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Heroin was first manufactured in 1898 by the Bayer pharmaceutical company of Germany and
marketed as a treatment for tuberculosis as well as a remedy for morphine addiction.
Made from the resin of poppy flowers, other chemicals are added and it’s then filtered
and refined to become the street drug known as heroin.
The average cost of a single dose of 0.1g of heroin is approximately $15 to $20 in the
US, costing between $150 and $200 per day for an addict to support their habit.
In this episode of The Infographics Show we’ll be exploring just how bad this drug is, as
we find out: What Does Heroin Do To Your Body?
Before we answer that question, let’s first look at how the drug is taken and how many
heroin users exist in the United States.
Heroin is an opioid derivative and an estimated 13.5 million people in the world take opioids,
of which 9.2 million are heroin users.
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2016 about 948,000 Americans
reported using heroin in that year, with the greatest increases being by young adults aged
18 to 25.
The number of people using heroin for the first time in 2016 was 170,000, which is nearly
double the number of people from 10 years previous.
British newspaper The Guardian reported in 2017 that according to a study based on a
survey of almost 80,000 people, heroin use among American adults has increased almost
fivefold in the last decade.
Researchers found that just after the year 2000, 0.33% of the adults reported having
used heroin at some point in their life.
10 years later it had risen to 1.6%, which equates to about 3.8 million Americans.
“There are more people in the US using heroin, there are more people that meet criteria for
heroin addiction, and we are seeing increases in all different social strata, in different
age groups, in both sexes,” said Silvia Martins, lead author of the research from
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
And these figures may even be low as it’s likely that many heroin users simply don’t
take part in health surveys.
When we think of heroin we think needles, but heroin can be smoked, which is known as
"chasing the dragon" and depending on the purity of the drug and the preference of the
user, and it can also be snorted.
If injected, heroin can be administered into a vein or a muscle.
Heroin addicts tend to inject the drug into a vein as the effects take hold faster.
Shortly after taking heroin, users report that they feel a rush of euphoria, dry mouth,
and a warm flushing of the skin.
There is relief from pain and anxiety, arms and legs often feel unnaturally heavy, the
body temperature increases, the mouth becomes parched and people often feel nauseous and
vomit.
The heart rate slows or is irregular, breathing will also slow down and a person goes into
a dream like state falling in and out of consciousness.
All of these effects relate to taking a small amount of heroin, depending on the tolerance
level of the user.
An addict will have a much higher tolerance and need more of the drug to feel the same
effect.
But effects on your body can ultimately be what leads to a deadly overdose.
If to much heroin is taken it can cause a person’s brain to not receive enough blood,
and the respiratory system can go from slow breathing to complete shutdown.
What about the longer term effects of taking heroin on a regular basis?
Unfortunately, the news is not good.
You can develop infections of the heart lining and valves, usually as a result of lack of
sterile injection techniques; Approximately 70% to 80% of new hepatitis C infections in
the US each year are the result of injection drug use; Kidney disease is prevalent among
long term users; Pulmonary complications, which are often infection related; Skin infections
and abscesses are common; oral health problems including damaged teeth and swelling of the
gums; Skin problems from scratching; And problems with sexual functioning.
Heroin impacts your body and health in a myriad of negative ways in the long-term.
There’s also the potential for permanent organ damage to the liver & kidneys, and brain
damage from a lack of oxygen that occurs during overdoses.
And chronic heroin users often have lung problems including tuberculosis and pneumonia.
One of the biggest issues with heroin is that it is highly addictive.
Physical addiction to heroin means it is very tough to stop taking the drug as the body
changes, putting the user through traumatic mental and physical side effects.
A user who has been on the drug for some time will have a very high tolerance, making the
withdrawal even trickier.
When people are addicted to heroin and they try to stop using, they can experience extreme
withdrawal symptoms from between 48 and 72 hours to even longer after stopping use.
The symptoms can include extreme craving for the drug, restlessness, muscle and bone pain,
and vomiting.
It takes many addicts several attempts to get off the drug and many never do.
Addiction recovery rates for popular 12 Step groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous, or AA,
may be as low as 5-10%, according to Dr. Lance Dodes, the author of The Sober Truth: Debunking
the Bad Science Behind 12-Step Programs and the Rehab Industry.
So other than ‘going cold turkey’ which means to stop and withdraw suddenly and completely
from the drug, often without support, or checking into a rehab clinic, what other ways are there?
In recent years, there’s been a lot of research into alternative methods.
We found an interesting article in British newspaper The Guardian about a chap named
Jay.
Jay was smoking cigarettes and marijuana at the age of 12, snorting cocaine by 16 and
by the time he turned 18 he was onto heroin and crack cocaine.
Amazingly he still went through University and managed to land a job as a banker in the
City of London.
But it didn’t last long with Jay’s marriage, health and life in general breaking down as
he continued to take drugs.
By that point Jay was mostly taking heroin, following an unrelated stomach operation that
left him addicted to painkillers before he got back on to heroin after the doctor stopped
the prescription.
Jay took the rehab route and checked into to a $13,000-a-week centre in Thailand in
2016.
He was clean for a while but like many addicts Jay relapsed.
Then a friend told him about ibogaine, a drug from an obscure African plant that Jay’s
friend said would enable him to come off heroin without the lengthy, painful withdrawal…and
stay off.
His friend said the drug would help Jay understand where his addictive behavior was coming from.
It would invoke a spiritual experience as if speaking to God.
After a lot of online research online and speaking to different doctors overseas, Jay
eventually flew to South Africa to try the treatment.
One Monday morning he took a test dose of ibogaine.
He swallowed a small capsule with a glass of water.
An hour later Jay felt like his withdrawals had disappeared.
The next 12 to 18 hours were a blur, though he remembered one vivid dream “I could see
a lady, almost like Mother Mary, shaking a finger at me.
She was offering to take me to wherever she was going, and I was saying, ‘No, no, no.’
Jay flew back home and in the 10 months since, he hasn’t had a single relapse.
He explained to the Guardian newspaper that he had developed a new sense of confidence,
has a new job, and girlfriend and finally feels like a functioning member of society.
With all the pain and uncertainty that surrounds heroin withdrawal, ibogaine sounds like a
miracle cure, but there’s a catch.
At this stage Ibogaine is illegal in the US, France, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Poland,
Croatia and Switzerland and strongly restricted in the UK under the 2016 Psychoactive Substances
Act.
And Jay also experienced some possible side effects.
Once he was back in England he was rushed into hospital and diagnosed with a congenital
heart problem.
Something he said could have been exacerbated by taking ibogaine.
In September last year, at an ibogaine conference in Vienna, 20 experts, including medical professionals,
providers or activists, gathered to increase awareness of the drug and to encourage more
research in Europe.
Whatever the answer, it’s clear that heroin and other opioids are a big problem and the
epidemic is growing.
In the US alone deaths from opioids have been rising sharply for years, and drug overdoses
already kill more Americans under age 50 than anything else.
And nearly half a million people across America could die from opioids over the next decade.
Wow...ok, these are some pretty sad statistics, so let’s pivot away from them for a moment.
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Is there an answer to fix this growing issue?
Has drug abuse impacted your life?
Let us know in the comments!
Also be sure to check out our other video, Pablo Escobar - How Did He Become The King
of Cocaine!
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See you next time!