Heroin

By Sam Robinson, Rico Baltazar, and Abhay Srinivas

What is heroin?

Heroin is a powder that can be multi-colored due

to additives put into it.

The drug is highly addictive and illegal; people

continuously use it because they don’t want to

experience withdrawal.

Comes from poppy plants

Usually injected into body, but can be smoked

or snorted as well

OriginsHeroin was first manufactured in 1898 by the

German company Bayer Pharmaceutical, for use in the

treatment of tuberculosis. Surprisingly, heroin was

also used as a remedy for morphine addiction.

Heroin became a major problem after it became a

substitute for the morphine dilemma in the U.S.

Origins (continued)Heroin was first synthesized by C.R. Alder Wright  in

1874, and made by adding two acetyl groups to the

morphine molecule.

Soon after the heroin “craze”, methadone, a drug

first manufactured in 1937 by German scientists in

their search for a surgical painkiller, was shipped to

the U.S., becoming even more addictive than heroin.

Stats9.2 million people use heroin in the world

In the U.S., 153,000 people use heroin

4 out of every 5 drug related deaths were caused by opiates,

mainly heroin.

16 million people worldwide use opiates

Opiates, mainly heroin, are responsible for 18% of

submissions into drug and alcohol treatment in the U.S.

Between 1995 and 2002, the number of teens who use heroin

has increased by 300%.

Effects: Short term

Extroverted Feeling

Temporary sense of

heightened sexual

performance

Aches and pains (in

bones)

Hypothermia

Drowsiness

Initial feeling of

heightened senses –

people feel a “rush”

Warmer skin

Dry mouth

Clouded mental

functioning

Effects: Long termBad teeth

Collapsed veins

Infections of the blood

vessels and heart valves

Arthritis

AIDS

Hepatitis C2

Inflamed gums

Constipation

Cold Sweats

Thin, bony, sick feeling

Itchiness

Effects (continued): Long term

Immune system weakens and

deteriorates/breaks down, leading

to severe impacts on the body

(more disease prone) and

ultimately death

Warmer skin

Dry mouth

Clouded mental functioning

Increased tolerance after every

dose

Reduced sexual capacity

Menstrual disturbance in women

Inability to achieve orgasm

(men and women)

Insomnia

Loss of memory and appetite

Depression

The Heroin “Look”Fashion designers, photographers, and advertising

people/companies like Calvin Klein have encouraged

heroin use in youths because the drug is portrayed

as fashionable and desirable. One of the most

famous/popular heroin portrayals was the “heroin

chic”.

This has increased the overall usage of heroin in

people.

Types of Heroin

Cheese heroin – a mix of black tar, Mexican heroin,

and over the counter cold medication

• Relatively cheap

• Effects include – Slow breathing and heartbeat, death

• Children as young as 9 have become hooked on/addicted to cheese heroin

Street Names for Heroin Big H

H

Hell Dust

Nose Drops

Horse

Smash

Thunder

Brown

Gear

Smack

Skag

Why do people take heroin?Peer pressure

Want to be “cool”/fit in

Persuasion from dealers

Want to feel heightened and experience a “rush”.

Increased sexual performance (only temporary)

Even a single dose of heroin can make people addicts

and put them on the “road to

addiction”.

Interesting FactsBy the 1990s, the mortality rate of heroin addicts

was 20 times higher than the rest of the population

of drug users/addicts.

Heroin once frightened people – then, as heroin

became portrayed as fashionable and “cool”, the

massive addiction to the drug started.

Davide Sorrenti, a famous photographer whose

works often included and were associated with the

“heroin chic”, died due to a heroin overdose.

He was only 20 years old.

Interesting Facts(continued)

Heroin's various forms have increased in number in

recent years, making more tempting for people to take

and get hooked on than ever.

Many teenagers think that smoking heroin is less

risky (poses less dangers) than injecting it. This is a

myth, and it is completely false.

Dealers of heroin are extremely persuasive, and admit

using buyers/consumers of the drug as “pawns in a

chess game” - their only goal is to get the cash from

users and addicts.

Reasons People Take Drugs

To solve their problems

To fit in

To escape from life or relax

To relieve boredom

To appear grown up and adult - like

To rebel

To test the drug out and experiment (with it)

Don’tDo

Heroin,Kids.