About
An illegal drug that started in 1898 and made from the natural substance extracted from the opium poppy plant called morphine. Its effects are more potent than that of opium and even morphine and can be highly addictive. It is used as an analgesic and for recreation purposes. Its methods of intake are being sniffed, injected, snorted or smoked.
The history of heroin began when a German pharmaceutical company named Bayer produced a substance that was 1.5 to twice as strong as morphine and decided to name it heroin, derived from the German word heroisch that means strong/heroic. Bayer initiated heroin’s commercialization even if they were not the first ones who made the drug.
The first marketing feat for heroin was as a treatment for tuberculosis and as a non-addictive replacement for morphine. The comparison between morphine and heroin does not differ significantly. In the 1850s, morphine was a cure for opium and when people turned to morphine for the addictive fix, heroin was considered as an alternative, not knowing that it would prove a more addictive substance.
This drug is originally a painkiller, like other opioids. It has helped forms of pain caused by surgery and terminal illnesses. Addiction to the drug started from prescription medications that were mostly opioid-based. 80 percent of users admitted that their compulsiveness was caused by the regulation of their intake of painkillers that increased their tolerance and made them crave for a substance that is stronger but cheaper.
The drug’s classification as a Schedule I drug in the United States indicates that it has no accepted form of medical use. While it has had its history of alleviating acute pain and severe physical trauma, over time its effects have created more negative responses in the body.
The substance’s physical appearance is often white; its pure form looks like white powder and the taste is bitter. During its production, it can be mixed with other ingredients such as sugars, quinine, starch, and even milk to make it less suspicious. It is also available in hues of brown and black, that is popularly referred to as black tar heroin. This variation of the drug is sticky and hard as coal with its color resulting in the repetitive processing of the the drug’s impurity. In this form, they are diluted and injected into the body to be absorbed.
Names
Heroin can be referred to in medical terms such as Diacetylmorphine, Diacetylmorphine, Diagesil, Diamorphine, Diamorf, Heroin Hydrochloride, Hydrochloride, Diacetylmorphine, and Min-I-Jet Morphine Sulphate.
The drug’s street names depend on the area that they are found or the ingredients that they are mixed with. These names can be identified as the following: Big H, Birdie Powder, Black, Black Eagle, Black Pearl, Black Stuff, Black Tar, Boy, Brown, Brown Crystal, Brown Rhine, Brown Sugar, Brown Tape, China, Chieva, China White, Chiva, Dope, Dragon, H, He, Hera, Hero, Heron, Herone, Horse, Junk, Mexican Brown, Mexican Horse, Mexican Mud, Mud, Number 2, Number 3, Number 4, Number 8, Pluto, Scat, Skag, Skunk, Smack, Snow, Snowball, Tar, White, White Boy, White Girl, White Horse, White Lady, White Nurse, White Stuff, and Whit Hazel.
Spanish terms for heroin are: Bombita, Brea, Blanco, Bonita, Caballo, Calbo, Carga, Carne, Chapopote, Chatarra, Chicle, Cocofan, Gato Heroina, La Buena, La Chiva, Polvo, Tecata, Tigre, Tigre Blanco, Tigre del Norte, Vidrio, and Zoquete.
Effects
It enters the body by binding to opioid receptors in cells. This activates the release of the dopamine, the hormone/neurotransmitter in the brain that is responsible for the response of pleasure. When dopamine is released, it creates a feeling of happiness and well-being and it is this surge of pleasure that users feel after immediately taking the drug.
When the sensation has subsided, it is followed by a feeling of drowsiness or confusion for several hours. Depending on the person’s reaction, a user can experience what is called “going on the nod” where one goes back and forth to a conscious or semiconscious state. Other effects upon drug intake are having a dry mouth, experiencing warm flushing of the skin, heavy feeling in the outer extremities (legs and arms), nausea, vomiting, severe itching, and clouded mental functioning.
Heroin’s potency is two to five times stronger than that of morphine; it is also stronger than prescription opioids such as oxycodone and hydrocodone. As it enters the body, its effects can become instantaneous especially when the mode of entry is through snorting or injecting it in the bloodstream.
Effects of the drug on the body differ because individuals have different ways of reacting. The drug can also be mixed with miscellaneous ingredients that can either enhance or subdue its ordinary symptoms. Long-term effects are the result of regular heroin use that causes more extensive and permanent damage. These are collapsed/clogged veins, constipation, stomach cramping, damaged nasal tissues, illnesses in the digestive system, heart or circulatory infections including infection of the heart lining and valves, hypoxia (low oxygen in the blood), insomnia and other sleep disorders, liver damage, lung complications (pneumonia), sexual dysfunction, and fatigue.
Like all illicit drugs, habitual use will most likely affect mental faculties. This could extend to experiencing mental cloudiness, cognitive damage, personality, and antisocial disorders. The most extreme effects of the drug are respiratory failure, coma and, in the worst case, death.
Addiction and Treatment
Addiction to heroin starts with dependence on the drug. After failed attempts of quitting the habit, it should be decided that treatment for addiction is ideal. There are different modalities that could lead a user to sobriety. It is highly recommended that people who have loved ones or friends undergoing drug abuse, particularly heroin, discuss treatment options with a professional.
Withdrawal symptoms are part of the treatment process. Once the user has decided to be sober, the individual is forced to go through a period of time without the drug, which can be from 24 to 48 hours. It is during or after this that withdrawal symptoms start. These can last for a week or even as long as a few months. Without the substance altering the body, it can slowly go back into functioning normally but this usually takes medical intervention and will power. Heroin withdrawal symptoms include cold flashes, diarrhea, insomnia, muscle and bone pain, restlessness, and vomiting.
