Rydalch 1

Brittany Rydalch
Drugs and society
Gustavo Ibarra
Research Paper
Heroin
Heroin is a chemical derivative of morphine. It is three times as potent as morphine and a
major drug of abuse. It is part synthetic and part natural. Heroin comes from the drug opium.
Opioids are medications that help relieve pain. When it is administered or taken, it reduces the
intensity of pain signals that have reached the brain. It also effects the brain areas that control
emotion which as a result usually weakens effects of painful stimulus. When opioids are taken
they attach to specific proteins called opioid receptors they are in charge of reducing our
perception of pain. Opioids can also produce, drowsiness, mental confusion, nausea, constipation
and depressed respiration. Depending on the amount take
There are many types of Opioids prescribes today the most common types of opioids are
hydrocodone, morphine and codeine. Hydrocodone is prescribed for painful injuries and/or
conditions. Medicines prescribed are Vicodin, oxycodone, which include OxyContin or Percocet.
The next type is Morphine, this is usually administered before and after surgical procedures to
relieve severe pain. Medicines prescribed are Kalian and Avanza. The last common type is
Codeine, and it is used to treat mild pain. (3) The consequences of opioid abuse can be severe
depression, physical dependence and slowed breathing that can lead to hypoxia that can lead to
death.

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Heroin comes from the poppy plant there are three natural narcotics in heroin theses three
are morphine, codeine and thebaine. The poppy plant grows three to four feet high and can be
pink, red or purple. The process of getting opium is not as complicated as some would think.
When the leaves of the poppy plant have fallen off, incisions are made to the seed capsule. The
small incisions allow the juice to come out. The milky white substance is then collected and then
is left out and usually three days it turns into a brown powder. It is then boiled in lime and
ammonia to make a morphine base that dried over time in the sun into bricks which chemicals
are then added to make the drug.
Heroin in pure form which usually is white, can be smoked with a pipe, with other drugs
such as marijuana, and cocaine, known as a speed ball and tinfoil with a straw also known as
chasing the dragon. Users also crush into a powder and using a straw or sometimes money
rolled up it can be snorted. Another type of use is intravenously. This is used with black tar
heroin and a hypodermic needle is usually used. The user injects into a muscle, this is known as
mainlining. All methods give the user a rush, some methods give a more intense rush and
therefore used more than others. (6) When heroin enters the brain, it immediately turns back
into morphine, and the morphine than binds itself to receptors in the brain, known as opioid
receptors. These receptors are in charge of pain and digestion.
Heroin is cheap and easy to obtain. Today more people that are prescribed medications
and get hooked on them after a while they cant access the prescription so they turn to heroin.
Heroin is cheap and easier to get than prescription drugs, all types of people use heroin it isnt
targeted to one specific group. In the 1960s and 1970s young men from minority groups used
it more frequently. Today more white men and women use it and they usually are people that
live outside urban areas.

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Short term effects from heroin are also referred to as the effects that happen after using
the drug, also known as the high or the rush include but not limited to; in the nervous system,
euphoria, a combination of alert and drowsy state of mind, the mouth becomes very dry and the
skin feels warm and flushed. Your breathing slows down, some forget how to breathe altogether,
and finally there is weakness in the muscle.
The long term effects are the effects that happen after an extended use period, or the
ramifications that happen after the user has quit using. These effects are; Changes in physical
structure and physiology of the brain. Imbalances neuronal and hormonal. You may develop
HIV/aids, hepatitis c and b from sharing needles. Over time you become addicted to it and build
up a tolerance for it. This means more of it is required to feel the high. You develop a
dependence, where it is difficult to do every day activities or simple tasks without the use of it.
(5) Many get pneumonia from smoking it, along with an infection of the heart lining and valves.
Those who inject usually have collapsed veins from repeatedly injecting it. The havoc it causes
on the body usually brings about decreased liver function, problems with your bowels and
abscesses in the body.
Over time Heroin users build up a tolerance and require more to get high, since heroin
already slows your breathing and heartrate down considerably, unknowingly some use too much
which results in an overdose. Some experience a slowdown of the heart rate and breathing.
Person becomes extremely drowsy. There are treatments to help with overdose, the most
common is Naloxone. Naloxone is an opioid receptor antagonist, meaning when administered it
blocks the receptors that caused the overdose, and then are able to wake them up.
Withdrawal happens when the body is deprived of the drug it is used to having.
Withdrawal symptoms include; elevated body temp, increased blood pressure, pilo erections,

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erections that wont go down, pupil dilation, diarrhea, yawning painting and sneezing, (flu like
symptoms) teary and a running nose, spontaneous ejaculations, restlessness (twitching and
kicking), insomnia , pain irritability, depression and anxiety. Pain in your whole body, painful
body aches, and cramps. (5) There are methods to help with withdrawal and to help users get off
of the drug, they are known as the methadone treatment, where methadone is given to them to
help addicts control their cravings while helping them wean off of it. Medications such as
suboxone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone can be used as well. Therapy is also a great way to help
addicts get off of the drugs and live healthy normal lives and help restore mental functions. There
are many types of therapy that are available to help recover and help to live lives without it.
Heroin use over the years has increased in alarming numbers. Utah is ranked number
eight out of all fifty states in prescription medication abuse. One of the articles I read was about
why there is such a problem. Mormons are asked to abstain from using alcohol or illicit drugs
but, the path to heroin never starts out as them using heroin rather them being prescribed opiate
drugs for pain and such, and them abusing them. Over time the addiction grows and instead of
abusing prescription medications which have become more expensive to afford, they turn to a
more easy drug, heroin.
According to one of the articles, when law makers made OxyContin more expensive and
harder to attain desperate addicts turned to Roxycontin. When law makers took prescription
drugs off the streets, desperate addicts shot up.(1) The governor tried to take action to attempt to
stop the takeoff of the heroin problem. These actions were; granted immunity from drug use and
possession charges for anyone reporting a drug overdose by calling 911. Second was the Good
Samaritan law, which protects people from liability when they act in good faith and give
naloxone. (2) The problem is growing so rapidly and the cost is getting cheaper for users to

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score good heroin. According to DeBrueill, over the years dealers have gone so far to putting
popular logo of teen movies and handing them out for free to get people hooked. It cost five
dollars for a one tenth of a gram of heroin that has found to be sixty to ninety percent pure. In
2014 a bust of eleven dealers, over one hundred thirty six pounds overall of heroin was seized
along with forty regular heroin customers.

Works Cited

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Why does Utah have a Heroin problem? http://www.drug-addiction-help-now.org. Web. Sept.
26 2015
Heroin Rise in Utah http://www.journeycenters.com/news/heroin-use-riseutah..2015.Web.Sept.26 2015
DuBreuill, Steven M. Heroin Use Increasing among Utah Teens. http://www.hg.org. Web.
Sept. 26, 2015.
Mims and Albert. Utah-lake-salt-heroin.http://ww.Sltrib.com/sltriby May 14, 2014.Web.Sept.
26 2015
Inside Utahs struggle with drug abuse. http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/02/living/lisa-lingMormon-drug-abuse-essay.Oct. 6 2014.Web. Sept. 26 2015
What Is Heroin and How Is It. Used.http://www.what Is Heroin and How Is It Used.com.Web. 5
Nov. 2015.