HEROIN

By:

Raeana gall

WHAT IS HEROIN?
Highly addictive drug processed from
morphine, a naturally occurring
substance extracted from the seed pod
of certain varieties of poppy plants.

HOW IS IT MADE
Heroin is a synthetic drug processed from morphine
Comes from the poppy plant
The poppy plant is A brightly colored flower, It then blooms with
a green pod at its center, Once the petals fall away, farmers
carefully cut vertical lines in the pod, From those lines, a milky
white sap oozes. This is opium in its crudest form.

THIS IS THE POPPY

SEED PLANT

HOW IS IT MADE
Farmers carefully scrape the sap off the
pod and into bags or bricks
The sap is then bought by merchants
and transported to a morphine refinery
near the farm
The opium is then boiled in lime and
then ammonia to make the morphine
base, which gets dried in bricks in the
sun.

THE PROCESS
The morphine base goes through four steps
1. opium is unpacked and placed into tubs
2. crushed opium was then placed into barrels and hot
(not boiling) water is added
3. At this point the morphine is ready to be
precipitated (solid morphine comes out of the
liquid)
4. The brownish-grey morphine base is then spread
out on a cloth to air-dry in the sun. The dried
morphine base is then weighed in preparation for
the acetylation reaction to convert the morphine to
heroin

HOW IS IT USED
There are three main methods of
using heroin
The methods are
1.Smoking
2.Snorting or Sniffing
3.Injection

SMOKING
There are three different ways to smoke
Heroin:
1. Heroin can be smoked in a pipe
2. Or mixed with a marijuana joint or a
cigarette
3. Or it can be placed on tin foil, heated, and
inhaled as smoke through a straw
.Also known as chasing the dragon

SNORTING OR SNIFFING
Its first divided up into small
lines or larger lines depending on
the users preference
A straw of some sort is then
inserted into the nostril and the
heroin is snorted
For this to work, a pure form of
heroin powder is required.

INJECTING
Its dissolved and diluted on a spoon
then injected with a needle using
one of three methods:
1. Into the muscle
2. Under the skin
3. Or it can be injected directly into a
vein
.Also known as mainlining

HOW IT WORKS IN THE BRAIN

When Heroin enters the
brain, it immediately turns
back into morphine
The morphine then binds
to the natural opioid
receptors in the brain

SHORT TERM AFFECTS

After taking heroin using one of the methods
described, several short-term effects occur
Rush
slowed respiration
Clouded mental function
Nausea and vomiting
Suppression of pain
sleepiness

LONG TERM AFFECTS

Repeated heroin use changes the physical structureand
physiology of the brain, creating long-term imbalances in
neuronal and hormonal systems that are not easily
reversed.

Addiction
Infectious disease for example, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C
Collapsed veins
Bacterial infections
Abscesses
Infection of the heart lining

WITHDRAWALS

The various sensations of withdrawing from heroin can be

likened to being in the grips of a particularly bad case of the
flu, which has led to the slang term super flu being used to
describe the withdrawal stage.
Some of these symptoms of heroin withdrawal can include:
Cold sweats
Depression and anxiety
Loss of appetite
Unstable moods
Muscle cramping
Nausea and vomiting
Diarrhea

OVERDOSING
What Makes Heroin Overdose Lethal?
Toxic levels of heroin can dangerously depress the brain's
respiratory center, leading to markedly slowed rates of
breathing and, finally, to respiratory arrest.
Slowed heart rate and a bottoming out of blood pressure
can lead to cardiovascular collapse.

REVERSING THE
OVERDOSE
Naloxone can reverse the effects of an overdose of heroin or some
types of painkillers.
Naloxone blocks the effects of drugs made from opium, or opioids.
These include:

heroin
morphine
oxycodone
methadone
fentanyl
hydrocodone
codeine
hydromorphone
buprenorphine

NALOXONE
Naloxone is injected into a
muscle, under the skin, or
into a vein through an IV or
sprayed under the nose
Works within two minutes
of injection
Allows an overdose victim
to breathe normally until
coming out of the overdose

WORKS CITED

Corpse, Nathen. "What Are the Treatments for Heroin

Addiction?"What Are the Treatments for Heroin Addiction?NIDA,
Nov. 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
"What Effects Does Heroin Have on the Body?"What Effects Does
Heroin Have on the Body?NIDA, Nov. 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
"What Can Be Done for a Heroin Overdose?"What Can Be Done
for a Heroin Overdose?NIDA, Nov. 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
"Letter From the Director."Letter From the Director. NIDA, Nov.
2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.
"What Is Heroin and How Is It Used?"What Is Heroin and How Is
It Used? NIDA, Nov. 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.