Heroin

In 1873, C R Wright discovered the alternative, known as diacetylmorphine. But, Bayer Company chemist Heinrich Dreser felt that it could be developed into something much more important. He tested it on himself and on animals, and proclaimed the drug to be safer and less toxic than morphine. Because of the side effects of what came to be marketed as heroin, most notably respiratory depression, it was seen as an effective treatment for pneumonia and tuberculosis. Cough syrup makers and physicians began using and prescribing it regularly.

Because heroin is much more addictive than morphine, a significant problem was noticed from almost the start. However, the American Medical Association did approve it for use in 1902.

By 1913, Bayer quit making the product. Addiction and overdose-related hospital admissions rose, and the use of it for recreation soared. It became a controlled substance in 1914 under the Harrison Narcotic Act and was illegal even for doctors to prescribe in 1919.

How It Is Produced

According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), almost 60 percent of the drug comes from fields in remote parts of Southeast Asia. This can range from the mountains in Turkey through Pakistan and Laos. South America, particularly Columbia, is becoming a bigger transporter of the drug as well.

A “slash-and-burn” technique is used to clear fields where poppy seeds are spread. Once mature, flowers form with small capsules in the middle. After the petals fall off, the capsule can be cut and the opium gum on the inside is scraped off of it.

The raw opium gum is dried out, then traded or sold later. Once it gets to a “refinery,” a chemical process turns it into morphine bricks, and more chemicals are used to make it into the final product. Because the last step in the purification process is very volatile, it can cause explosions. This is another reason refineries are kept in remote locations.

Rarely does the drug come into the United States in the form it was finalized in. By the time the street dealers and users have it in their hands, many other things are added to it, making it only around 40 percent pure. Additives include sugar, starch, powdered milk, strychnine, quinine, and other poisons or drugs.

Smuggling to the United States

Because heroin is not typically grown domestically, it must be smuggled into the U.S. Smuggling used to be as simple as packing it into luggage, shipping it in containers, or bringing it by courier. However, as enforcement agencies crack down on the import, smugglers have had to get more creative.

Now smugglers often employ dangerous methods to get the illegal substance into the country. Many employ drug runners to swallow small bags of the drug, and wait for it to pass through their system. Because the drug must pass within a certain amount of time, it is important that the runner get medical treatment if it does not. Any bag inside the stomach will eventually rupture or get eaten by acids. This will cause death.

Other creative ways for it to enter the country include hiding the drug in refuse, furniture, or figurines. Smugglers have also tried putting it in the gas tanks of cars.

The importation of heroin into the U.S. is big business, because around half of the worldwide production ends up in the country.