Heroin Essay, Research Paper
Heroin
In the past twenty years heroin use has grown dramatically. Psychoactive
drugs have become the young person’s largest problem to face. Drugs have
become a part of even the most stereotypically normal family’s life. No
workplace, home, or school can be completely “drug proofed”. To live with
these drugs one must learn about them. Not knowing the facts about heroin
will ultimately lead to the drugs winning the game.
What is heroin?
Heroin is an opiate, which comes from the opium poppy. When the
opium poppy dies, a white substance is left. This substance hardens and
turns brown, becoming opium (Smith, 13). Heroin was created to treat
morphine addiction for men coming home from WWI. Only until it was too
late was heroin discovered to be more destructive than morphine.
What happens after a person uses heroin?
Heroin is an opiate or a downer that affects the brain’s pleasure and
pain systems. Heroin interferes with the brain’s ability to perceive pain and
page 1
activates the brain’s pleasure system. Heroin is a fast-acting drug, especially
when injected or smoked. Injected heroin reaches the brain in 15-30
seconds; smoked heroin reaches the brain in 7 seconds.
How many people use heroin?
It is extremely difficult to estimate how many people use heroin.
There is agreement among epidemiologists that heroin is the most under-
reported drug in terms of usage and that any usage statistics are unreliable.
Estimates range from 428,000 past-year heroin users (National Household
Survey, 1995) to 600,000 past week heroin users (Office of National Drug
Control Policy). On the other hand, some experts estimate that as many as
two to three million people in the United States use heroin recreationally.
How does heroin become addictive?
Once a person begins using heroin, he or she quickly develops a
tolerance to the drug and needs more and more to get the same effects
page 2
(Zackon, 45). Within one month, a new user might need much more than
his/her initial dose to get high. Many heroin addicts have intense cravings
for heroin but find it takes more and more heroin to get high. A regular dose
may simply result in reduction of the extreme discomfort associated with
withdrawal –getting straight or being not sick– but does not lead to the good
feelings of being high. Many users switch to injection as a more economical
way of use. It takes less injected heroin than smoked or snorted heroin to
achieve the same effects (Anonymous, 76). Heroin is psychologically and
physically addictive. The acute physical withdrawal is grueling and lasts up
to 72 hours. During this time, symptoms include vomiting, nausea, diarrhea,
cramping, and severe shaking. It can take months or even years to recover
from the physical addiction, and fighting the psychological addiction is a
lifetime battle. During this “protracted” withdrawal, recovering addicts battle
cravings and depression (Anonymous, 75).
What are some names for heroin?
Heroin is referred to as smack, horse, mud, black tar, Mexican mud,
china white, big H, junk, skag, *censored*, ‘H’, brown, harry, boy, dope, brown
sugar among many others (Washburne, 61).
page 3
How can you tell someone is using heroin?
Heroin users can be identified by many means: slow and slurred
speech, constricted pupils, droopy eyelids, impaired night vision, dry skin,
itching, skin infections, vomiting (at first use, and later at high doses), and
“nodding off” (at very high doses) (Washburne, 70). If anyone is found in
this state it is imperative to seek help from a methadone clinic or other forms
of addiction help.
Half gram bag
What affects does heroin have on the mind and body?
Along with the false euphoria heroin produces there are many short
term and long term affects. A few short term affects are: decreased sexual
pleasure, indifference to sex, sedation proceeding to coma, menstrual
irregularity, slow irregular heart rate, irregular blood pressure, reduced
appetite, and constipation. Long-term affects include: can impair immune
system, soft tissues in certain involuntary muscles (such as the intestines)
page 4
relax to the point of not working (Zackon, 66), HIV infection from injection,
and death from overdose.
Why is heroin appealing?
Heroin causes false senses of euphoria. The natural high humans get
from extraneous workout is produced from endorphins. Heroin causes the
glands that create endorphins to pump out extra amounts that human bodies
can not handle. The euphoric feeling is produced when the connection of the
drug and nerve cells are made (Mendelson, 66). Most heroin addicts have a
feeling of inadequacy and low self esteem (Mendelson, 89). The process of
finding, scoring, and doing heroin is the false sense of success that junkies
need (Smith, 25).
What is Heroin Withdrawal Like?
Heroin and other opiate withdrawal symptoms are extremely
uncomfortable, but are not likely to be fatal or lead to permanent injury
(Washburne, 63). The symptoms occur because there is no longer enough
opiate present to cause a pleasurable, or even a normal feeling. The
symptoms usually begin four to twelve hours after the last dose. The
page 5
symptoms typically reach their peak in thirty-six to seventy-two hours. Early
symptoms include: “goose flesh”, hot and cold flashes, runny nose, diarrhea,
abdominal cramps, pain and spasm, joint aching, insomnia, malaise (”feels
like the flu”), yawning, irritability, and sweating.
The intensity of the symptoms vary directly with the dose and
duration of use of the drug. These acute symptoms are usually greatly
improved by the fifth day and are largely gone by seven to ten days. (This is
true for heroin but may vary somewhat with other opiates such as
methadone where the symptoms tend to come on later and last longer.). This
acute withdrawal is followed by a “protracted abstinence syndrome” from
about week four to week ten or longer. It consists of a mild increase in blood
pressure, restlessness, restless sleep, irritability, and craving for the drug.
The Law
It is illegal to supply or possess opioids without a prescription, or to
produce, import or export them without authority. It is also an offence to
allow premises to be used for supplying or producing them. Heroin,
morphine, opium, methadone, dipapanone and pethidine are Class A drugs.
Codeine and dihydrocodeine (DF118) are Class B drugs unless they are
page 6
prepared for injection when they become Class A drugs.
Sources Cited
Anonymous. “Heroin Horrors: Hard Drugs, Hard Realities.” Teen: October,
1997m 75- 76.
Drug Abuse Carolyn Kott Washburne. 1997, San Diego: Lucent Books.
Heroin Sandra Lee Smith. 1991, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group
Heroin: The Street Narcotic Jack Mendelson, M.D. & Nancy Mello, Ph.D. 1986, New York: Chelsea House Publishers
Methadone Jack Mendelson, M.D. & Nancy Mello, Ph.D. 1985, New York: Chelsea House Pusblishers
Heroin Fred Zackon, M. Ed. 1986, New York: Chelsea House Publishers