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Heroin

In: Other Topics

Submitted By mittens
Words 750
Pages 3
Savanna Briggs
Title: A Heroin Epidemic
General purpose: To inform.
Specific purpose: To inform the audience of facts about heroin use.
Thesis: Heroin is a highly addictive drug and its abuse has repercussions on the body and mind, not to mention the rippling effects onto the family, society and economy.
Introduction
1. Many people would never think that heroin would ever play a role in their life or the lives of their family. 2. I am pursuing a degree in nursing and so am interested in the health effects of heroin. 3. Today we will talk about some of the history of heroin use in the United States, heroin addiction, and how it affects health.
Body: What is heroin and how is it used? a) The compound that forms the basis of heroin, Diacetylmorphine, was first synthesized in 1874 by a British chemist named C.R. Alder Wright. b) It is a naturally occurring substance extracted from the seed pod of the Asian opium poppy plant. c) To harvest opium, the seed pod of the poppy is cut and a juice flows out. The main ingredient that is extracted from raw opium is morphine. Morphine is easily converted to heroin by a chemical process. http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/hero.html d) In pure form is a white powder. Another form of heroin known as "black tar" may be sticky, like roofing tar, or hard, like coal. Its color may vary from dark brown to black. http://www.drugs.com/heroin.html Methods of heroin use a) Heroin is used by injection into the bloodstream, snorting through the nose or smoking it. b) All methods of use are equally addictive. c) After an intravenous injection of heroin, users report feeling a surge of euphoria (“rush”) accompanied by dry mouth, a warm flushing of the skin, heaviness of the extremities, and clouded mental functioning.

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