In recent years, diamorphine has killed more people than ever before. It’s street name? Heroin. Heroin is a highly euphoric, highly addictive type of drug extracted from the opium poppy plant. The opioid epidemic has reached increasingly large numbers and is very prevalent nowadays. People use opiates for many different reasons. They are considered analgesic drugs because the relieve pain. All opiates, including morphine, hydrocodone and oxycodone, require a prescription by a doctor and are used to treat severe pain. However, this is not nearly the reality we see in today’s society. From China and Mexico, illegal substances are smuggled into the United States by many different modes of transportation. They are then sold on the streets for people
…show more content…
In past years, heroin abuse or dependence has increased nearly 150% from 2007-2013. In 2013, “an estimated 517,000 persons reported past-year heroin abuse or dependence” (Logan). This doesn’t include people who haven’t reported or people who use heroin but don’t believe they were dependent upon it. Also during this period of time, the rates of heroin abuse were found to be highest among white males living in the Northeast, aged 18–25 years old and with an annual household income of less than $20,000 (Logan). Generally speaking, these people are college students, dropouts or minimum wage workers. The Northeast is full of cities and low-income neighborhood. The heroin use rates are highest in these areas. These young men are very susceptible to heroin dependence because their brains aren’t fully developed until after their mid-twenties. Repeated heroin use also affects different parts of the brain which leads to susceptibility to dependence. Other than dependence, along with abuse comes overdose. In 2014, 47,055 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States. As seen in the graph, in the span of 14 years, the “drug overdose death rate has more than doubled, from 6.2 per 100,000 persons in 2000 to 14.7 per 100,000 in 2014” (Rudd). Although many opioids have been banned in the United States, many are prescribed in hospitals by doctors to treat chronic pain. On the streets, people buy and sell …show more content…
Heroin, being one of the most widely abused opioid, is a derivative of the opiate morphine. Scientifically known as, Diamorphine Hydrochloride Anhydrous, heroin is a hydrochloride salt of a diacetyl derivative of morphine. Because of the chemical structure of heroin, it is usually found in the form of white crystals or crystalline powder from prisms of ethyl acetate. After administration, the heroin is “rapidly hydrolyzed to 6-monoacetylmorphine and then to the end-product morphine” (Diamorphine). This morphine then binds to the opiate receptors in the brain and digestive system. Since heroin is metabolized into morphine before crossing the blood-brain barrier, it has the same effect as morphine. When concentrated in the blood, it goes mainly to the skeletal muscles, kidney, lungs, liver and spleen. In general, opioids mainly affect the brain stem. They change the neurochemical activity of the brain stem and cause a depression in breathing. Also in the brain, heroin causes an increase in feelings of pleasure in the limbic system. They even have the ability to block pain signals sent through the spinal cord (Pharmacology). Addiction occurs when neurotransmitters are stimulated causing the release of dopamine. Since the structure of heroin is very similar to that of a neurotransmitter, it can actually “fool” receptors into binding and activating the neurons. With the release of excess dopamine,
In past years, heroin abuse or dependence has increased nearly 150% from 2007-2013. In 2013, “an estimated 517,000 persons reported past-year heroin abuse or dependence” (Logan). This doesn’t include people who haven’t reported or people who use heroin but don’t believe they were dependent upon it. Also during this period of time, the rates of heroin abuse were found to be highest among white males living in the Northeast, aged 18–25 years old and with an annual household income of less than $20,000 (Logan). Generally speaking, these people are college students, dropouts or minimum wage workers. The Northeast is full of cities and low-income neighborhood. The heroin use rates are highest in these areas. These young men are very susceptible to heroin dependence because their brains aren’t fully developed until after their mid-twenties. Repeated heroin use also affects different parts of the brain which leads to susceptibility to dependence. Other than dependence, along with abuse comes overdose. In 2014, 47,055 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States. As seen in the graph, in the span of 14 years, the “drug overdose death rate has more than doubled, from 6.2 per 100,000 persons in 2000 to 14.7 per 100,000 in 2014” (Rudd). Although many opioids have been banned in the United States, many are prescribed in hospitals by doctors to treat chronic pain. On the streets, people buy and sell …show more content…
Heroin, being one of the most widely abused opioid, is a derivative of the opiate morphine. Scientifically known as, Diamorphine Hydrochloride Anhydrous, heroin is a hydrochloride salt of a diacetyl derivative of morphine. Because of the chemical structure of heroin, it is usually found in the form of white crystals or crystalline powder from prisms of ethyl acetate. After administration, the heroin is “rapidly hydrolyzed to 6-monoacetylmorphine and then to the end-product morphine” (Diamorphine). This morphine then binds to the opiate receptors in the brain and digestive system. Since heroin is metabolized into morphine before crossing the blood-brain barrier, it has the same effect as morphine. When concentrated in the blood, it goes mainly to the skeletal muscles, kidney, lungs, liver and spleen. In general, opioids mainly affect the brain stem. They change the neurochemical activity of the brain stem and cause a depression in breathing. Also in the brain, heroin causes an increase in feelings of pleasure in the limbic system. They even have the ability to block pain signals sent through the spinal cord (Pharmacology). Addiction occurs when neurotransmitters are stimulated causing the release of dopamine. Since the structure of heroin is very similar to that of a neurotransmitter, it can actually “fool” receptors into binding and activating the neurons. With the release of excess dopamine,