As
early as 1996, it was evident that heroin use was becoming
increasingly popular among younger Americans. In fact,
from 1991 to 1995, heroin use among the nation's young people
roughly doubled, while the percentage of teens that considered
heroin use dangerous declined. There were a variety of
reasons for these shifts, perhaps none more critical than
the increased purity of the drug.
Today,
in the year 2004, heroin use among teenagers is still popular,
although it may be harder for teens to find a heroin dealer
in suburban areas since September 11, 2001. Obviously, if
someone wants to find a drug enough, they will find the resources.
Afghanistan's number one export is opium, just an FYI. Eighty-five
percent of the world’s heroin comes from Afghanistan.
A Short History of Heroin
Heroin
is an opioid derived from the dried sap of the opium poppy.
Opioids have been used for euphoria and pain relief for thousands
of years. Heroin is in the same category of painkillers as
morphine, its derivatives and codeine. It was brought to China
by Arab traders in the eighth century. In later dealings the
British, East India Company became a chief supplier and promoter
of opium for the Chinese market.
When heroin
was first produced, it was thought it would be less addictive
than morphine. This did not prove to be true. In England heroin
is mixed with alcohol and given as an cocktail to terminally
ill cancer patients for pain relief. In the US, the FDA will
not approve it for this use, since it claims that morphine
is just as effective (and that heroin is broken down by the
body into morphine anyway). The photo on the left is of the
opium poppy flower, it is not illegal to grow them and they
are very beautiful. (Remember the poppy field in the Wizard
of Oz. “Poppies will make you sleep”).
How
to Recognize Heroin
Pure
heroin is a white powder that tastes really bad, but you probably
won't see it very often on the street,
at school or anywhere. Most heroin sold on the street to teens
and adults varies in color from white
to dark brown, but most will look like light brown sugar.
The color can tell you what country the drug came from. To
see more photos of the different "looks" of heroin
go to our drug photo page.
Heroin
Production
Heroin
today is produce is produced in makeshift laboratories and
shipped all over the world. The United States supply of heroin
mostly comes from Afghanistan,
Mexico, South America and Southwest
Asia. The
photo on the left is the opium poppy flower bulb.
EFFECTS:
The effects of heroin include significant pain
relief, but as dose is increased, euphoria is produced. Even
at doses where there is strong euphoria, coordination and
intellect are only mildly affected. Many people can function
fairly 'normally' while on heroin, it is the withdrawal of
the regular user that can kill them.
At
very high doses of heroin, sedation, respiratory depression
and coma may occur. People taking opioids with painful medical
conditions describe knowing the pain is present, but not caring.
Unfortunately tolerance quickly develops with heroin, with
more and more required just to feel normal. Addiction potential
is so high some users become criminals or prostitutes to support
their habit. There
are synthetic types of opioid medications, like Oxycodone,
Vicodin, Norco,-- medicines that are used for acute pain.
These can become addictive when not used with care. You may
become physically addicted, not psychologically. These drugs
need to be weaned off of to avoid seizure. Talk to your health
care provider if you have been taking these for recreational
use. (Which is not legal, btw).
What
is Speedballing?
Speedballing is
when heroin and cocaine are injected into the body together.
This is a deadly combination as it enters the body
very quickly when injected into a vein. Speedballing will
kill you. It is also used by "skin-popping" -- injecting
the drug just under the skin and not into a vein.
An
FYI - I had a reader ask if it was true that the very skinny
”runway models” used heroin to stay that thin. Yes,
many do. I had one who wrote me for help last year. She put
herself into a rehab program. I don't know how she is now.
To
older Americans, (maybe your parents), heroin was always a
drug that needed to be injected, but the more potent strands
readily available today allow the drug to be smoked or sniffed.
Suddenly, many people who would never consider trying heroin
by injection had new options, options they perceived as less
risky.
Dr.
Herb Kleber, Director of The Center on Addiction And Substance
Abuse (CASA), said, "non-injection makes it psychologically
easier to start, removing the needle barrier and letting the
individual delude himself or herself that such use is not
dangerous or addicting." However, one can die from an
overdose or become addicted from these non-injecting routes
as well. As the perceived risk went down, so did the age of
first use of heroin. In 1991, a national survey on drug abuse
put the average age of first-time heroin users at age 24.
By 1995, the average first-time user was 19 years old.
The
Partnership for a Drug-Free America launched a heroin abuse
campaign in June 1996. The goal was and remains to de-glamorize
heroin use. Today, while heroin use continues to be seen among
younger and younger Americans, the average age of first use
was down to 17.6 in 1997, and reports of kids as young as
13 using heroin are not unheard of. There is evidence that
kids in general are joining older Americans in rejecting the
drug. According to the Partnership Attitude Tracking Study
(PATS), the number of teens who have tried heroin has remained
stable over the past few years (in 1999, 3 percent said they
tried the drug in 1999, compared with 4 percent in 1997 and
1998). The Monitoring the Future study tells a similar story;
in 1999, 2.3 percent of 8th graders, 2.3 percent of 10th graders
and 2 percent of 12th graders said they had tried the drug,
all unchanged from 1998.
In
addition, since 1996 -- the year the Partnership's campaign
against heroin began -- teens' perceived risk associated with
the use of heroin has increased. In 1996, PATS research found
that 80 percent of 9th and 10th graders and 84 percent of
11th and 12th graders agreed strongly that heroin is a dangerously
addictive drug. In 1999, the figures are 85 and 88 percent,
respectively. Overall, 84 percent of
teens now agree strongly that heroin is a dangerously addictive
drug, and 90 percent of them strongly agree with the statement
heroin can wreck your life.
Again,
the Monitoring The Future study finds similar changes. In
1996, 52.5 percent of 12th graders surveyed said they saw
great risk in trying heroin once or twice. In 1999, that figure
stood at 56 percent. Dr. Lloyd Johnston, lead researcher for
Monitoring the Future, said, The untimely deaths of several
musicians and other celebrities from heroin use, as well as
the media campaign against heroin, may have influenced young
people's view of how dangerous a drug this is, even if it
is not being injected.
BTW,
according to a recent drug abuse survey, ninety-eight percent
of Americans believed that heroin was a very dangerous drug.
They are correct, and yet
this drug is now easy to buy &
is sold in very inexpensive doses. It is very available in
suburban areas of the US It is not only an inner city problem.
Ten dollars worth can get 5 kids very addicted. Or
kill one teen. End of story.
Check
out Heroin
and its Cousins and Prescription Drug Abuse in Teens. (Vicodin, Oxycontin, etc).
