What is Heroin

What is heroin? Heroin in its pure form is a white powder with a bitter taste. Although, most illicit heroin varies in color from white to dark brown. "Black tar" heroin is sticky like roofing tar or hard like coal, and its color may vary from dark brown to black.

Heroin is widely and illegally used as a powerful and addictive drug that produces intense euphoria, which often disappears with increasing tolerance. It is thought that heroin's popularity with recreational users, compared to morphine or other opiates, comes from its somewhat different perceived effects. This in turn comes from its high lipid solubility provided by the two acetyl groups, resulting in a very rapid penetration of the blood-brain barrier after use.

When asking .What is heroin?. it is important to know how heroin is used. Heroin can be taken or administered in a number of ways, including snorting it and injecting it. It may also be smoked by inhaling the vapors produced when heated from below (known as "chasing the dragon"). The onset of heroin's effects is dependent on the method of administration. Orally the heroin is totally metabolized in vivo into morphine before crossing the blood-brain barrier, so the effects are the same as morphine when taken by mouth. Snorting heroin results in onset within 10 to 15 minutes. Smoking heroin results in an adrenaline rush within 2-5 minutes. Intravenous injection results in rush and euphoria within 7 to 8 seconds, while intramuscular injection takes longer, having an effect within 5 to 8 minutes.

Heroin is brought into the U.S. from foreign sources of opium. Production of this drug occurs in South America, Mexico, Southeast and Southwest Asia. Nationwide, in 2000, South American heroin ranged from $50,000 to $200,000 per kilogram. Southeast and Southwest Asian heroin ranged in price from $40,000 to $190,000 per kilogram. Wholesale-level prices for Mexican heroin were the lowest of any type, ranging from $13,200 to $175,000 per kilogram. The wide range in kilogram prices reflects variables such as buyer/seller relationships, quantities purchased, purchase frequencies, purity, and transportation costs.

To continue to answer the question, .What is heroin?. here is information regarding how heroin is made and its effects of the user. Heroin is a highly addictive drug derived from morphine, which is obtained from the opium poppy. Drugs such as heroin slow down the activity of the central nervous system and messages going to and from the brain and the body. This includes physical, mental and emotional responses. The side effects of heroin include: Euphoria, Drowsiness, Apathy, Nausea and vomiting, slurred speech, Constricted pupils, Decreased physical activity, Convulsions, Respiratory depression, Greater susceptibility to infection, Increased risk of hepatitis or AIDS from infected needles, Coma, and Death.

During 2000, there were approximately 146,000 new heroin users in the United States. The average age of those who first used heroin during the year was 22.3 years. According to the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, approximately 3.1 million (1.4 percent) Americans age 12 or older had tried heroin at least once in their lifetime, 456,000 (0.2 percent) used heroin in the past year, and 123,000 (0.1 percent) reported past month heroin use. Results from the 2002 Monitoring the Future Study show that 1.6% of 8th graders, 1.8% of 10th graders, and 1.7% of 12th graders surveyed reported using heroin at least once during their lifetimes.

Many countries and local governments have begun funding programs to supply sterile needles to people who inject illegal drugs in order to reduce some of these contingent risks including the contraction and spread of blood-bourne diseases. The Drug Policy Alliance reports that up to 75% of new AIDS cases among women and children are directly or indirectly a consequence of injection drug use. But despite the immediate public health benefit of needle exchanges, some see such programs as tacit acceptance of illicit drug use (however, studies on areas where needle exchange programs have been instituted have shown no link between the availability of clean needles and an increase in illicit drug use). The United States does not support needle exchanges federally by law, and although some state and local governments do support needle exchange programs, they continue to face harassment by police in most areas. Needle exchanges have been instrumental in arresting the spread of HIV/AIDS in many communities with a significant heroin using population, Australia being a leader due to its early inception of needle exchanges. Needle exchange programs have also been attributed for saving the public significant amounts of tax dollars by preventing medical costs which would have been required otherwise for the treatment of diseases spread through the practice of sharing/re-using needles.