Heroin
Sergio Garcia
Heroin is a very addictive, illegal drug that’s widespread use is impacting our community more and more each day (Foundation For A Drug-Free World). The expensive price of prescription drugs has unfortunately lead many people to find the easier and much cheaper route by using heroin (Houston’s Heroin Addiction: An Invisible Epidemic). The flow of heroin from Mexico to Houston has been reported to have increased by 500 percent in the past year (Schiller). The outbreak of heroin is hurting our community and a huge risk to those that have decided to try it. Could the heroin epidemic effect you next?
Around the mid 1800’s opium was a very popular drug that many people found to be very addicting (History of Heroin). Opium comes from the very common poppy plant. All opium drugs come from poppy plants including heroin (Is Opium Heroin?). “Heroin is a manmade drug because it is processed morphine (That comes from opium) that people illegally make. This is typically done by people adding other ingredients to morphine that dissolve slowly in a person’s body to produce a longer acting high” (Is Opium Heroin?). In the 1800’s opium dens became very popular in western America. The opium was mostly smuggled into America by Chinese immigrants who came to work on the railroads History of Heroin). Britain had traded a lot of opium to China in order to make up for Europe’s high demand of China goods such as tea and silk. (Morphine History). Alcoholism was a huge problem in America and many people actually sought out to cure themselves by using opium to replace drinking (History of Heroin). In 1816, pharmacist Friedrich Wilhelm Serturner was able to modify the opium drug and tested it on dogs. At first the drug was very unsuccessful and resulted in death. Finally he found a modification that was ten times more of a pain reliever than opium and he named it morphine after the Greek God of dreams Morpheus (Morphine History). Morphine was developed from opium as a painkiller that was supposed to be less addictive. In turn the drug had very bad side effects and was more addictive than opium.
“Soldiers who had been injured during war became some of the first people to develop morphine addiction and morphine dependence was nicknamed “Soldier’s Disease.” Increasingly, morphine was being injected using hypodermic needles. In the early 20th century, governments and governing bodies worldwide passed tough legislations banning morphine abuse (Morphine History).
Heroin was created from morphine in 1874 by an english chemist, but had not been produced commercially until 1898 (Heroin Overview). Heroin was created to help with morphine addiction, but ironically was even more addicting to people than morphine was. This was the start of the American heroin addiction epidemic.
Addictive and unsafe drugs like heroin and morphine were sold legally in the United States until 1920, when Congress had to pass the Dangerous Drugs Act, but by 1925 there were already estimated 200,000 heroin addicts in the U.S. (Heroin History). This drug was just getting started and has negatively impacted the lives of many including mine.
Growing up I would always hang out with my cousin Alex. It wasn't long before I found out the addiction he had to heroin and how it messed up his life so quickly. He started using drugs at a very young age and they impacted his life negatively very fast. The effects have caused him to make very poor decisions to the point where I no longer see him and he seeks out to get help. His addiction has become a very life ruining problem that he may never fix. Heroin is no drug to mess with and is spreading across America quickly. People need to be aware of the dangers this drug can be and how it can impact you and others you are close to.
The heroin epidemic is out of control to this day. People are finding new ways to obtain the drug for their own use. Kentucky is one state who is trying to slow down the heroin epidemic and has started to make slow progress after seeing what the state has turned into. The Kentucky Governor, Gov. Steve Beshear, signed a new heroin bill that made laws that would make heroin dealers slow down progression, first responders have more free time to help with overdose victims, and needle exchanges became possible (New Kentucky Heroin Law Has Made Slow Progress Battling Epidemic). $5 million has been put into this solution but heroin distribution is still climbing. This graph shows the overdose visits to the five emergency rooms of St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Northern Kentucky which has grown by over 73 percent in one year in 2015 (New Kentucky Heroin Law Made Slow Progression Battling Epidemic.
This solution that Kentucky has may work by slowing down the epidemic, but in the end we may never find a way to stop it. Some states are doing a very poor job to do anything about stopping this major problem and it may soon get way out of hand to where there is nothing to do at all. Deaths is another growing factor in America due to use of heroin. Drug overdose deaths rose in Kentucky to a record of 1,248 in 2015, compared to 1088 in 2014 (U.S. Attorney General Hears from Kentucky Families of Overdose Victims Solutions Offered).
This graph shows how Kentucky has a huge heroin problem and it has lead to many casualties that need a better solution quickly before this number gets a lot bigger and the loss of loved ones is out of reach. Therapies are possible to take that can help offer you a chance to talk about your problem and maybe find a solution as to why you continue to use heroin and find reason why you should try and stop before you abuse the addiction and end up losing loved ones or taking the drug to far which could potentially lead to being very sick with a slow recovery or even death.
Camus beliefs do not relate to this epidemic because there is no absurdity when dealing with heroin. This is a real problem that people suffer daily and search for real world solutions that can put an end to their addiction and this horrible epidemic. Camus would probably think this social epidemic is getting out of hand and would want the world to quit this addiction and find a solution. He may think the amount of deaths is absurd and that many people that use heroin have absurd thoughts as him and would act the way he does. Maybe Albert Camus would have been a heroin addict himself.
that it can lead to and how it could ruin your life. You could lose the ones you love because of this
very addictive illegal drug. The best way to help someone you know that may be using heroin is to
have them reach out to someone and talk about it. This epidemic will continue to grow and affects so
many people in our country. The use of the drug is projected to rise over the next year more than it
ever has, but it is up to the people of the U.S. to find solutions and make the epidemic come to an
end, helping the lives of our loved ones and the many people it hurts.
Works Cited
Foundation for a Drug-Free World. "Watch Truth About Drugs Documentary Video & Learn
About Substance Addiction. Get The Facts About Painkillers, Marijuana, Cocaine, Meth
& Other Illegal Drugs." Web. 22 Feb. 2017.
“Heroin Overview: Origin and History | Methoide.” MethOIDE - Methamphetamine and Other
Illicit Drug Education. N.p., n.d. Web 13 Mar, 2017.
<http://methoide.fcm.arizona.edu/infocentr/index.cfm?stid=174>.
“History of Heroin” Narconon International. N.p., Web. 15 Mar. 2017.
<http://www.narconon.org/drug-information/heroin-history.html>.
Houston Chronicle, Dane Schiller Houston. "Flow of Heroin into Houston Surges." Houston
Chronicle. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.
"Houston's Heroin Addiction: An Invisible Epidemic." Free Press Houston. N.p., 31 Mar. 2014.
Web. 22 Feb. 2017.
“Is Opium Heroin?” Opium.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2017.
“Morphine History.” Mandal, MD Dr Ananya. News-Medical.net. N.p., 27 Oct. 2013. Web.15
“New Kentucky Heroin Law Has Made Slow Progress Battling Epidemic” Solutions, Capitol.
Capitol Solutions, LLC. 28 Dec. 2015. Web. 26 Apr. 2017.
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“U.S Attorney General Hears from Central Kentucky Families of Overdose Victims, Solutions Offered.” KyForward.com 28 Dec. 2015. Web 26 Apr. 2017. <http://www.kyforward.com>
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