new pain medication to help people that were abusing morphine but in fact became something even worse and more addicting. The creation of heroin produced a subculture of compulsive heroin users (MacKinnon, 2007).
History shows that heroin started as an attempt to relieve pain but instead the new drug became more addicting, dangerous, and in the end, illegal. It started out as pain medication given to soldiers for war injuries and given to other people as a regular pain reliever. Heroin also became an easily attainable source of recreation. As heroin evolved, so did the concern of government and state law enforcement officials. As the twentieth century turned, governments began to enact laws prohibiting the production and the non-medicinal use of opiates. The hope was to create laws that would help reduce and eventually stop the use and abuse of opiates like heroin (Sneader, 1998).
There have been two major heroin epidemics in the United States. The first one began in the late 1940s and early 1950s; the second took place between 1969 and 1977. It was hard to find pure heroin and it is believed that heroin use dwindled because of the impurities found in it during the first epidemic. Heroin was mixed with many different substances before being sold on the streets. Heroin sold on the street is typically mixed with other drugs or substances. Heroin may be mixed with sugar, starch, powdered milk, talc, baking soda, caffeine, cocaine, or quinine. Heroin is also very expensive (UOA, n.d.).
During the second epidemic, heroin use was widespread amid soldiers serving in Vietnam. Opiates were cheap and available in Vietnam from 1969 to 1971, so soldiers could not only afford to buy heroin it was easy to get. Most of these soldiers were between 18 and 20 years old and were not allowed to purchase and consume alcohol so it is possible that they turned to heroin as recreational use, oblivious to the dangers of addiction. Most soldiers either snorted the heroin or mixed it with smoking tobacco and marijuana (Welsh-Huggins, 2014). There are different street names for heroin such as black tar, chiva, china white, junk, Mexican brown, skag, and smack. As you can see heroin has been around for quite some time and is still affecting people today. The state of Connecticut reported 10, 183 people were admitted for treatment just last year, up from 8,954 in 2012 (Welsh-Huggins, 2014). That is an increase of almost 2000 people. If this increase were to continue, the United States would be over taken by heroin abuse.
Last but certainly not least, what makes heroin so addicting? When heroin first arrived it was used as a pain reliever, but as studies have shown it was a highly addicting pain reliever and with addiction to heroin came abuse. Many people experiment with heroin thinking that they will try it once or twice and stop. People that start using heroin find it almost impossible to stop (UOA, n.d.).
A 15 year old named Sam was asked about his heroin use and his reply was, “When you first shoot up, you will most likely puke and feel repelled, but soon you’ll try it again. It will cling to you like an obsessed lover. The rush of the hit and the way you’ll want more, as if you were being deprived of air—that’s how it will trap you (FDFW, 2006).”
The risk of addiction is not always the most horrible outcome of experimenting with heroin. Jim was a 21 year-old man that would typically spend his evenings having a few beers with his friends. Jim had experimented with heroin in the past. Some of his friends offered him a line to snort so he accepted never imagining what might happen (FDFW, 2006). It did not take long for heroin to claim another victim. About fifteen minutes after inhaling the heroin Jim passed out. Jim fell into a deep coma that lasted for more than two months. Today, Jim must use a wheelchair, he is unable to write and can hardly read. Any dreams and hopes for the future Jim may have had, are now gone because of heroin (FDFW, 2006).
How does heroin make the user feel? What kind of feelings does it cause? According to researchers and scientists heroin creates a hazy type of ecstasy in the user. The first time a person tries heroin it creates a high feeling. It may cause the person to be more talkative and increase his or her ability to communicate with others. It may cause heightened sexual sensations (FDFW, 2006).
The first effect of heroin is like a rush and the user will feel a warm sensation and dry mouth. Once the first effects wear off the user feels drowsy and his or her heart and breathing will slow down. It does not take long for the effects of heroin to wear off. The intense feelings the user experiences may only last a few minutes and with continued use the user starts to need larger doses to create the same high feelings (FDFW, 2006).
Once the effect of heroin starts to wear off the user’s body starts to crave more heroin and he or she starts to experience withdrawal symptoms. The user starts to feel physical pain that is unbearable. Withdrawal from heroin brings restlessness, bone and muscle pain, diarrhea, and vomiting. These withdrawal symptoms create a need for more in the user (FDFW, 2006).
Long term use of heroin destroys the user’s body. Frequent use of heroin by injection causes the user’s veins to collapse and can lead to severe infections of the heart and blood vessels. Sharing needles is common among users so there is a high risk of hepatitis and HIV/AIDS among users. Long term use of heroin also causes bad teeth, gum irritation, constipation, cold sweats, a damaged immune system, severe itching, breathing troubles, weakness, paralysis, weight loss, coma, and possible death (FDFW, 2006).
In conclusion heroin is an overly addictive pain killer. What started out as a simple pain medication during war time, turned out to be one of the most addictive drugs in the world. It does not matter how old the person is he or she can become addicted. Preventing heroin addiction depends on a person’s will power and the ability to say no.
With addiction comes consequences, remember 21 year old Jim?
He snorted one line because his friends offered it to him. Because Jim said yes to that one line he ended up in a coma for two months then a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Heroin not only paralyzed Jim, heroin took his ability to read or write away. My sister-in-law’s sister was introduced to heroin at the age of 13, her addiction ended her life. Just like everything else addiction can be prevented with proper parenting, personal will power, and the ability to say no. Saying no and getting away from the users could ultimately help with the spreading of this addiction, but the truth is it all starts at
home.
ReferencesFoundation for a Drug-Free World (FDFW). (2006-2014). the Truth about Heroin. Retrieved from http://drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/heroin/i-ll-just-try-it-once.htmlMacKinnon, K. (2007). The evolution of heroin. Retrieved from http://thelabradorian.ca/opinion/columns/2007-05-08/article-1515373/The-Evolution-of-Heroin/1Sneader, W. (1998). The discovery of heroin. Lancet, 352 (9141) 1697-1699. Retrieved from http://www.web.a.ebscohost.com.exproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=e0aa1054-002a-4d2d-a7bc-00ad7fpb89c%40sessionmgr4001&vid=9&hid=4209The University of Arizona (UOA). (n.d.). Methamphetimine and other illicit drug education (MethOIDE). Retrieved from http://methoide.fcm.arizona.edu/infocenter/index.cfm?stid=174Welsh-Huggins, A. (2014). A look at heroin use, deaths in some US states. Retrieved from http://www.wral.com/a-look-at-heroin-use-deaths-in-some-us-states/13543183