Heroin
Click on the links below to learn more about Heroin
1. Definition
2. History
3. Street Names
4. Drug Combinations
5. Terms Associated with Heroin Use and Abuse
6. Warning Signs of Use
7. Short Term Effects of use
8. Long Term Effects of use
9. Methods of Use
10. Myths
Heroin is an opiate drug that is synthesized from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of the Asian opium poppy plant. Heroin usually appears as a white or brown powder or as a black sticky substance, known as "black tar heroin." Heroin is a depressant. Depressants are drugs that inhibit the function of the central nervous system and are among the most widely used drugs in the world. These drugs operate by affecting neurons in the CNS, which leads to symptoms such as drowsiness, relaxation, decreased inhibition, anesthesia, sleep, coma and even death. All depressants also have the potential to be addictive.
Like aspirin heroin was first developed by chemists at the Bayer pharmaceutical company of Germany, and it was first introduced in 1898. Like its chemical cousin morphine, heroin is obtained from raw opium. One ton of raw opium will (after processing) produce 100 kilograms of heroin. ("South American Drug production," 1997)
Like aspirin, the drug that Bayer launched under the trademark Heroin in 1898 was not an original discovery. Diacetylmorphine, a white, odorless, bitter, crystalline powder deriving from morphine, had been invented in 1874 by an English chemist, C R Wright. But Dreser was the first to see its commercial potential. Scientists had been looking for some time for a non-addictive substitute for morphine, then widely used as a painkiller and in the treatment of respiratory diseases. If diacetylmorphine could be shown to be such a product, Bayer - and Dreser - would hit the jackpot.
When a chemist who developed diacetylmorphine first tried it , they reported that it made them feel "heroic" thus the drug was given the name heroin He also tested it on some of Bayer's workers, and on himself. The workers loved it, some saying it made them feel "heroic" (heroisch). This was also the term used by chemists to describe any strong drug (and diacetylmorphine is four times stronger than morphine). Creating a brand name was easy./p>
By 1899, Bayer was producing about a ton of heroin a year, and exporting the drug to 23 countries. The country where it really took off was the US, where there was already a large population of morphine addicts, a craze for patent medicines, and a relatively lax regulatory framework. Manufacturers of cough syrup were soon lacing their products with Bayer heroin.
There were heroin pastilles, heroin cough lozenges, heroin tablets, water-soluble heroin salts and a heroin elixir in a glycerine solution. Bayer never advertised heroin to the public but the publicity material it sent to physicians was unambiguous. One flyer described the product thus: "Heroin: the Sedative for Coughs . . . order a supply from your jobber." "It possesses many advantages over morphine," wrote the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal in 1900. "It's not hypnotic, and there's no danger of acquiring a habit." http://www.opioids.com/heroin/heroinhistory.html
There are a number of slang terms that people use to talk about heroin and they vary according to location and trends, popular songs of the moment and inside code words. There are, however, a number of terms that are relatively well known and refer to heroin across different age groups and population groups:
• Dragon • Dope • Heron, Herone, Hero, Hera, H, Big H • White, China White, White Nurse, White Lady, White Horse, White Girl, White Boy, White Stuff • Boy, He • Black, Black Tar, Black Pearl, Black Stuff, Black Eagle • Brown, Brown Crystal, Brown Sugar, Brown Tape, Brown Rhine • Chiba, Chiva, Chieva • Mexican Brown, Mexican Mud, Mexican Horse • Junk, Tar • Snow, Snowball • Smack, Scag, Scat, Sack, Skunk • Number 3, Number 4, Number 8
Combining heroin with different drugs is a common practice, so much so that there are special words to describe those combinations. Some of these are listed below.
• Atom bomb- Marijuana and heroin • Bars - Alprazolam and heroin • Beast, LBJ - LSD and heroin • Belushi, Boy-Girl, Dynamite, Goofball, H & C, He-She, Snowballs - Cocaine and heroin • Chasing the Dragon, Chocolate Rock, Dragon Rock, Eightball, Moonrock - Crack and heroin • Cheese - Cold medicine and heroin • China White - Fentanyl and heroin • Chocolate Chip Cookies, H bomb - MDMA and heroin • Cotton Brothers, New Jack Swing - Morphine and heroin • Meth Speed Ball - Methamphetamine and heroin • The Five Way - Heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, Rohypnol and alcohol
5. Terms Associated with Heroin Use and Abuse
The act of preparing heroin for injection or other use is a huge part of the addict's life, the preparation of the drug is highly ritualistic and with that has developed a language of its own.
• Bad Bundle, Crap, Crop, Flea Powder, Garbage, Ragweed - low quality heroin • Bag, Balloon, Bindle - what heroin comes in or a small quantity of heroin • Nickel Bag - $5 worth of heroin • Dime Bag - $10 worth of heroin • Twenty - $20 worth of heroin • Chipper - Someone who uses heroin occasionally • Cook - to mix heroin with water and dissolve it, preparing it for injection • Give Wings - to inject someone with heroin or teach them how to inject themselves • Nod - the effect that heroin has on someone, characterized by "nodding out" with eyes closed and their head on their chest. • Rig, Point, Works - the needle and syringe used to shoot heroin
The following are the warning signs of use:
• Pinpoint puplils • Unresponsive pupils to light • Cessation to physical pain • Lack of interest • Drowsiness • Slurred speech • Sweating • Vomiting • Nodding off • Drop in body temperature • Loss of appetite • Constipation
• "Rush" • Depressed respiration • Clouded mental functioning • Nausea and vomiting • Suppression of pain • Spontaneous abortion
• Addiction • Infectious diseases, for example, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B and C • Collapsed veins • Bacterial infections • Abscesses • Infection of heart lining and valves • Arthritis and other rheumatologic problems
• Addiction • Injection • Snorting • Oral (uncommon)
• Heroin is less dangerous when smoked or snorted • Heroin is a drug abused only by older drug users • Methadone is more harmful than heroin • Heroin users become addicted instantly • Abstinence is an appropriate treatment for Heroin addiction • All heroin rehab programs are alike