THE HEROIN crisis: How our County is at risk

Heroin-related deaths have increased more than 600 percent (as of one 2015 study) and emergency room visits have climbed statewide over the past five years. In fact, in 2016, overdose deaths were 587 and in the first 3 months 412 people went to the emergency room due to heroin. In Hemet and the San Jacinto Valley, heroin is the second-most commonly used illegal drug next to crystal meth, and in Beaumont, Banning and Redlands, it is at the top of the list.

What is heroin?

Heroin is a highly addictive, illegal drug that, like opium and morphine, is made from the resin of poppy plants. While most heroin is injected, it can also be smoked or sniffed. In its purest form, heroin is a fine white powder. But more often, its color is rose gray, brown or black from other additives. These additives do not fully dissolve and, when injected, can clog blood vessels that lead to the lungs, kidneys or brain and cause infection or destruction of vital organs.

There is also another lethal form of heroin known as “cheese heroin,” a blend of black tar Mexican heroin (called “black tar” because of its color) and over-the-counter cold medications such as Tylenol PM.

THE DESTRUCTIVE EFFECTS OF HEROIN

Short-term damage

The initial effects of heroin include a “rush,” after which the user becomes drowsy and basic body functions such as breathing and heartbeat slow down. The person can also experience:

Nausea, vomiting and severe itching

Sedation, drowsiness and clouded mental functioning

Hypothermia (body temperature lower than normal)

Within hours of the drug effects decreasing, the body craves more. If the person does not get another fix, extreme physical and mental symptoms of withdrawal include restlessness, aches and pains in the bones, diarrhea, vomiting and severe discomfort.

The intense high a user seeks lasts only minutes. With continued use, the person needs increasing amounts just to feel “normal.” But once in this deadly grip, one is never normal again.

Long-term damage

Continued use of heroin is very destructive. Frequent injections can cause collapsed veins and infections of the blood vessels and heart valves. It can also lead to Tuberculosis. Other consequences of use include:

Weakened immune system and respiratory (breathing) illnesses

Muscular weakness, partial paralysis, arthritis

Reduced sexual capacity and long term impotence (men)

Menstrual disturbance (women)

Loss of memory and intellectual performance

Loss of appetite and insomnia

Coma or death (from overdose)

Additionally, the addict lifestyle—wherein users share needles—leads to AIDS and other contagious infections. An estimated 70 percent of new hepatitis C2 (liver disease) infections each year in the U.S. are from drug users who use needles.

The vicious circle

The dwindling spiral that heroin leads to usually begins with some hope of escape from life. But any apparent relief from one’s troubles soon becomes a living hell from which there is slim hope of return.

As one woman relates: “From the day I started using [heroin], I never stopped. Within one week I had gone from snorting heroin to shooting it. Within one month I was addicted and going through all my money. I sold everything of value that I owned and eventually everything that my mother owned. Within one year, I had lost everything. I sold my car, lost my job, was kicked out of my mother’s house, was $25,000 in credit card debt and living on the streets. I lied, I stole, I cheated.

“I was raped, beaten, mugged, robbed, arrested, homeless, sick and desperate. I knew that nobody could have a lifestyle like that very long and I knew that death was imminent. If anything, death was better than a life as a junkie.”—Alison

THE SOLUTION

The real answer is to get the facts and safeguard yourself, and your future, by not taking drugs in the first place. Drugs tear families and lives apart. Help educate others and end their destructive grip on our society.

For more information on Heroin, visit https://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/heroin.html.

Drug Free World is the largest and most comprehensive international nongovernmental drug educational and prevention program. Its videos, booklets and teaching aids and free online courses are available in 20 languages. Visit the Drug-Free World website at https://drugfreeworld.org.