On the Nod: 9 Interesting Facts About Heroin That Will Make You Think Twice

Heroin addiction is on the rise.

With overdoses becoming the most common cause of death for those under 50 the entire nation is abuzz with news about opioids.

Heroin is an interesting compound with a long and storied history. It’s also not the kind of thing you really want to try out for yourself.

So, let’s hop right into nine interesting facts about heroin.

1. Heroin Was Used as a Children’s Cough Syrup

Bayer promoted heroin as a cough syrup for children. The latest advertisements for the cough syrup come from 1912.

This might seem like an oversight from the past, after all cocaine, cannabis extracts, and alcohol were all common parts of the medicine of the time. It wasn’t, the earliest reports of heroin’s addicting qualities began to surface 13 years earlier in 1899.

2. Heroin Was Promoted as Non-Addicting

No drug is quite as synonymous with addiction as heroin. Even those who have a rebellious stage rarely find themselves experimenting with it, it’s perceived as too dangerous.

That’s why it’s surprising that it was originally marketed as a non-addictive alternative to morphine.

In the early 1900’s, Bayer began to promote their heroin preparations extensively. Their aggressive marketing campaign ignored the addicting qualities of the drug, going so far as to market it directly to existing morphine addicts.

3. It’s Different on the East and West Coast

Heroin comes in two main forms: tar and powder.

Tar is a less refined form of heroin and is most commonly found on the western American coast and a bit inland.

Meanwhile, on the East coast, powdered heroin is much more common.

Until the last half decade tar was often regarded as inferior but safer since powders tended to have more dangerous cuts. Unfortunately, the primary culprit of overdoses, fentanyl, has recently made its way into black tar heroin as well.

Heroin was never safe but the practice of cutting it with extremely potent fentanyl and analogs has made it downright deadly.

4. It’s Chemically Related to Pharmaceutical Painkillers

All opioids function in essentially the same way. It’s because of this that addicts can use, for instance, oxycodone to stave off heroin withdrawals.

The main difference is in the potency per weight, although some users insist there are some subjective differences.

Heroin is even created from the same source as many pharmaceutical preparations: Papaver somniferum, or the opium poppy.

In fact, heroin is actually modified morphine. The proper chemical name for the drug is diacetylmorphine.

5. It’s Twice as Potent as Morphine

Heroin is roughly twice as potent, milligram for milligram, as morphine. With that in mind, the drugs can also be used interchangeably when purified to medicine grade.

The stigma surrounding heroin keeps it from being in use in many nations. It’s still occasionally used in other countries, however, including the United Kingdom where it is sometimes used as a painkiller of last resort.

The higher potency of heroin means that it’s often more cost-effective for the heavily tolerant addict to purchase heroin rather than more expensive pills.

6. Heroin Withdrawal is Nasty

Heroin is perhaps most renowned for its physically addictive qualities. Unlike most stimulant drugs like cocaine and amphetamines, heroin will leave your body a wreck when you quit.

The symptoms are often compared to having a severe flu. Hot and cold flashes, aching joints, vomiting, and diarrhea are all common in heroin withdrawal. Many addicts have reached a point where the drug is simply being used to stave off the withdrawal.

It’s not an easy drug to quit, even if you can remove the person from a place they can get opioids at all they’re still going to have to go through a long and painful withdrawal as their body attempts to adjust to equilibrium after so long under the influence.

It’s an interesting subject and you can learn about this addiction easily online.

7. Most Users Start With Pills

It’s a rare person who just wakes up and decides to start using heroin.

Many of the people who are currently addicted started with pharmaceutical pills. Whether they were diverted pills or prescribed by a doctor there aren’t many users who started with heroin.

Instead, people find themselves addicted to prescription painkillers one way or another. Over time their tolerance increases until costs become prohibitive and the jump to heroin is a simple financial choice.

Overprescription of painkillers in the late 1990s is often pointed to as one of the primary causes for our increasing addiction rates.

8. It’s Not a “Low Class” Drug

The common perception of heroin users is of an itchy, pockmarked homeless person on Skid Row.

That’s not exactly accurate. Indeed, people above the poverty line, that is to say making more than $20,000 a year, are more likely to use heroin than those beneath it.

Heroin and other opioid addictions are becoming more and more prevalent among the middle class. It’s not just the homeless guy on the street who might be using, instead, it’s soccer moms and blue collar workers.

9. Rehab Doesn’t Cure People

For those who aren’t familiar with addicts and their patterns, there’s a common perception that all you need to do is go to rehab. You get out, you’re all better, and you can get on with your life.

The truth is a lot less inspiring. It’s not uncommon for opioid addicts to exit a lengthy rehab program and then overdose immediately after release. Their tolerance drops during their period of abstinence and many people try to resume using the same dose.

Heroin addicts, like any other addict, are looking at a long and hard road ahead of them. The good news is that recovery is possible, the bad news is that it requires a lot more than just going away for 90 days.

Enjoy Our Interesting Facts About Heroin?

We hope that you’ve learned something from our list of interesting facts about heroin. While it’s a dangerous, illegal narcotic it’s also an interesting compound with a long history.

If you enjoyed this one, then perhaps you should check out some more weird facts in our weird health section.

Weirdomatic is the place where all weird things come to life through the amazing world of photographs – a corner of our wild imagination or the whimsical face of the reality?