Drug Wall Paper: Heroin

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Recommended: Cons of heroin

“According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), approximately

3.5 million Americans ages 12 and older reported trying heroin at least once during their

lifetimes. The average addict spends between $150 – $200 a day to maintain a heroin

addiction.” Heroin is a highly addictive opiate drug formed as a crystalline white powder

from morphine. Heroin was first synthesized in 1874, it is a potent drug derived from the

seedpods of poppy plants. It is used as a painkiller and a recreational drug. It is a “downer”

or depressant that affects the brain’s pleasure systems and interferes with the brain’s

ability to perceive pain and provides profound relaxation and intense euphoria.

Heroin can be used in a variety of ways, depending on user preference and the

purity of the drug. Heroin can be injected into a vein “mainlining”, injected into a muscle,

smoked in a water pipe or standard pipe, mixed in a marijuana joint or regular cigarette,

inhaled as smoke through a straw, known as “chasing the dragon,” snorted as powder via

the nose. Like most drugs the overwhelming sign of heroin addiction is the repeated need

for the drug, usually in larger quantities. The most obvious sign of heroin use is “track

marks” which are areas in the skin where blood vessels have been damaged by infection.

Users will try and use the smallest needle possible but heroin will damage the veins and

capillaries no matter what method is used. Eventually these veins will collapse and the

skin will develop scar tissue. Constricted pupils, respiratory depression, constipation and

confusion are also symptoms. When heroin is used the rush is usually accompanied by a

warm flushing of skin, dry mouth, and feeling...

... middle of paper ...

...body and brain. Unfortunately on illegal drugs such as heroin

there is no room for a warning label.

Works Cited

Kuhn, C., Swartzwelder, S., & Wilson, W. (2003). Buzzed: the straight facts about the

most used and abused drugs from alcohol to ecstasy (2nd ed.). New York: W.W. Norton.

Millennium Web Catalog. (n.d.). Millennium Web Catalog. Retrieved April 17, 2011, from

http://0-www.psychiatryonline.com.ksclib.keene.edu/content.aspx?aID=1724#1724

Millennium Web Catalog. (n.d.). Millennium Web Catalog. Retrieved April 17, 2011, from

http://0-www.psychiatryonline.com.ksclib.keene.edu/content.aspx?aID=1705#1705

Nutritional effects of marijuana, heroin, cocaine,... [ J Am Diet Assoc. 1990] - PubMed result.

(n.d.). National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved April 17, 2011, from

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2204648

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