Uses and Effects of Heroine

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Heroin is a powerful and dangerous drug that can alter both your brain and vital organs, which can influence our mental health and our human behavior. It’s the second largest death producing drug besides cocaine, it affects over 650,000 addicts in the United States alone.The creation of Heroin starts from a Asian poppy plant, specifically, Papaver Somniferum. The latex that immature pods secrete when cut are created into morphine, which is then treated and created into Heroin or Diacetylmorphine. (Pamphlet)

During its first uses, the opium, which is derived from the latex that immature pods secrete when cut, was used to treat diarrhea and headaches. These uses stretch back to around 3400 B.C. and was first used in Mesopotamia, then spread rapidly to the Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and then the Egyptians. The Opium became an important factor in the Egyptian trade; so much that it spread into Greece, Carthage, India, Persia, and China. Overtime the problem increased as its recreational use skyrocketed, making it such an issue China banned it and it caused two wars, named the Opium Wars; between Britain and China dealing with the trade of Opium on Chinese territory.

When first introduced to the world, Heroin was made as a non-addictive substitute to morphine, which proved to be the opposite of the intended cause. (Deeney) Used as a cough suppressant and the non-addictive substitute, it was first tested on dogs and rabbits. Causing slower respiratory action slowing, and heart function was diminished and almost seen as abnormal due to the heartbeat. Heroin was seen to be much more addictive than Morphine itself. This caused the government to control the sale and distribution, making it illegal outside of the government's k...

... middle of paper ...

...is, abscesses, liver disease, pneumonia, as well as complications of lung and brain function. There is a lot of effects on the skin as well, with injection sites full of holes; as well as harming the skin much like methamphetamine, leaving the addicts disfigured and destroyed, mentally and physically.

Works Cited

"Heroin." Pamphlet by: National Institute on Drug Abuse. National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1999. 1. Student Resources in Context. Web. 28 Jan. 2014.

"Heroin." Drugs and Controlled Substances: Information for Students. Ed. Stacey L. Blachford and Kristine Krapp. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Student Resources in Context. Web. 28 Jan. 2014

Deeney, Jeff. "Hoffman and the Terrible Heroin Deaths in the Shadows." The Atlantic. The Atlantic, 3 Feb. 2014. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. ,

"Heroin Statistics." Michaels House. Michaels House, n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2014.

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