| |
|
 |
Most street heroin is
"cut" with other drugs or with substances such as sugar,
starch, powdered milk, or quinine. Street heroin can
also be cut with strychnine, bleach or other poisons.
However, purer heroin is becoming more common and more
available today. A $20 "dope bag", or single dose, may contain 50
milligrams of powder and normally comes in green baggies
and white sealed
bags with an image brand stamped on the baggies.
Heroin is known by many different names. Street
Terms for Heroin are:
Antifreeze, Aries, Aunt
Hazel, Balloon, Ballot, Big Bag,
Big H, Big Harry, Black, Black
Tar, Black pearl, Black stuff,
Blanco, Bombs away, Bonita, Boy,
Bozo, Brick gum, Brother, Brown,
Brown crystal, Brown rhine, Brown sugar,
Bundle, Butu, Caballo, Caca,
Caps, Capital H, Carga, Carne,
Charley, Chicle, China cat, China
white, Chinese red, Chick, Chip,
Chiva, Cotics, Crap/crop, Crown crap,
la Cura, the Cure, Dead on
arrival, Diesel, D,
Dirt, Dog food, Doggie, Doogie/doojee/dugie,
Dooley, Dope, Dreck,
Duji, Dyno, Dyno-pure, Eighth,
Estuffa, Ferry dust, Galloping horse,
Gamot, Gato, Gear, George smack, Glacines, Golden girl, Golpe, Goma,
Good and plenty, Good H, H,
H Caps, Hache, Hairy, Hard candy,
Hard stuff, Harry, Harry Jones, Hazel,
Heavy Stuff, Heaven dust, Helen, Hell
dust, Henry, Hero, Heroin,
Heroina, Herone, Heron,
Hessle, Him, Hombre, Horse, Hot
dope, Hot heroin, HRN, Isda, Jee
gee, Jive, Jive doo jee, Jojee,
Jones, Joy flakes, Junk, Judas,
Kabayo, Karachi, Load, Manteca,
Matsakow, Mexican horse, Mexican mud,
Mister Brownstone, Morotgara, Mud,
Muzzle, Nanoo, New Jack Swing, Nice
and easy, Nickel deck, Noise, Nose,
Number 4, Number 8, Ogoy, Old Steve,
P-dope, Pangonadalot, Peg, Perfect
High, Poison, Polvo,
Poppy, Powder, Pulborn, Pure,
Rainbows, Rambo, Red
chicken, Red eagle,
Reindeer dust, Rhine, Sack, Salt,
Scag, Scat, Scate, Scott Schmack,
Smack, Schmeck, Skid,
Sleeper, Slime, Spider blue, Stamps, Stuff,
Sweet Jesus, Tar, Taste,
Tecate, The beast, The witch, Tic, Tootsie
roll, Thunder, Train, White junk,
White boy, White horse, White nurse,
White stuff, Witch hazel and most likely many many
more...
How Heroin is Consumed:
Heroin is snorted/sniffed, smoked/inhaled and/or
injected intravenously.
Almost all H users started off snorting heroin
back in the days and swore that they would never shoot up.
Back then, shooting up was rock bottom, just for junkies. Then inhaling/smoking, or what they call
'chasing the
dragon' came on the scene and those users said the same thing;
“I will never shoot up”.
At the
age of 19, I said the same thing, "I would never shoot
up"..
Sure enough, within a few years of snorting heroin I
started shooting up. I graduated from
snorting to sticking needles in my arm within a few
short years. Most H users have their friends shoot them
up at first and then in time, learn how to shoot
themselves up.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Injecting Heroin:
Injecting heroin is the last stage which brings the
ultimate high and the mark of death. Once you've made it
this far, you're as good as gone. You're done. You're
hooked. You're dead.
From here on out you become a slave to heroin. Your #1
priority, first thing in the morning will be to get that first fix
by any means necessary. You'll
need it just to feel normal. If you don't get it soon
then you'll become as sick as a dog, going through bone
crushing pain, ice cold chills and the worst withdrawals
know to man. Heroin withdrawal is a pure nightmare.
You would have been much better off smoking it or
snorting it rather than shooting up. This is the last
straw. If you don't realize that you have a problem by
now then kiss your life goodbye. You're done. Unless of
course, you start doing something about it.
A painful and almost deadly struggle, is the only way
out from here - that is, if you manage to make it out of
here alive. There must be a struggle. The only other way
out is death.
Injection, in addition to producing a unspeakable
"rush," is a more economical method of administration.
In other words, you'll get more bang for your buck.
By injecting the heroin, rather than smoking or inhaling
it, more intense highs are achieved with less heroin along
with a bonus “rush”. Addicts look forward to this
wonderful rush.
Users who choose this method generally inject directly
into a major vein on their arm (mainlining, banging,
shooting, slamming it), although some may start by
injecting under the skin (popping). Either way, injecting is rock
bottom for the heroin user.
Injecting requires the use of a needle to administer the
heroin
directly into the bloodstream. Typically, a heroin
addict may inject up to four times a day or more.
Shooting up provides the greatest rush and most rapid
onset of euphoria, usually within 7 to 8 seconds.
Shooting up is a process which takes time.
When preparing to inject heroin the user will tear a small piece
of cotton from the filter of his cigarette and roll it
up into a little ball.
He'll then
empty the $20 heroin bag into a spoon. Using the
syringe that he probably obtained from a
diabetic, he squirts a dab of water (50-70
units) into the spoon.
Then he passes a burning lighter under the spoon
to dissolve the heroin into the water.
He puts the cotton ball into the
spoon and stirs the new heroin solution with the
needle. |
 |
He then extracts the solution up
into the syringe with the cotton ball at the tip of the
syringe. This cotton is necessary to filter out any
particles or germs from the heroin solution. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
The user then carefully and
sparingly squirts out a few tiny droplets of the heroin
solution from within the syringe in order to remove air
bubbles from the solution. It's quite possible that a
user can die if those air bubbles manage to make their
way into the bloodstream.
He/she then places the needle flat on the bend
of their arm so as not to let the needle wiggle
too much.
The user inserts the needle into the vein, then slowly pulls blood from the vein back into
the syringe mixing it with the heroin solution
and then slowly injects the whole thing back
into the vein.
Within 7-8 seconds the heroin reaches
the brain and binds to the natural
opioid receptors which causes the user to
experience the greatest rush of his life.
You reach a peak of pure euphoria. A wonderful
warmth takes over your body. Your head is still
there but your brain falls back along with your
sole.
The user then reaches a half conscious state
called nodding. Sedation is
achieved. Drowsiness, grogginess, and the
ultimate high is the end result. |
 |
At the same time, your body is instantly healed from the
most painful withdrawals known to man. All withdrawal
symptoms disappear within seconds. You are 100%
completely healed and off to wonderland. All of your
problems are gone. Nothing else exist - not even you.
Soon after injection, heroin crosses the
blood-brain barrier. In the brain, heroin is converted
to morphine and binds quickly to opioid receptors.
Injecting heroin is particularly addictive because it
enters the brain quickly and relieves bone-crushing pains instantly.
Sometimes, especially with new comers, the rush is
accompanied by dry mouth, and a heavy feeling, which may
be followed by nausea, vomiting, and
severe itching.
This is why you'll see users scratching their heads and
faces to relieve the itching. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
After the initial
effects of the high, users will be drowsy for several
hours. Mental function is clouded by heroin's effect on
the central nervous system. Your heart rate slows down. Breathing is also severely
depressed,
sometimes to the point of death.
Heroin overdose is a serious risk on the street, where
the amount and purity of the drug cannot be accurately
known. Fatalities from heroin overdoses are rising more
and more.
Although the initial rush fades within minutes, the
sense of contentment and physical relaxation of the
heroin "high" generally last two to three hours long.
The heroin high is known as "the ultimate high".
Other Adverse Effects Heroin Has on Health:
Heroin abuse is associated with serious health
conditions, including fatal overdose, spontaneous
abortion, and in users who inject the drug - infectious
diseases, including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. Sharing a
needle just 1 time with the wrong person can bring
death.
Serious H users may develop collapsed veins, infection
of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, and liver or
kidney disease. Pulmonary complications, including
various types of pneumonia, may result from the poor
health of the user as well as from heroin’s depressing
effects on respiration.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
In addition to the effects of the drug itself, street
heroin often contains toxic contaminants or additives
that can clog the blood vessels leading to the lungs,
liver, kidneys, or brain, causing permanent damage to
vital organs. As you can see, heroin can easily bring
death upon you or your loved ones.
Continued use of heroin leads to physical dependence,
addiction, a state in which the body has adapted to the
presence of the drug and can not live nor function
properly without it. If an
addicted user reduces or stops use of the drug abruptly,
he or she will experience severe symptoms of withdrawal.
These symptoms,
which can begin as early as a few hours after the last
administration, will include restlessness, muscle and bone
crushing pain, insomnia, diarrhea and vomiting, ice
chilling cold flashes with goose bumps,
and leg kicking movements. Living
without it becomes impossible. You'll feel as if you're
actually going to die.
Users also experience
severe craving for the drug during withdrawal,
which can precipitate continued use and/or relapse.
Without the heroin in their system they truly feel they
are going to die from the pain and agony of withdrawal
thus usually causing relapse.
Major withdrawal symptoms peak
between 48 and 72 hours after the last dose was
administered and
typically decrease after about 1-2 weeks. Some
individuals, however, may show persistent withdrawal
symptoms for months.
Sudden withdrawal by heavily
dependent users who are in poor health is rarely
fatal. The craving for heroin can persist for months,
even years
after the user has quit, particularly upon exposure to
triggers such as stress or people, places, and things
associated with drug use. This is why, in order to quit
heroin and stay clean - total separation
is a must!
Heroin addiction during pregnancy,
together with related factors like poor nutrition and
inadequate prenatal care, has been associated with
adverse consequences for the baby including low birth weight, an
important risk factor for later developmental delay.
If the mother is regularly taking heroin, the infant may
be born physically dependent on heroin and could suffer
from serious medical complications requiring
hospitalization. Pregnant women should always seek the
help and consultation from a physician right away.
Typical Behavior of a Heroin User
Heroin can turn good people into monsters.
The behavioral impact of habitual heroin use is
generally devastating. Most users are incapable
of concentration, learning, or clear thought.
Rarely are they able to hold down jobs unless they learn
how to become functioning addicts, in which the user works a
normal job to support their daily habit and learns to live a
fairly organized yet secretive life. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Functioning
addicts are the hardest to spot, while typical addicts
are apathetic, indifferent to consequences, and unable
to sustain personal relationships.
For many addicts, the inability to honestly earn enough
money to meet their drug needs leads to crime. I had to
live a life of crime in order to support my daily heroin
habit. I had to lie, cheat and steal cars almost every
day. Most of my fellow heroin addicts lived the same or
more ruthless lifestyles. Heroin turns users into liars, thieves and Hollywood actors.
For the overwhelming majority, compulsive use prompts
behavior that is self-destructive, reckless, ruthless
and irresponsible. A typical addict is often antisocial,
and simply becomes numb to the injury, pain, or loss it
causes others. Restitution will be required.
Heroin
Statistics:
Over 22 million individuals have a
substance dependence problem in the US. 14 percent of
admissions to publicly funded drug abuse programs were
for heroin treatment.
Approximately 3.5 million Americans aged 12 or older
reported trying heroin at least once during their lifetimes.
(ONDCP)
According to Drug Abuse Warning
Network, or DAWN, heroin and morphine accounted for 51%
of drug deaths ruled accidental or unexpected.
Of an
estimated 108 million emergency department (ED) visits
in the U.S., the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN)
estimates that 1,449,154 were drug-related. DAWN data
indicates that heroin was involved in 164,572 ED visits.
The heroin addict spends between
$20 to $200 per day to maintain a heroin addiction. All
of these statistics are much more higher today. Heroin
use, addiction and overdose are on the rise. And it's not
going to get any better, in fact, it's going to get worse as
time goes on.
Can heroin addiction
really be conquered?
Yes it can! Although 'few there be'
that quit heroin and stay clean for good, an addicts' strong
determination and
heartfelt desire to quit heroin can
eventually bring themselves to the place of actually becoming free
from heroin for good.
A variety of effective methods
are available for heroin addiction.
Treatment tends to be more
effective when heroin addiction is identified early. The
treatments that follow vary depending on the individual.
Quitting heroin cold turkey should always be Plan A, but
methadone, eliminates withdrawal symptoms, and has a
proven record of success for heroin addicts.
|
|
|
| |
|
 |
Other pharmaceutical approaches,
such as Buprenorphine, and many behavioral therapies
also are used for treating heroin addiction.
Buprenorphine is a recent addition to the line of
medications now available for treating heroin addiction and
addiction to other evil opiates.
This medication is different from methadone in that it
offers less risk of addiction, when used as a crutch, and can be prescribed in
the privacy of a doctor's office. Buprenorphine/ naloxone
(Suboxone) is a combination drug product formulated to
minimize abuse.
He/she can conquer heroin
addiction and stay clean for good by implementing and executing
any of the following plans accompanied by counseling,
strong moral support and relapse prevention therapy
(RPT):
Plan A:
Quitting
Heroin Cold Turkey
Plan B:
Quitting
Heroin Warm Turkey with lesser evil opiates such as Valiums and Vicodins
Plan C:
Quitting
Heroin with Methadone and/or Suboxone
Plan D:
Quitting
Heroin in a Drug Rehabilitation Facility
Please explore this website for
additional information on heroin, heroin addiction and
quitting heroin once and for all. If I can do it, then
you or your loved ones can do
it too! No matter what, don't give up by any means and
don't lose hope. Keep pressing on.
|
|
|
|
