Effects Of Heroin Essay, Research Paper

In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”, Sonny was addicted to heroin. He states: “I can’t get anything straight in my head down here and I try not to think what’s going to happen to me when I get outside again. Sometimes I think I’m going to flip and never get outside and sometimes I think I’ll come straight back. I’ll tell you one think though I’d rather blow my brains out then go through this again”(84). Here Sonny is going through one of the stages of heroin. He is going through the withdrawal stage and he is hurting at this point. Sonny knows he has to get over it he also knows he can. Heroin is a very addictive drug and has many short and long term effects.

The definition of heroin described by Kuhn is, “Heroin or any drug natural or synthetic that provides the characteristics of opiate actions: thee combination of a dreamy, euphoric state, lessened sensation of pain, slowed breathing, constipation, and pinpoint pupils”(164). Heroin makes about 90% of the opiates used illegally in the United States. Heroin is extremely addictive. Users can be addictive in a matter of days in which they started (165).

There are many short-term effects of heroin. As soon as heroin enters the blood stream it is converted into morphine, which is a pain reliever. From a personal interview I learned that, seconds after the drug is injected, “a pleasant feeling takes place, it starts at the stomach and is spread through the body” (personal interview). A heavy enough dose can leave a person unconscious. This intense feeling of euphoria last only a few minutes. Then it is followed by hours of “decreased sensation usually followed by sleep (personal interview). Some words to describe the experience are “peaceful”, “painless”, “protected”, “warmth”, and “worry free” (personal interview).

For the first time users of heroin, it can be unpleasant. This is because they are not used to sticking themselves with a needle, and they usually vomit. But after they initially take it they build up a tolerance, and must the amount to maintain the initial feeling (personal interview).

In the novel “junkie” by William Burrough, he describes the first experience of heroin as:

“Morphine hits the back of the leg first, then the back of the neck, a spreading wave of relaxation slackening the muscle away from the bones so that you seem to float without outlines, like lying in warm salt water. As this relaxation wave spread through my tissues, I experienced a strong feeling of fear. I had the feeling that some horrible image was just beyond the field of vision, moving as I turned my head so that I never quite saw it. I felt nauseous. A series of pictures passed like watching a movie: a huge neon-lighted cocktail bar that got larger and larger until streets, traffic and streets repairs were included in it; a waitress carrying a skull on a tray; stars in the clear sky. The physical impact of the fear of death; the shutting off of breath; the stopping of blood. I dozed off and woke up with a start of fear. Next morning I vomited and felt sick until noon”( ).

A question that most people want to know is, what is the effect of the rest of the body, what causes the vomiting and constipation. In the book “Buzzed”, it is explained “the opiate vomits because Morphine stimulates a center of the brain. Whose job it is to cause vomiting in response to ingestion of a toxic substance”(169). Our bodies have this to prevent us from getting sick. Just like if you drink too much and your liver cannot handle it, you will vomit to get the toxin out. The constipation occurs due to “increase tension in certain muscles in gastrointestinal tract, so much that normal movements of food cannot operate effectively”(170).

It is known that different drugs produce different effects on the bodies system. But all drugs share in the common ability to influence brain chemistry. The easiest way to explain how drugs work in the brain would be a “lock and key” method. For example, the lock would be the effect on the body (what the brain tells the body to do) and the key would be the drug. Only the right key can open the lock. Neurotransmitters are the communication with the rest of the body. The actual drug wither mimics or blocks the neurotransmitters. Heroin therefore attaches to the opiod transmitters in the brain, which release endomorphins and dynomorphins. Avram Goldstein, who discovered dynomorphins states that ” If not for the brain receptors, with their amazing specificity, all the addictive drugs would have the same biological actions (or no actions at all)”(31). This is an important point because it shows how the drug is able to act with normal brain receptors making the chemicals “drugs” rather then poisons in the body.

When using heroin repeatedly, the buildup of tolerance occurs. Therefore larger doses have to be taken to provide a desired response. This is because the body is ale to break down the drug more efficiently. Also heroin provides a physical dependence. This is when the nerves in the brain adapt to the drug and start functioning normally when the drug is present. When the drug is withdrawn that is when severe reactions occur. In the case of heroin it could be life threatening. That is what Sonny is going through when he is in jail, when he writes to his brother. This is known as the withdrawal symptom.

There are many physical side effects of stimulating all opiate receptors in the body simultaneously. The major effect is death by overdose. As Kuhn states ” The most common reason for overdose is that the user has received a dose much higher then expected”(175). Since street heroin varies widely, it could be as high as 60% pure and as low as 10% pure (175). Seizures can develop with high doses. Another short-term effect of overdosing on heroin is flushing of the skin and tremendous itching. This is because morphine releases histamine in the skin.

Other short-term overdoses occur because the user is malnourished and ill in health and often addicted to other drugs. But most often overdose occurs because of contaminants in the heroin itself.

As Fredrick Bernhem a professor at Duke University Medical Center points out, There are many long-term effects with heroin. “Men can become impotent, and sexual reproductive functions can be impaired in both men and women. Women often stop having menstrual cycles and men sperm production falls. Users are constantly, constipated, and therefor loose weight because they are constantly chasing down the drug. And they don’t eat well”(176). Heroin does not have any effect on the organ systems.

Another long-term effect of heroin is that people who use heroin inject it through unclean needles, therefore there is an increase risk of contraction HIV and Hepatitis. Also from the sticking of needles, there is a result of inflation of the veins. This could cause damage to the blood vessels which could cause hypoxia(low blood oxygen levels).

Treating a heroin addiction is no easy solution. There are many strategies like cold turkey or methadone clinics, but none is easy. In cold turkey the user just stops. He will get very harsh withdrawal symptoms, but after months without the drug he could eventually be cured. The methadone clinics work as an outpatient treatment program. The idea of this treatment is that the user can gradually work his way down to a lifestyle free of heroin. This drug is also taken orally so there are no risks of IV administration.

The effects of heroin made Sonny addicted and eventually got him arrested. What caused Sonny to try the drug in the first place? I think the heroin was greatly effected by the lifestyle and music that Sonny was living by. For example, he was living in the village, which is know worldwide for its diversity of people but most of all for its drugs. Most of the junkies live in that area of the city, away from hustle and bustle of the eloquent Wall Street. But this is not to say that people on Wall Street don’t do heroin or any other drug either. This world is a very divers place, where people make both good and bad decisions on how they live their life. Both Sonny and his brother chose the way in which they wanted to lead their lives. Just because they went in two opposite directions does not compensate on how we should view them as a person.

Between the books I read and the people I interviewed, I think that heroin is not a way to lead a life. It will just take you, and make you think that the real world doesn’t exist. It will put you in the illusion that everything is great and peaceful, while eating your mind and body away. It will kill you.