OpiumHeroin (Diacetylmorphine) InformationHeroin is the common name of a substance known by the chemical name, diacetylmorphine. Heroin is synthesized from morphine, and morphine is synthesized from opium produced by the plant known by the botanical name Papaver Somniferum (common name opium poppy). Rather than being a different drug, heroin is a method of preparing morphine so that it is absorbed more efficiently by the human body, when injected. If heroin is injected into a human, more morphine will reach the brain than it would if the same amount of morphine were injected. Injecting about 5mg of heroin will produce the same results as injecting 10mg of morphine. Heroin can also be snorted, smoked, or taken orally. However, these other routes of administration are not recommended. They are not as efficient and most of the drug is wasted. If you are not going to inject heroin, an equal amount of morphine will produce similar results. When it is not injected, the heroin is usually totally metabolized by the human body before it can affect the amount of morphine that reaches the brain. So the effects of heroin are nearly the same as an equivalent amount of morphine when snorted, smoked, or taken orally. The time it takes to feel the effects depends on the method of administration. Snorting heroin results in onset within 10-15 minutes. Smoking heroin results in an almost immediate (milder) effect which gets stronger if more is smoked in that particular session. Intravenous injection results in rush and euphoria within 7-8 seconds, intramuscular injection takes about 5-8 minutes. Orally, as when heroin or morphine are ingested in pill form, it can take 60-90 minutes to feel anything. The primary effects of morphine (the main active ingredient in heroin) are a cessation or reduction of pain and/or a euphoric and content feeling. Heroin and morphine use almost always causes constipation, thinking may be slower, and a user may feel nausea or vomit. Opioid itch, an itch caused by taking an opium based drug, may be present. Another physical effect of morphine is respiratory system depression. This makes it an excellent cough suppressant. It is also usually the cause of death in a heroin or morphine overdose. History Of HeroinDiacetylmorphine was first synthesized in 1874 by C.R. Alder Wright. He had been working with finding an non-addictive form of opium that retained the pain relieving properties. In one experiment he boiled morphine with acetic anhydride over a heat source and produced a more potent form of morphine. It was tested for possible medical use. After testing the drug, it was decided that there was no real use for diacetylmorphine because it was as addictive as morphine. Nothing was really done with diacetylmorphine until the 1890's. In 1897, Felix Hoffman produced two new compounds for the company he worked for, Bayer. These compounds were acetylsalicylic acid and diacetylmorphine. It must be noted that the Bayer Company was not aware that diacetylmorphine had already been synthesized. And thinking these compounds had possible potential as medicine, the Bayer Company worked with acetylsalicylic acid and diacetylmorphine. They noted that acetylsalicylic acid was effective in relieving minor aches and pains and diacetylmorphine was a very effective at relieving moderate pain and alleviating the symptoms of various breathing disorders like asthma, bronchitis, and tuberculosis. It is not known if the name heroin comes from the heroic job the drug did in reducing pain and easing breathing problems or because of the way a person felt when under its effects. The word itself comes from the German word heroisch, meaning heroic. (reference 1) In 1898, the Bayer company registered and marketed diacetylmorphine under the name Heroin. It was sold as a powder, diluted in liquids, and also available in powder capsules. Users could swallow or inject the new drug and sales increased as time went by. In 1899, the Bayer company marketed acetylsalicylic acid as Aspirin. In 1903 the federal government established the US Opium Commission to study ways to regulate opium and its derivatives. It estimated that in 1907, there were 160,000 pounds of opium (including derivative drugs like heroin) imported into to US for smoking and eating. In 1914, the Harrison Narcotic Act was signed by President Woodrow Wilson. It made all narcotics illegal, except for medical purposes. (reference 2) The impact of the reduction in supply was obvious by 1915. Heroin addicts were forced to get doctors to write prescriptions or they had to buy it illegally. A 1918 commission called for sterner law enforcement. Congress responded by tightening up the Harrison Act. The importation of heroin for any purpose was banned in 1924. The term narcotics was used in the title of the act to describe not just opium based drugs, but also cocaine (which is not a narcotic). This mistake started the legislative and judicial misclassification of various substances as narcotics. Today heroin is sold as a white or brownish powder and opium is sold as a black sticky substance. Although sometimes more pure heroin becomes available, most street heroin is cut with other drugs or with substances such as sugar, starch, powdered milk, or quinine. When heroin that isn't heavily cut becomes available to users that are used to heavily cut product, an overdose is possible unless the amount injected is adjusted. Who Uses Heroin?According to the 1996 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, an estimated 2.4 million people in the USA used heroin at some time in their lives. Nearly 216,000 of them reported using it within the month preceding the survey. The survey report estimates that there were 141,000 new heroin users in 1995, and that there had been an increasing trend in new heroin use since 1992. A large proportion of the recent new users were smoking, snorting/sniffing heroin, and most were under age 26. The 1996 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), which collects data on drug-related hospital emergency department episodes from 21 metropolitan areas, estimates that 14 percent of all drug-related ED episodes involved heroin. Because the DEA bullies doctors into not prescribing opioids for relief of chronic pain, many doctors are afraid to prescribe this class of drugs to patients who really need them. Many of these people are forced to get pain medicine from illegal sources. This can cause many problems. Mild opioids are harder to find on the street, the profits are small. The most commonly available opioids are usually very strong, heroin and oxycontin. If a pain sufferer is lucky they may be able to get milder forms of opioids like hydrocodone or codeine, but if the supply is stopped, they are often forced to use stronger drugs like heroin and oxycontin. If you are in pain or for some other reason you would like to try a drug in this class, you should see this article for an introduction to some milder members of the opioid family. They are milder than heroin and other potent opioids but they produce the same results. They are all converted into morphine by the human body. The difference being the amount of morphine that reaches the brain. How Is Heroin Used?Heroin is usually injected, sniffed/snorted, or smoked. Intravenous injection provides the greatest intensity and most rapid onset of euphoria (7-8 seconds), while intramuscular injection produces a relatively slow onset of euphoria (5-8 minutes). When heroin is snorted, peak effects are usually felt within 10-15 minutes. When smoked effects are felt almost instantly. Smoking and snorting heroin do not produce results as quickly or intensely as intravenous injection. Injection continues to be the predominant method of heroin use among addicted users seeking treatment. However, researchers have observed a shift in heroin use patterns, from injection to sniffing and smoking. In fact, snorting/sniffing heroin is now a widely reported means of taking heroin among users admitted for drug treatment in some cities. How Does It Feel?Soon after injection (or inhalation), heroin crosses the blood-brain barrier. In the brain, heroin is converted to morphine and binds rapidly to opioid receptors. Users typically report feeling a surge of pleasurable sensation, a rush. The intensity of the rush is a function of how much drug is taken and how rapidly the drug enters the brain and binds to the natural opioid receptors. With heroin, the rush is usually accompanied by a warm flushing of the skin, dry mouth, and a heavy feeling in the extremities, which may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and/or severe itching. The feeling of extended contentment and euphoria is what keeps people coming back. As noted during medical testing of the drug in the 1890's, heroin can make a person feel very good. Many described the feeling as being heroic. Contrary to popular belief, heroin addicts (that have enough money to support their habit) are not freaks that can not function in society. Heroin enables many chronic pain sufferers to function in society and earn a living. Addicts that have to spend all of their money on heroin sometimes appear thin, messy, and in ill health. This is because they don't have the money for proper health care and food, rather than from the effects of heroin. Heroin AddictionPhysical dependence develops with higher doses of the drug. With physical dependence, the body adapts to the presence of the drug and withdrawal symptoms occur if use is reduced abruptly. Symptoms of withdrawal include restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps, and leg movements. Major withdrawal symptoms peak between 24 and 48 hours after the last dose of heroin and subside after about a week. Heroin withdrawal is never fatal to otherwise healthy adults, but the psychological effects can be so bad that the user might kill themself, rather than going through withdrawl. To avoid physical addiction heroin should be used once every four days, maximum. If you take it on friday, wait till tuesday or later before doing it again. If you can limit your use to once every four days, physical addiction and tolerance problems are minimized. You will not require larger doses to produce the same results. Possible Medical ComplicationsMedical consequences of chronic needle use include scarred and/or collapsed veins, bacterial infections of the blood vessels and heart valves, abscesses (boils) and other soft-tissue infections. Many of the additives in street heroin may include substances that do not readily dissolve and result in clogging the blood vessels that lead to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain. This can cause infection or even death of small patches of cells in vital organs. Always purify heroin before injecting. Sharing of injection equipment or fluids can lead to some of the most severe consequences of heroin use, infections with hepatitis B and C, HIV, and a host of other blood-borne viruses. What Are The Treatments For Heroin Addiction?A variety of effective treatments are available for heroin addiction. Treatment tends to be more effective when heroin abuse is identified early. The treatments that follow vary depending on the individual, but methadone has a proven record of success for people addicted to heroin. Other pharmaceutical approaches, like LAAM (levo-alpha-acetyl-methadol), and many behavioral therapies also are used for treating heroin addiction. The primary objective of detoxification is to relieve withdrawal symptoms while patients adjust to a drug-free state. Not in itself a treatment for addiction, detoxification is a useful step only when it leads into long-term treatment that is either drug-free (residential or outpatient) or uses medications as part of the treatment. Treatments For Heroin Addiction Methadone Programs Patients are able to perceive pain and have emotional reactions. Most important, methadone relieves the craving associated with heroin addiction; craving is a major reason for relapse. Among methadone patients, it has been found that normal street doses of heroin are ineffective at producing euphoria, thus making the use of heroin more easily extinguishable. Methadone's effects last for about 24 hours (four to six times as long as those of heroin) so people in treatment need to take it only once a day. Also, methadone is medically safe even when used continuously for 10 years or more. Combined with behavioral therapies or counseling and other supportive services, methadone enables patients to stop using heroin (and other opioids). LAAM And Other Medications Naloxone and naltrexone are medications that also block the effects of morphine, heroin, and other opioids. As antagonists, they are especially useful as antidotes in cases of heroin or other opioid overdose. Naltrexone has long-lasting effects, ranging from 1 to 3 days, depending on the dose. Naltrexone blocks the pleasurable effects of heroin and is useful in treating some highly motivated individuals. Naltrexone has also been found to be successful in preventing relapse by former opioid addicts released from prison on probation. Buprenorphine is a particularly attractive treatment because it does not produce the same level of physical dependence as other opioid medications, such as methadone. Discontinuing buprenorphine is easier than stopping methadone treatment because there are fewer withdrawal symptoms. Behavioral Therapies An important task is to match the best treatment approach to meet the particular needs of the patient. Moreover, several new behavioral therapies, such as contingency management therapy and cognitive-behavioral interventions, show particular promise as treatments for heroin addiction. Cognitive-behavioral interventions are designed to help modify the patient's thinking, expectancies, and behaviors and to increase skills in coping with life. Both behavioral and pharmacological treatments help to restore a degree of normalcy to brain function and behavior. Opioid AnalogsDrug analogs are chemical compounds that are similar to other drugs in their effects but differ slightly in their chemical structure. Some analogs are produced by pharmaceutical companies for medical reasons. Other analogs, sometimes referred to as designer drugs, can be produced in illegal laboratories. Two of the most commonly known opioid analogs are fentanyl and meperidine (marketed under the brand name demerol). Fentanyl was introduced in 1968 by a Belgian pharmaceutical company as a synthetic narcotic to be used as an analgesic in surgical procedures because of its minimal effects on the heart. Fentanyl can be dangerous because it is up to 50 times more potent than heroin, and can rapidly stop respiration if taken in large doses. This is not a problem during surgical procedures because very small amounts are administered and machines are used to help patients breathe. References copyright © www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/ Books HeroinFrom the nomadic tribes of the Middle East centuries ago, to the streets of America's cities today, this book examines the origin, use, effects, pharmacology, psychology, sociology and politics of heroin. About 300 pages, it is broken into 4 sections: the drug, the addict, treatment, ans society. It relates personal stories of some of those people who use the drug and explains the history of medical treatments that have been used to help people stop. Recommended reading for people with an interest in heroin and to addiction treatment professionals. HeroinHydroponic Heroin: |
