Heroin Facts
Heroin is processed from morphine which is processed from opium. And opium is the juice of the opium poppy. Heroin is a fine white powder, in its purest form, though it is usually found in rose gray, brown or black- this comes from the additives put in it for the purpose of diluting it. Some names for it on the street are smack, horse, H, dope, junk, skag, skunk, white horse, china white and black tar. Heroin is one of the most addictive street drugs there is. It was first synthesized in 1874. Then from 1898 to 1910 it was marketed under the name heroin for the purpose of being a cough suppressant. Ironically it was used and promoted as a non-addictive form of morphine to get people off of morphine. Bayer (the German pharmaceutical company that synthesized heroin) exported the drug to 23 different countries.
Now the drug is used, of course illegally, by millions of people who are hooked on it throughout the world. A majority of the world’s heroin supply is made in Afghanistan. Other prevalent type of heroin in the U.S. (known as “black tar” heroin) comes from Mexico. The most common form of heroin is the very strong and potent kind, the kind that is injected into your bloodstream via a syringe. This high is immediate and reported to be extremely intense. An ironic fact is how it is even more addictive than morphine even though it was initially intended to deal with morphine addiction.
Heroin use and addiction has been and still is a major problem in the U.S., not to mention the world. People struggle every day with addiction because the withdrawal symptoms (a flu-like string of symptoms) are reported to be a pretty painful and equally uncomfortable experience. People who have gone through it dread the experience, and tend to avoid it by using more heroin. This is often what keeps people chasing their next fix- the fear of withdrawal. That being said, there are also tons of cases of brave individuals getting sober everyday with the help of proper treatment and support. Now there are loads of successful rehab clinics throughout the world hat have the tools available to get and stay clean for good.
How Heroin Is Used
There are several ways to use the drug. These include sniffing, smoking or injecting. Injecting is the most coveted and the most common. It is incidentally the most addictive way to use as well. What’s generally described from having used via the syringe is a lot more appealing than the other ways. Using by injection is normally described as a stable, bundled up feeling of warmth, relaxation, detachment, and no anxiety. Supposedly this feeling impaired with a very intense euphoria. And supposedly it will hit the user pretty much immediately. Heroin definitely slows the body down and is the virtual opposite of a stimulant. It’s the type of drug that is reported to halt pain (that of emotional and physical) in its track. However, the pain (physical), is sure to spring up once use is stopped during withdrawal. Another reason why injection is so popular is because the effects are said to last for several hours.
Using with a needle has its risks. If you use a dirty needle, which means you shared the needle, this is not hygienic which can spread fatal infectious diseases like HIV and Hepatitis B and C. This can also cause other really serious diseases as well (which can be life threatening), such as endocarditis, embolism or blood clot, botulism, tetanus and flesh-eating bacteria to grow. Blood poisoning can occur if the injecting causes a painful skin inflammation known as abscesses.
Aside from this, injection can cause overdose way more likely than any other type of heroin administration. This can cause the user to go into a coma and sometimes even death.
Who Uses Heroin?
The answer to this question is a complicated one to say the least. There is no set class of person that uses. This is a type of drug so strong that the most unexpected individuals can fall into continued use of it. Newer addicts, however, are said to be teens and people in their early twenties that come from middle to upper middle class suburban families. Aside from this, though, people from all walks of life may be wrapped up in a severe addiction to the drug. There is a rumor about the drug that most personal stories admit to being true, which is even using heroin once can lead to a lengthy addiction. You aren’t necessarily going to be able to pinpoint one specific type of person as being hooked on heroin. Users of this drug are rather diverse.
The Addiction Aspect
It’s a tragedy that so many younger people have gotten involved in using heroin especially taking into consideration that the chances of becoming addict to something are even higher if used before the age of 18. This conclusion is drawn from the concrete fact that 90% of Americans which have a substance abuse starting using before the age of 18. The brain is way more vulnerable the younger you are and teens are still growing and developing on not just a purely physical level but a psychological level as well. If a teen gets into the habit of leaning on a substance for support before they have had a chance to deal with life sober then chances are higher that they will continue to behave in that manner as they grow older.
In general addiction to heroin is very common and about one fourth of people who try it become hooked almost immediately. An estimated 13.5 million people are addicted to opiate substances. That being said, 9.2 million of those people are heroin users. Opiates are some of the most addictive types of drugs and heroin is the most addictive type of opiate there is. So you can see the challenge that a heroin addict has to face when needing to come clean from the stuff. It’s a big challenge to face sobriety, and a big commitment from the addict because of this. However, the sooner they would go through to process of getting clean, the better. The more they would drag out the addiction or not make a firm decision to truly be clean then the worse it will end up in the end. There are tons of rehab centers which can provide necessary support for recovery from a heroin addiction.
The bottom line is that most reformed heroin addicts say that the trouble they had to go through coming clean, along with the withdrawal symptoms, isn’t worth the glamorized high that heroin supposedly gives. In the end it is still a drug, and like any other drug there are severe consequences whether physical, mental, familial or even financial or all of the above. Millions of people continue to struggle with a heroin problem.
