Heroin is an extremely addictive narcotic that, when injected is known to induce a potent high upon its user. Heroin can be injected, snorted or smoked, but its most common administration is injection. The withdrawal of this drug, as well as addiction rate is disturbing to say the least. Heroin seems to be on an up trend in this country, a problematic issue as it’s one of the most popular narcotics in the United States. Heroin is made from the resin of the poppy plant. The fluid from the unripe poppy seed pod is scraped off and air dried to make opium which is in turn refined to make morphine. It is then refined from morphine to make various forms of heroin. It was first made in 1898 with the purpose of treating tuberculosis but has since evolved into the perpetually addictive and typically injected drug it is today.

After the heroin is processed from extracted morphine, the heroin powder is distributed in loose bags or sometimes it is compressed into bricks with a mold. Usually drug traffickers will stamp their bagged products with a specific logo or cartoonish character as a way to simultaneously stay anonymous should their products be seized at the same time as representing themselves with a sort of brand symbol. Normally the quantities made aren’t very limited in these clandestine labs, as the shelf life for heroin is long and stable. The top heroin producing countries are Mexico, Columbia, Burma, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. But the world’s largest exporter of the drug is Afghanistan, where it has been reported that approximately 90% of the world’s heroin supply comes from. Mexico is known to be the biggest supplier of illegal drugs to the United States, and the heroin it produces is said to be one of the most addictive and dangerous forms (“black tar heroin”). Addiction to heroin is evidently a drug problem of magnitude in this country, and it’s only growing with New York, Chicago and Los Angeles as the main heroin distribution hubs in the United States.

With the heroin demand at high highs, it’s no wonder the drug is being cut with all sorts of adulterants. Substances like caffeine, flour, chalk, talcum powder, sucrose, starch and powdered milk have generally been found in heroin. However, more dangerous substances have been found to be cut with heroin, as well, such as strychnine. Strychnine is a stimulant used for rat poison which is harmful and can induce violent convulsions. Substances like this can clog the blood vessels which can infect or wreak havoc of the vital organs. In general, the drug will leave the user in a sick and deteriorated state, with a low immune system. Heroin users are genially at risk of overdosing given that they can’t be too sure what the purity level of their batch is, or what purity level they’re even used to for that matter, and incidentally the precise combined ingredients which went into making it.