Drug Abuse: Heroin

Drug Abuse: Heroin

Introduction

A drug is defined as the chemical substance which, when used or taken into the body, alters the function of the body both psychologically and/or physically. Once the drug finds its way into the body, the drug changes the message the brain cells send to other parts of the body, and to each other. The change in behavior is due to the interference of drug with chemical signals of the brain. The drug alters that behavior of the neurotransmitter that sends signals across synapses. Drugs can be categorized as both legal (e.g. alcohol, tobacco) and illegal (e.g. ecstasy, heroin, cannabis, cocaine). This paper focuses on the illegal category of the drug. The drug focused here is Heroin.

Discussion

Profile

Heroine is the regarded as them most problematic drug of the world. It is considered as the highly addictive drug Class A drug. Class A drugs are considered as the most harmful drugs of the world, and its usage can lead to the death of the user (The Science and Technology Committee, 2006). The biological name of heroin is diacetylmorphine. Heroine is the processed form of morphine, a drug with painkilling properties. Morphine is extracted form a plant which is naturally occurring in Middle East and Southeast region of the world. It is extricated from the seed shell of the Opium poppy plant. The purest from of heroine is very rare to find. A pure heroine is bitter in taste and white in color.

The appearance of heroine varies with the region it is found in. In the eastern part of US heroin is usually sold as an off white color powder. In the western part of US heroin is available in a solid form which is black in color. The “black tar” heroin usually found in Mexico is found to be cheaper due to conventional extraction process and is extremely dangerous and addictive (Drugabuse.gov, 2013). Heroin is sold under various names such as Hell dust, Junk, Thunder, White junk, Boy, Dope, H, Chiva and Dead on arrival. The heroine that is mostly sold in the streets varies from dark-brown powder to white powder. The variations in the color of heroin are due to the left out impurities in the manufacturing process. The color difference can/or also be found due to the presence of other additives or drugs like quinine, and powdered milk.

History

The growth and cultivation of the first opioid, Opium dates back from the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia 3400 BC. It was initially used by Egyptians as a pain killer. It was Greeks who introduced opium to Indian and Persia, where it was grown in huge quantities. When the opium was introduced in India, it was a British colony, and EIC started exporting it to China using it to trade for tea. By the time, it was discovered that opium was injurious to health two wars were already fought between British and China in 1839 and 1856. These wars were fought to stop the export of opium to ...