Heroin Abuse Is Not Really A New Habit

English: Pre-war Bayer heroin bottle, originally containing 5 grams of Heroin substance. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When parents discover that their child is abusing heroin they often think that heroin is some new drug that has found its way into their neighborhood, their schools and their family. First, there is a feeling of shock and disbelief and they wonder how did this street drug find its way into their "molecule." They notice news reports and are sometimes shocked to learn that heroin abuse actually has been a part of our world culture for over 100 years. Heroin was "created" in 1898. Merchants with familiar household names like Bayer and Merck did the early research in how to produce and use heroin and they brought it to market. One of its first applications was for:

"Painful respiratory diseases such as pneumonia and tuberculosis (‘consumption’) were then the leading causes of death, and in the days before antibiotics or the BCG vaccine, doctors could only prescribe narcotics to alleviate the sufferings of patients who otherwise could not sleep"

Over the past few years we have often written about heroin addiction, offering insight and words of caution for both the addict and the parents who don't know about heroin and often believe it is something new. Heroin is not new and heroin abuse is not new. Parents don't want to think about their child being referred to as a "junkie". But remember, even the term "junkie" is not new. According to History Today, "During the early 1920s a number of New York addicts supported themselves by collecting scrap metal from industrial dumps, so earning the label ‘junkies’."


To watch a news video provided by KGTV 10News.Com (San Diego) on July 16, 2012, "Parents Warned Of Rise In Heroin Abuse Among Young People" click here. 

Take some time to get informed. Ask questions, seek answers. Treatment and recovery is available.

Related articles

• Heroin Abuse Continues To Rip Apart Metro East Families (stlouis.cbslocal.com)
• 5 people overdose on heroin in Duluth; 1 dies (sfgate.com)
• More Oxycontin abusers switching to heroin (cbsnews.com)
• Parents Warned of Rise In Heroin Abuse Among Young People (KGTV 10News San Diego)