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.