Heroin
Articles Related to Heroin
- Injection Drug Users at High Risk of Kidney Disease, Especially if HIV-Positive
Administering drugs through injection creates greater susceptibility to numerous health hazards—including increased risk of delinquent behavior, risky sexual activity, diseases, and HIV/AIDS—than any other route of drug administration. Now, a new study has identified the injection drug user population, particularly those who are HIV-positive, as being at a high risk for poor kidney function, making them significantly more likely to have kidney disease than the general population.
- Flashblood: Injecting Addicts’ Blood in Africa
Flashblood (also called “flushblood”) is a disturbing, dangerous technique that has emerged among heroin addicts in some African cities. Addicts will inject themselves with blood extracted from another user, usually someone who has just injected heroin, to get high or to avoid withdrawal symptoms. This practice dramatically increases the risk of contracting HIV and hepatitis.
- Heroin Addict Decides Life of Crime Too Hard When Elderly Women Are Involved
Those suffering with a drug addiction have a reputation for hurting others to get their fix. In the case of Mike Bedinghaus, the hurt was in the form of robbery and included elderly women, as reported by the Cincinnati.
- Dialing 911 Rare for Heroin Users
Last week, prosecutors painted a chilling picture of a 36-year-old man from McHenry County, Illinois, dying alone in a hotel room from a heroin overdose.
- Afghan Town Evicts Drug Addicts Who Won’t Quit
Village elders in a remote region of Ghazni, Afghanistan, are taking action to get the many drug-addicted youth to kick their habit, or get kicked out of town.
- Heroin and HIV in Zanzibar
In Zanzibar, an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 drug addicts use syringes to inject themselves with heroin. Reuters reports that high rates of HIV among addicts threaten to affect the general population as growth in heroin trafficking through east Africa is making the drug more available.
- British Government Undermining Efforts to Tackle Prisoners’ Heroin Addiction
Former British drug advisor Mike Trace said the government is undermining efforts to tackle heroin addiction among prisoners, claiming prisoners are being prescribed the addictive heroin substitute methadone instead of being encouraged to quit altogether.
- 130,000 People Become Addicted to Drugs Annually in Iran
The Iranian police chief announced that about 130,000 people become addicted to drugs each year in Iran. Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, who is also head of Iran’s anti-narcotics agency, also acknowledged the scale of the problem for a country on a key heroin trafficking route.
- Seroquel: The New Kid on the Pharmaceutical Black Market
Seroquel is a powerful antipsychotic intended to treat schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, but it has gained popularity on the street as a drug that can knock you out in minutes. The quick sedative action of Seroquel is especially popular among cocaine and meth users to combat the comedown from their illicit drug of choice.
- Heroin Education Mandated for Parents of High School Seniors in Long Island
Seniors at high schools in the Smithtown school district of Long Island cannot go to prom until their parents attend a meeting about the dangers of heroin.