Actiq Rehabilitation
Background of Heroin
Have you heard of Big H, Black tar, Brown Sugar, China White, Dope, Horse, Junk, Mud, Poppy, Smack and Skag? These are street names for a drug called Heroin. Heroin is a depressant and is considered as a highly addictive and illegal drug.
Heroin is derived from morphine, which is an opiate analgesic drug. Pure Heroin is a white, odorless, and crystalline compound. Heroin is used as a painkiller and a recreational drug. Heroin, when used repeatedly, can lead to inability to learn, concentrate, remember things and make decisions. It mimics endorphins in the brain, which decrease the sensation of pain and affect emotions.
Heroin can have an effect on the physical and psychological well-being of an individual. In severe Heroin addiction cases, using it with high doses can lead to coma or even death.
History of Heroin
Heroin, as a derivative of morphine (the main component of opium), was developed from raw opium gum, produced from opium poppy plants. By 3400 B.C., the opium extracts which were believed to have effects on the feelings of great happiness and well-being, was refined in lower Mesopotamia. The cultivation of the plant was introduced to nearby countries as it reached Egypt in 1300 B.C. The father of medicine, Hippocrates, disregarded the elating effects of opium; but instead, he acknowledged the significance of it as a sedative and styptic (a drug that causes contraction of body tissues and canals) in the treatment of internal diseases, epidemics, and diseases of women. By A.D. 400, it was presented to China by Arab dealers. Paracelsus, who was sometimes called the father of toxicology, introduced opium into European medical literature. The drug was introduced as laudanum (a tincture of opium, formerly used as a drug) and was prescribed as painkillers in 1527. People from India as well as in Persia started using opium mixtures for recreational use. The smoking of opium was then introduced to the East. By 1804, Friedrich Sertürner, a pharmacist from Germany, discovered the active ingredient of opium by dissolving it in acid and then neutralizing it with ammonia. The result was alkaloids - principium somniferum or morphine.
In 1847, Heroin was first researched and studied by the English researcher, C.R. Alder Wright. He boiled morphine alkaloid with acetic anhydride over a stove. In 1895, Heinrich Dreser from the Bayer Company of Germany produced a drug without morphine side effects by diluting morphine with acetyls. He started producing diacetylmorphine, and called it heroin. Three years later, the Bayer Company introduced the drug Heroin. By 1898, Heroin was sold as a non-addictive morphine substitute as well as a medicine for cough in children. The control of sale and distribution of heroin was included in the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act in 1914 in the United States, as the discovery of heroin being converted into morphine in the brain came about. Heroin, though, was allowed to be sold for medical purposes. The recreational use of Heroin rose in statistics, a reason why in 1924, the United States Congress passed additional legislation prohibiting the sale, manufacture and importation of Heroin.
Application of Heroin
Heroin can be injected into the vein or muscle, snorted, inhaled as smoke called "chasing the dragon," and can also be mixed with cigarette, tobacco or marijuana. The appearance of Heroin may be as a white to dark brown powder. The color depends on the purity of the drug, Heroin. It may also appear as a tar-like or solid black substance, known as black tar.
Beginners among Heroin users normally snort or smoke the drug. As their bodies get used to Heroin and the effects become less intense, they switch to injecting Heroin. Others are not really aware of the risks of using heroin, which include dependence and overdose.
Effects of Heroin
Physically, the short-term effects of Heroin include dry mouth, tired eyelids and constricted pupils, slowed and slurred speech, blurred vision, heavy extremities, slow breathing and walking, nausea, weight loss, and constipation. The use of Heroin can also lead to euphoria, fear and anxiety, control of pain, inability to concentrate, an instant feeling of well-being, and an alternately wakeful and drowsy state.
The constant use of Heroin can cause liver disease, collapsed veins, abscesses, infection of the heart lining and valves, cellulites, pulmonary complications, and clogging of blood vessels due to additives. Large doses of Heroin can also cause death, which is why it can also be used as a murder weapon.
Amphetamine Rehabilitation Patients Say About Malibu Horizon
The identities of the people writing these statements in support of truths about their rehabilitation have been refrained from giving to protect their inalienable right to privacy. The foregoing names are fictional names of the author’s own choosing.
"To stop the pain that I experienced due to my injury, I was tempted to use Heroin. As my body got used to it, I’ve become addicted and nobody can stop me, not even my family. My mom introduced Malibu Horizon to me, and it is where I found the cure for me. Thank you Malibu Horizon." —Ed
"We can’t stop our daughter from going out with her friends late at night. Until she came home one night and she looked so sick. We rushed her to the hospital and we found out that she became addicted to Heroin. We don’t know how to deal with it at first. My husband heard about Malibu Horizon and it helped us save our daughter. Thank you Malibu Horizon, we have our daughter back." —Nicole and Ramsey
"I’m not ashamed to tell the world that I was a Heroin addict, because I’m a changed man now. Malibu Horizon gave me hope man! I want to thank the staff of Malibu Horizon. I owe it to you guys!" —Sam
"I can’t stop my best friend from using the drug. She became addicted and I don’t know what to do. I can’t even tell her family. Malibu Horizon gets in the way and they helped me save my only best friend. Now she had peace of mind and good health. She’s happy that I’m always there to help her. But Malibu Horizon was the best real friend that we ever had. Thanks a lot!" —Jane