While heroin is probably the scariest drug that people conjure up in their imagination when drugs are discussed, it still behooves us to look at the real world facts occasionally so as not to merge creative imagination with reality. While getting your information about heroin is probably served best by reading information at drug-rehabcenter.com or some government information site, another way to get your perspective on heroin addiction is by reviewing the recent events that have occurred involving heroin.
Here is the first half of the year 2007's heroin in the news:
Right off the bat it should be mentioned that in March, research published by the Lancet, proposed a new framework for the classification of harmful substances, based on the actual risks posed to society. They ranked the top 10 most notorious substances in society and sitting on top of the list is heroin. If you are asking yourself "Now why is that?" You can investigate the comparisons by following up on the paper itself or you may gain some insight by reading on.
In Chicago March 2007, gang members mixed the painkiller fentanyl with heroin and sold it in city public housing complexes, killing at least five people. Lacing heroin with fentanyl has killed hundreds of people in the United States since 2005. Two hundred people have died in Cook County alone from fentanyl-laced heroin.
Of course, in 2007 while the heroin is bad, the money is good. This enticing theme has spun the Taliban into a 180. While initially condemning drug use because the Quran forbids it, the new line is that it is OK to grow but not OK to use. However if you grow it and receive money for it the heroin will be used. The Taliban is simply taxing the farmers on their crop that is worth approximately 700 million dollars. The taxes extract in the ballpark of 20 percent. Who would have thought tithing would become so evil? (Sympathy for the Devil anyone?).
Heroin dealers have turned to marketing their product differently by combining Tylenol PM with heroin and calling it "cheese", which is suppose to remove the stigma that the name heroin has to it. Not too much of a stigma has been built up in the heroin dealers' customers though, since most of the people they are marketing it to are kids that are 14 years old. As of February of this school year, 122 kids have been arrested for "cheese" in the Dallas school system and the average age is 14 years old.
Heroin and hepatitis C are all the rage in prisons this year, with 40 percent of the inmates being infected, while only 2 percent of the general population is infected with hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is commonly linked to infected needles used for drugs (read heroin).
In the heroin 2007 political environment, Rudy Giuliani is running for president and his exploits as a prosecuting attorney are coming back in the news. The "pizza connection" trial resulted in the conviction of 18 Mafia-backed drug dealers that operated through pizza parlors. The ring imported an estimated $1.6 billion worth of heroin into the United States. It was one of the longest criminal cases in federal court history.
Monday, April 16, 2007- Seventeen bodies were found in cars or stuffed in garbage bags dumped in the street throughout Mexico. This escalation of violence appears to be brought on by warring factions of drug gangs. Mexican drug gangs make 20 to 30 million dollars a year trafficking marijuana (the gateway drug), cocaine (the party drug), methamphetamine (the I want to look 65 when I am 40 drug) and heroin (the Number one notorious substance in society).
Hoping for a better second half to the year 2007. If you, or someone you know is using meth, please contact a qualified drug rehab center. Live long.