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NIDA Heroin InfoFacts
Links
usnodrugs.com
interventionspecialists.com
heroinaddiction2.com
drugrehabcenters.org
drugrehabs.org
addictionwithdrawal.com
Heroin History
Heroin has a very long history of use throughout the world. It is thought that the Arab traders during the 7th and 8th century AD took opium to China where it was used medicinally up until the 17th century. In Victorian times opium was taken by all classes in the form of pills or laudanum. Laudanum is opium dissolved in alcohol. In 1874 heroin was created to be a cure for those addicted to morphine. With the intention of being a safe, non-addictive substitute for morphine, heroin fell short of its expectations. Soon it was noted that heroin produced addiction exceptionally quickly in many and was made illegal in 1920.
| 1853 | Hypodermic needle-syringes with a point fine enough to pierce the skin are invented simultaneously by Charles Gabriel Pravaz (French surgeon) and Alexander Wood (Scottish physician). It is first used to inject morphine intravenously. | |
| 1874 | Heroin is first synthesized from Morphine by chemist C.R. Alder Wright at St. Mary's Hospital in London. Its potential was not recognized. | |
| 1897 | Heroin is synthesized by Felix Hoffman at Bayer Pharmaceutical. Bayer immediately recognized its potential and began marketing it heavily for the treatment of a variety of respiratory ailments. | |
| 1898 | One year after beginning sales, Bayer exports heroin to 23 countries. | |
| Early 1900s | Doctors and pharmacists begin noticing that patients are consuming large amounts of heroin containing cough remedies. | |
| 1906 | Pure Food and Drug Act is passed, regulating the labeling of products containing Alcohol, Opiates, Cocaine, and Cannabis, among others. The law went into effect Jan 1, 1907 | |
| 1911 | British Pharmaceutical Codex notes that heroin is as addictive as morphine. | |
| 1913 | Bayer ceases producing heroin. | |
| 1914 | The Harrison Narcotics Tax Act is passed, regulating and imposing a tax upon the sale of Opium, Heroin and Cocaine for the first time. The Act took effect Mar 1, 1915. | |
| 1924 | The Heroin Act passes, making manufacture and possession of heroin illegal in the U.S. | |
| 1965-1970 | U.S. involvement in Vietnam is blamed for the surge in illegal heroin being smuggled into the States. | |
| 1971 | Between 10-15% of American servicemen in Vietnam are addicted to heroin. |
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Heroin is sometimes sniffed, or the fumes from the heated powder is inhaled (this method is sometimes called "chasing the dragon").
The large majority of heroin is illegally manufactured and imported, which originates largely from the Indian sub-continent.
Long-term use of heroin causes tolerance to develop so that in order to achieve the same degree of euphoria, larger and larger doses must be taken. When people have been off heroin for some time their tolerance decreases and a common cause of death result
Heroin IV users place themselves at greater risk of contracting the HIV/AIDS virus.
usnodrugs.com interventionspecialists.com heroinaddiction2.com drugrehabcenters.org drugrehabs.org addictionwithdrawal.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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March 22, 2004
