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First
synthesized from morphine in 1874, heroin was not
extensively used in medicine until the beginning
of this century. Commercial production of the new
pain remedy was first started in 1898. While it
received widespread acceptance from the medical
profession, physicians remained unaware of its potential
for addiction for years. The first comprehensive
control of heroin in the United States was established
with the Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914.
Heroin, an illegal opiate drug known on the street
as smack, junk, brown sugar, dope, horse, skunk
and other names is derived from the resin of the
poppy plant which grows predominantly in southeast
and southwest Asia, Mexico and now in Colombia.
It is manufactured in remote laboratories using
rudimentary equipment which presses the powder into
bricks for bulk shipment to destination countries
like the United States. Smaller amounts are smuggled
by couriers who swallow heroin-filled latex balloons
before boarding commercial airlines.
Pure heroin is a white powder with a bitter taste.
Most illicit heroin is a powder form which may vary
in color from white to dark brown because of impurities
left from the manufacturing process or the presence
of additives. Pure heroin is rarely sold on the
street. A "bag" --slang for a single dosage
unit of heroin--may contain 100 mg of powder, only
a small portion of which is heroin. The remainder
could be sugars, starch, powdered milk, or quinine.
Traditionally the purity of heroin in a "bag"
has ranged from one to ten percent. More recently,
heroin purity has ranged from one to ninety-eight
percent, with a national average of thirty-five
percent. |
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Heroin
Abuse and Addiction
(NIDA Research Report, May 2005)
Heroin
(NIDA InfoFacts, February 2004)
Nonmedical Oxycodone Users:
A Comparison with Heroin Users
(The NSDUH Report, January 21, 2005)
Heroin -- Changes In How It Is Used: 1992-2002
(The DASIS Report, December 17, 2004)
Characteristics of Primary Heroin Injection and Inhalation Admissions: 2002
(The DASIS Report, December 3, 2004)
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Characteristics of Primary Heroin Injection and Inhalation Admissions: 2002
(The DASIS Report, December 3, 2004)
Heroin
(ONDCP Fact Sheet, June 2003)
Research on Heroin: A Collection of NIDA Notes Articles (NIDA, 2003)
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