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Heroin
Preface
Let me start this post by saying I work as an EMT. I’ve worked in the suburbs, and most recently in a large city in the United States. I know there is a large international community here, but frankly I don’t have the knowledge to remark on that. That is the perspective this post- and probably the majority of my posts- will come from.
What is it?
Heroin is a refined form of opium, derived from the resin of poppy plants. Chemically similar to morphine, oxycodone, and fentanyl. Opium use has been around for most of recorded history. Some of the earliest recorded uses of opium are dated near 1500 BCE in Mesopotamia. For thousands of years opium has been used for medicinal as well as ritualistic purposes. Recreational use of the drug began around the 15th century. In the United States this came to a head around 1850 and became a major issue. The answer, surprisingly came is the supposedly less addictive variant called morphine. However, morphine was eventually found to be more addictive, and therefore created an even worse situation. What was the answer to morphine addiction? Enter: Heroin!
This system of creating a different variant of the drug and simply moving the addiction from one substance to another has continued to this day. There still is no one simple solution.
How it affects me (and you.)
It comes as no surprise to most people to talk about how pervasive a hardcore drug like heroin is in large inner cities. What most people don’t realize is how popular heroin is in suburban areas, and areas of higher affluence. I spent the first two years of my EMT career in a small suburban area. I expected the usual stuff. Broken bones, falls, heart attacks, and all the typical elderly ailments you would expect. What I had never thought of would be the dozens of calls I would get for overdoses. And what surprised me even more were the demographics. The number of kids I came upon, laying lifeless on the street. Or in their living rooms. Young kids, sometimes in their teens, most no more than 21. Don’t get me wrong, I had my fair share of calls for adults. But nothing carries quite the same weight as a sick kid.
Why Heroin?
Short answer: I don’t know. Like most things I don’t believe there is a simple answer to this. For some reason the age people start experimenting with drugs has fallen and fallen over the years. Narcotics are prescribed more and more every year. The number of opioid painkillers prescribed in the US has skyrocketed from 76 million prescriptions in 1991 to 207 million in 2013. Oh, and did I mention in most places heroin is cheaper than cigarettes? In a place like Baltimore you can buy a bag of heroin for around $5.00. That’s five dollars. Which happens to be about $2.25 less than your typical pack of cigarettes. In NYC you’re likely to pay 10 dollars either way. One source points out that you can purchase a weekend’s worth of heroin for $20!
In conclusion
Heroin is bad. Heroin addiction- much like alcoholism- is a disease. But also like alcoholism it’s a disease with a stigma. No one is going to think you’re a bad person because you have pneumonia, or chicken pox (unless you give them chicken pox too!) But when you tell people you’re an addict they give you that look. Suddenly they don’t treat you the same way they used to. And while the disease, left unchecked, can bring out a lot of bad traits in people- it doesn’t make you a bad person. But like pneumonia if you don’t seek help the results can be devastating. Aside from all the legal troubles that will befall you the pounding your body takes is enormous. And the emotional turmoil from watching a loved one fall into this seemingly bottomless pit is unparalleled.
If you have a problem, seek help. Talk to your family, talk to your close friends. End heroin before heroin ends you.
What's your opinion on legalization as a solution to this epidemic. Make Heroin free and federally regulated, psychologically planned and executed distribution centers that also double as treatment centers, no more hot doses, no more poverty because of addiction. Diversify and provide other services at these facilities to improve healthcare as a whole.
To be honest greencycles, I don't really think that would change the status quo much. The reason for that is places like you described already exist in a way. Methadone, which is another variant of opium, and used as a treatment for heroin addiction (much in the way heroin used to be used for morphine addiction.) And free methadone clinics exist all over the United States funded both federally and at the state level, and also by private insurance and medicare/medicade. I don't have statistics on it, but from my point of view this leads to what we call drug seeking behavior in patients. They will call 911 for an emergency like shortness of breath, but low and behold by the time we reach the emergency room they are breathing perfectly fine and are screaming in pain demanding medication.
There is also an interesting phenomenon that occurs mostly in low income families. They tent not to seek healthcare services, free or not, until it becomes an emergency. They seem to prefer to be processed through an emergency room rather than utilize any kind of preventive care.
It's an interesting though experiment, but I really don't know the answer.
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Good article but $20 won't get you a weekend worth of heroin unless maybe its your first time. That's not even enough for one shot for an addict. Its cheaper in phoenix than most places and I would get a half gram for $30 which was one shot for me. I needed at least a gram a day If I didn't want to get sick. I used two grams on an average day which is about $120 in AZ. When I lived in Colorado It was $120 a gram.
A major factor in the Heroin epidemic is the war in Afghanistan and the US military stabilizing the poppy industry. 10% of the world's heroin came from Afghanistan in 2001, by 2003 they were producing 90%. Heroin was readily available as soon as they tightened regulation on prescription pills driving their street price through the roof. I've met hundreds of junkies and every single one starting off using prescription pills. Almost every specialist in the recovery community agrees, legalize all drugs. end the violence. Save our communities.
Hey dajohns, thanks for your insight. I agree that a majority of people who end up abusing start off with prescriptions they either got legally them selves or from a friend. I'm not going to condone or condemn legalization- but I do question the safety of it. Perhaps if there was some kind of regulatory system in place, but as it stands I don't see it being beneficial to the individual. There will always be a need for a fix, and people will do just about anything to get it. Combine that will dealers who will cut powder with just about anything they can get their hands on. Or worse add fentanyl to the mix- getting people hooked on a bigger far more dangerous high. And all for money? At that point it seems like the only ones who win are whoever is selling.
Wow. That's some great information. You and @greencycles make some really good points, as does this video. I love the war songs / love songs metaphor at the end. I agree the way we treat addiction in this country is totally backwards. Maybe if we stop looking at it like a drug problem and treat it like the community problem it is we could make some progress and save some lives.