This paper is intended to educate those who almost nothing about heroin and those who use it. Many people have been associated with friends or families who have used some kind of drug. There are many people who have not had any contact with heroin users or if they have, don’t understand much about it. Using various sources about heroin to explain where it came from, how it is used, who uses it and how a person starts on the path towards heroin, preventing addiction, and global issues surrounding this drug. Although the topic of heroin is inexhaustible, it is my hope to spark reader’s curiosity. Knowledge of this drug might just help the reader join in on discussions about heroin.
INTRODUCTION
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A few street names for heroin are smack, dope, brown sugar, black tar and dragon.
INTRODUCTION 4
It is never asked for on the streets by its clinical name, diamorphine. There is a common street phrase used about and by those whose lives are wrapped up in heroin addiction which is: “chasing the dragon”. Seems like such a curious phrase but once translated with knowledge, it makes sense. Heroin gives the user an incredible rush of happiness and well being that cannot be experienced in normal life. But, usually after two hours the high is over. Sometimes, one time using heroin is all it takes to create an addict who cannot bear to live without ever feeling the rush again. With other people, it may take 3 or 4 times using to become an addict depending on the amount taken. Chasing the dragon is looking for that high. And, when not high, the user feels physically and psychologically so horrible that he must have it whether by injecting, inhaled or smoked to alleviate his discomfort. A logical question is “Why would one even begin to take heroin? They have to be crazy!”
Chasing the dragon, most know it as heroin, is an opiate that is an extremely addictive class one drug. Heroin is known as chasing the dragon because, when you first use heroin, you feel euphoria. You keep trying to get more and more of the drug to feel the same feeling you did the first time you used heroin, but it is never the same because your body has created a tolerance for the drug. Therefore, you are chasing a drug that is very destructive and bigger than yourself, just like a dragon. You are chasing after the dragon wherever you can and do whatever you can to get more. We, as Catching Dragons, are a safe-house for drug addicts, more specifically, heroin. Too many deaths come from drug overdoses in Licking County so we have come up with a plan to stop the addiction through a healthy, therapeutic environment by creating a place they can go to seek refuge and help for many loved ones in need.
Another form of heroin in the western United States is called, "Black Tar Heroin". This type may be sticky or hard. "Black Tar Heroin" is only produced in Mexico and is distributed throughout the Western part of the United States. The color of "Black Tar Heroin" varies from dark brown to black. The color represents the poor processing methods used to illegally manufacture heroin in Mexico. "Black Tar Heroin" is sold in a tar like form with its purity ranging from 20% to 80%. "Black Tar Heroin" is often dissolved, diluted, or injected (United States).
There is no cookie cutter heroin user. In fact, many of heroin’s newest addicts are in their teens or early 20s; many also come from middle- or upper-middle-class suburban families. Heroin is a dangerous drug that has many different “street names” such as Smack, Mud, Dope, Dragon, and Junk. The scientific names are diacetylmorphine or morphine diacetate, also known as diamorphine.
Since the 19th century, the illicit drug, heroin, has been a part of American society. When heroin was first discovered it was thought to be a wonder drug because of the euphoric feeling a person is said to feel after using it. However, once the debilitating effects of this highly addictive drug was realized the anti-drug law, the Harrison Narcotics Act, was enacted that restricted its use to medicinal purposes only. In 1920, heroin was banned altogether through the Dangerous Drug Act (Habal, 2011). Heroin for the most part was thought to have gone underground until the Vietnam War.
Heroin has been a quiet crisis on the rise over the last few decades, wreaking havoc on communities and families. Hesitance to talk about the heroin crisis makes it difficult to fight the growing trend of abuse. According to the National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health, the increase of heroin abuse has risen 80 percent since 2002 (Jones). The medical effects of addicts abusing their bodies and neglecting their health are a variety of medical conditions. A short term abuser may experience depressed respiration, distorted mental functioning, nausea and vomiting (Volkow). The long term effects of heroin abuse can be addiction, infectious disease as in HIV, hepatitis B and C, collapsed veins, bacterial infections, abscesses and infection of the heart
Since the early times, opiates, heroin, and other drugs have been used in providing analgesia as well as substitutes to reach a place of euphoria. Originally, as Yurgelum-Todd et al (2009) has noted, derived from the opium poppy, heroin has been used as an alternative to morphine in dealing with addiction (Yurgelum-Todd, p. 175, 2009). Unfortunately, over the years it has consistently become prevalent that heroin has more negative aspects than anything; heroin is highly addictive, resulting in consequences such as overdoses, infections, violence and crime, deficits in memory, learning, and
Today, in society, there has been a huge rise in the amount of deaths due to heroin overdose and addiction. Heroin and opiate addiction is something that needs to be recognized within our society in order to help protect one another. In this essay, I will explore the different methods of treatment, health insurance issues, and how the addicts affect the society. Information involving treatment for heroin and opiate addicts needs to be more prevalent in society because we do not hear much about how to treat addicts until something goes wrong. With knowing that there are these issues in society, information about treatment and help needs to be addressed more affectively in order to prevent death and other health issues from occurring. Insurance is also a major factor that goes along with treatment, and I believe that treatment and other rehabilitation programs should partially be covered by health insurance in order for the whole process to be affordable. All of the educational parts of these issues go untouched because it is not talked about in many societies; in a news article by Dan Dearth he discusses the concerns of many police officers within the area of Washington County, MD. The police officers believe that Heroin is the up and coming drug that is going to affect many citizens, and there is no education about how Heroin affects an individuals body and mental stability. Therefore, the educational part of this situation needs to be introduced more within the society
The heroin epidemic is striking the United States rapidly and despite many efforts made, it cannot be contained. Heroin is an opiate drug that is synthesized from morphine, a naturally occurring substance (“DrugFacts: Heroin”). It can be injected, inhaled by snorting/sniffing, or smoked (“DrugFacts: Heroin”). It is a deadly drug that is killing people daily everywhere, striking people of all ages including teenagers and adults. Although heroin is illegal, people still obtain the drug. The addiction strikes with one use. Heroin use is a serious issue and needs to be stopped with efforts from people within the community and more efficient funding.
Heroin the most addictive flower that hooks users for life that brings the destruction of life. The poppy flower that grasp human mentality by the knees holding them enslave to the euphoria state that the mind has a craving wanting more. This poppy flower has addicts wanting more to have another fix of the poppy flower juice that gives another dose of heroin high. Heroin is easy to search for when looking in the direction for a euphoria journey. As Anthony Brooks (NPR) said “Heroin is the number one dope that could be sold at a cheaper price.” The people that can’t afford their medications through doctor’s orders or a single over-the-medication they look toward the cheapest price of a drug that may take away the pain for a few three hours of pain free. The hook of heroin’s’ grip never lets one go making the mind crave for more like chocolate the sweetness that gives the careless feeling of becoming less than human but a junkie and a dope fiend. The documentation of the Heroin Crisis documentary that America is the dope fiend paradise where addicts can get a fix anywhere without being notice of heroin use and heroin being transported from Mexico, South America, Asia, Laos, Vietnam and Afghanistan the number one supplier. The dope that brings current users wanting more for the craving of heroin and creating new users to make a profit through the heroin addiction that leaves victims overdosed to
Heroin goes by the street names dope, smack, junk, dragon, H, black tar, horse, snow, scag, antifreeze, joy flakes, liquid O, aunt hazel, aries, ballot, lady white, China, white, China white, Mexican horse, Mexican mud, tar, brown, gear, nighttime, and many other names, as well an extensive list of names in Spanish.
It is likely that at some point in a person’s life it will be necessary to obtain medical assistance due to a chronic illness, injury, or sudden accident that requires a physician’s diagnosis and perhaps prescription medication. Although this very routine happening may be necessary, and at times critical, the adverse effects of taking prescription drugs that contain opioids can lead to an addiction, possible overdose, and death. The research contained continues the debated topic focusing on the connection between heroin addiction and massive numbers of people who developed a dependency after taking legally prescribed opioid pain medicine. The topic will be
Have you ever encountered a heroin user or even known one? If you did you probably knew very little about what the drug has become to them. No one sets out to be a heroin addict. Janice from New Jersey told reporters about her story, “I was a high-profile model and intravenous heroin addict. I copped on the street. Heroin doesn 't discriminate. It is unbearably wonderful for suppressing pain and generating a false sense of well-being. I loved heroin. Addicts who say "I hate heroin" are lying to themselves. We wouldn 't stick needles in our arms daily if we didn 't love the way it made us feel. But when it wears off, you 're in a hole so big it 's impossible to climb out. No one sets out to be a heroin addict. It 's not a lifestyle
Most addictive personalities concentrate on one main drug, heroin. Heroin first began as the drug of choice in ancient China through lighting and smoking opium. This was commonly referred to as “chasing the dragon.” In the United States demographic differences in substance abuse patterns can relate to the environmental surroundings. One misconception is that heroin is an urban drug centered around crime; however, the majority of heroin addicts tend to reside in the suburbs away from the inner city and its problems. Heroin addiction is the result of an addictive personality disorder. People are arrested and charged by the day with heroin use and possession. Heroin possession and use should
Purely made heroin is a white powdery substance with a tart taste. Most illegal heroin is sold in the form of a white or brownish powder and is often combined with other drugs. It is most often injected intravenously and also snorted or smoked. The intravenous method of administration is much faster and users experience euphoria quicker along with a warm sensation.
The effects of heroin are presented after using for long time. It starts with addictions and then it escalates with the medical consequences. Addiction is the greater effect because this will generate damage to physical health of the use. Overdose can be very dangerous for the user and can provoke convulsions, confusion, comma, and even death, among others. Heroin works as a central