The Truth About Heroinwww.drugfreeworld.org

Heroin: what is it?• Addicts are unable to stop because they do not

want to face withdrawal• Heroin is made from the resin of poppy plants

just like opium and morphine• Milky sap-like opium is removed from the pod of

the poppy flower• The opium is refined to make morphine and is

then further refined to make heroin• Heroin is injected which creates greater risks

such as AIDS and other blood borne diseases

The Origins of Heroin•Heroin was first manufactured in 1898 in

Germany by a pharmaceutical company called Bayer

•It’s purpose was to treat tuberculosis and a remedy for morphine addiction

•Opium addiction was a huge problem in the 1850s

•The solution was to give them a less potent substitute - morphine

•Morphine addiction soon became a bigger problem than the opium addiction

•Another non-addictive substitute was created – heroin

•Heroin is more addictive than morphine or opium

•Methadone was then created to overcome the heroin addiction

•But like the rest it become addictive as well

What does heroin look like?•Heroin is a fine white powder in it’s purest form

•It commonly has a rose gray, brown, or black color

•The coloring comes from the additives which have been used to dilute it▫Sugar▫Caffeine▫Other substances

•Street heroin has sometimes been “cut” with poisons making it extremely dangerous

•The buyer of the street heroin never knows the exact strength or what is in the heroin

•The substances that are added sometimes do not dissolve causing blood clots what can lead to infection or destruction of vital organs

Methods•Injected, Smoked, and Sniffed•From the first time it is used the user

experiences a sensation of being high▫Extroverted▫Able to communicate easily▫Heightened sexual performance

•Highly addictive and withdrawal is painful•Breaks down immune system

▫Sick▫Thin and bony▫Death

Street Names•Big H•H•Junk•Skag•Horse

•Smack•Thunder•Hell Dust•Nose Drops

The Destructive Effects of Heroin• Initial effects

▫ Rush▫ Warm feeling of the skin ▫ Dry mouth▫ Sometimes vomiting and severe itching

• After initial effects cease body slows down and body goes into withdrawal if it does not get another fix▫ Restlessness▫ Aches and pain in bones▫ Diarrhea▫ Vomiting▫ Severe discomfort

• High only lasts a few minutes

Short Term Effects•Rush•Slowed Breathing•Clouded mental functioning•Nausea and vomiting•Sedation; drowsiness•Hypothermia•Coma or death

Long Term Effects• Frequent injections cause collapsed veins and

infections• Tuberculosis• Arthritis• Blood borne diseases

▫35,000 new hepatitis infections each year – 70% due to shared needles

• Muscular weakness, partial paralysis• Loss of appetite• Insomnia• Loss of memory and intellectual performance

•Drugs equal death. If you do nothing to get out, you end up dying. To be a drug addict is to be imprisoned. In the beginning, you think drugs are your friend (they may seem to help you escape the things or feelings that bother you). But soon, you will find you get up in the morning thinking only about drugs.

•“Your whole day is spent finding or taking drugs. You get high all afternoon. At night, you put yourself to sleep with heroin. And you live only for that. You are in a prison. You beat your head against a wall, nonstop, but you don’t get anywhere. In the end, your prison becomes your tomb.” - Sabrina

The Heroin Look• Heroin once frightened people but now people are trying

to make it fashionable• Look of an addict

▫ Blank expression▫ Waxy complexion▫ Dark circles under the eyes▫ Sunken cheeks▫ Excessive thinness▫ Greasy hair

• Now they are promoted in popular magazines as “chic”

• Davide Sorrenti’s photography was known as heroin chic but ironically he died at the age or 20 of a heroin overdose

New Face of heroin•12 years old, play video and enjoys the

music of his generation•Could be smart, stylish, and have no

common traces of heroin use•Available in many forms now that

teenagers think smoking or snorting the drug is better than injection but reality is that all forms are highly addictive and dangerous

Cheese Heroin•Blend of black tar Mexican heroin and

over the counter cold medication•Costs only a couple of dollars•Children as young as 9 have been hooked

and have been sent to the hospital•Combination of the drugs cause vital

body functions to slow down and result in death▫Breathing and heartbeat