DO you remember the first time you heard that band of unknowns play the music and sing the lyrics that seemed to capture perfectly the simmering below the surface sentiment of the moment? Be it a feeling of awkwardness, angst, love, joy, loss, sadness, heartache, anger, frustration, dissent or rebellion; they were able to tap into it, express what you were feeling and reflect it back at you.
Unfortunately, when this happens, when from nowhere, a band emerges who is able to forge an immediate connection with a massive audience, the intended message can, and often does, become marred by the consumer friendly hype of the marketing machine.
In the case of Nirvana, however, somehow, impossibly and all too briefly, the message broke through, projected onto the screen in monochromatic shades of dirty amber .
And by the very nature of its unpolished presentation, the authenticity of the message resonated through variations on the theme of: Come As You Are.
But then, as time went on, the message began to lose some of its credibility, partly due to the power of the marketing machine, yes, but also to the fact that the messenger seemed incapable of existing as himself within his own unpunctured skin; which, in essence knocked the foundation out of everything I had thought he stood for.
Via YouTube
LAST weekend I watched
Montage of Heck. I watched it, and then I watched it again. Only twice. Which for me is pretty good. When Control came out I watched it over and over,
studied it almost, trying to understand how someone so young and talented, a dreamer actually making his dreams come true, could perceive himself as so deeply mired in darkened circumstance that he was driven to end his life in such a brutal manner.
And, as was the case for both Ian and Kurt, to have done so in a manner seemingly designed not only to end their own suffering, but also to ensure those around them, those who loved them, would carry on their suffering in their absence.
It’s one of those human actions I just can't get my head around. I did the same thing with Sylvia and The Virgin Suicides, re-watched and re-read, searching for the signs, hoping impossibly for an alternate ending, wondering why it was that we so often fail to notice the mental suffering of others. And wondering why it was that we (as teenage me did all those years ago), so often tend to place the blame for substance abuse on some perceived character weakness in the victim.
AND so last weekend I watched
Montage of Heck, searching for answers and finding none; and thinking how very
beautiful Kurt was, and wondering if he knew he was beautiful; and thinking how very
talented he was, and wondering if he knew (I mean really knew); and wondering
if he knew how apparent his insecurities were when he was speaking in interviews;
and if so, did knowing make him even more insecure?
And so I watched Montage of Heck, feeling an
inexplicable sense of relief that his daughter seems to have escaped whatever
demons haunted her father; and that she seems okay. That she seems better than okay.
That she seems to be living the truth of the message her father once delivered
but was tragically incapable of realizing fully.
SORRY, I don't have a segue into the specific subject matter of this entry, other than to say I chose it because I think it would be too mentally exhausting to approach the thoughts inspired by the Cobain documentary in any manner other than the superficial.
The poppy seeds themselves contain only very small amounts of opiates. [4]
So, best not be going all Stephen Merchant on Incense after eating that poppy seed bagel.
That said, it is perhaps best to avoid baked goods containing poppy seeds if, for some reason or other, you are going to be taking a drug test. For as both Elaine Benes and MythBusters [15] have demonstrated: one can test positive for narcotics after consuming baked goods containing poppy seeds.
Morphine is produced by applying chemicals to the hardened opium gum. [20]
Heroin is produced by processing morphine with chemicals like acetic anhydride, sodium carbonate, acetone and HCl.
Heroin was originally marketed
by Bayer as an OTC cough suppressant and non-addictive morphine substitute; that
was, of course, before it was discovered that diacetylmorphine is rapidly
metabolized into morphine in the body. [16]
TRAFFICKING [12][20]
- Between 2012 and 2013, Afghanistan, which has the world's largest opium poppy cultivation, saw an increase in the area under cultivation from 154,000 hectares to 209,000 hectares.
- During this same period, the global use of heroin and opium was estimated at between 12.8 million to 20.2 million users.
- With the main increase in usage occurring in the United States.
- The global market for illicit opiates is highly complex as significant cultivation is concentrated in 3 geographical regions:
- The Golden Triangle (Myanmar, Thailand & Laos)
- The Golden Crescent (Afghanistan & Pakistan)
- Latin America
- Consequently, illicit opiates are necessarily trafficked across large distances and through multiple countries in order to meet demand.
- Heroin is increasingly being smuggled through the area south of Afghanistan, reaching Europe via the Near and Middle East and Africa, as well as directly from Pakistan.
- There is also evidence that Afghan heroin is reaching new markets in South-East Asia.
.gif)
GRADES
Heroin purity has been
classified into 4 grades: [20]
.jpg)
.jpg)
No.3 grade heroin is less refined than No. 4 and often appears as tan or gray colored granules or rocks. It is unsuitable for injection and is commonly heated and the vapors inhaled.
Heroin base, prior to its conversion to the hydrochloride salt, is referred to as No. 2 heroin.
Unprocessed heroin (morphine) is referred to as No. 1 grade heroin (UNODC, 2003).
.jpg)
Other types of heroin include 'black tar' and 'homebake'. Both of which are crude forms of heroin.THE PRICE OF HEROIN
The prices below are from www.havocscope.com; and are based on the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s World Drug Report unless stated. [21]
Brunei 1330.4 USD / gram
Japan 683.6 USD / gram
United Kingdom 61.5 USD / gram
United States 200 USD (UN)
| 110 USD (User Submitted) per gram
Pakistan 3.0 USD / gram
Afghanistan 2.4 USD / gram
HEROIN EFFECTS
- Heroin can be a highly-addictive drug regardless of whether it is smoked, snorted or injected. [2]
- Tolerance develops quickly, and increased doses are needed in order to achieve the same effects. [10]
- It is estimated that about 23% of individuals who use heroin become dependent on it. [6]
- When heroin crosses the blood-brain barrier (which it does more rapidly than morphine due to its increased fat solubility), it is converted back into morphine which then binds to opioid receptors in the brain and spinal cord, especially to receptors that are located along the reward pathway, such as the nucleus accumbens. [5][6][17][23]
- Opioid receptors are also located in the brain stem, which controls automatic processes critical for life, such as blood pressure, arousal, and respiration. [6]
Following this initial euphoria, the user experiences an alternately wakeful and drowsy state. Users who do not inject the drug may not experience the initial rush, but other effects are the same. [5][6]
- In high doses, heroin can result in convulsions, a dangerously low pulse, blue lips and fingernails, clammy skin, a coma or even death. [5]
- The drug's depressive effect on respiration can cause slow, shallow breathing. [5]
- This can affect the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain, a condition called hypoxia.
- Hypoxia can have short and long term psychological and neurological effects, including coma and permanent brain damage. [6]
Studies have shown some
deterioration of the brain’s white matter due to heroin use, which may affect
decision-making abilities, the ability to regulate behavior, and responses to
stressful situations. [6]
Chronic users may develop
collapsed veins, [5] infection of the heart lining and valves, [1] abscesses,
constipation and gastrointestinal cramping. [6]
- Pulmonary complications, including various types of pneumonia, may result from the poor health of the user as well as from heroin’s effects on breathing. [6]
- Street heroin can be cut with toxic impurities (fentanyl is another opioid painkiller that can greatly increase the potency of heroin [5][7]) that can clog blood vessels leading to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain, causing permanent damage to vital organs. [1][6]
- Injection of heroin has also been associated with the spread of blood-borne pathogens, including hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV/AIDS. [5][6]
SUPERVISED INJECTION FACILITIES
Supervised Injection Facilities are legally sanctioned and medically supervised facilities designed to: [18]
- provide sterile injection supplies
- provide education
- provide overdose prevention and intervention
- provide medical and counselling services *
- provide referrals to drug treatment, housing, income support and other services
- reduce the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis
- reduce the number of drug overdoses
- bring people into contact with other health and social services
- reduce community issues such as public drug use and discarded needles
FinalCut Coach via YouTube
- In a 2011 retrospective population based study, [19] researchers sought to determine whether the opening of a safe injection facility (SIF) in Vancouver, Canada, was associated with a reduction in overdose mortality.
- They examined population-based overdose mortality rates for the period before and after the opening of the Vancouver SIF.
- The location of death was determined from provincial coroner records.
- They compared overdose fatality rates within a 500 m radius of the SIF and for the rest of the city.
- The fatal overdose rate in the area around the facility decreased by 35% after its opening.
- By contrast, during the same period, the fatal overdose rate in the rest of the city decreased by 9.3%.
EMERGING TRENDS
- Driven by the decreased price and increased availability of heroin in parts of the United States, results of this 2014 study [4] suggest that users are replacing prescription opioids like OxyContin are Vicodin with heroin. [3][6]
- In the study, researchers analyzed survey data from ~ 2,800 men and women throughout the United States who had sought treatment for their heroin addiction. [4]
- Respondents who had begun using heroin in the 1960's were predominantly young men (~16.5 years) whose first opioid of abuse was heroin.
- More recent users were older ( ~ 22.9 years) men and women living in less urban areas who were introduced to opioids through prescription drugs.
- Whites and nonwhites were equally represented in those initiating use prior to the 1980's, but nearly 90% of respondents who began use in the last decade were white.
- Although the “high” produced by heroin was described as a significant factor in its selection, it was often used because it was more readily accessible and much less expensive than prescription opioids.
MEDICAL THERAPIES & TREATMENTS
 |
| 40 mg of methadone |
Naloxone (Narcan), acts by blocking opioid receptors, and is sometimes used as an emergency treatment to counteract the effects of heroin overdose. [5][6][9]
Suboxone, which contains a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone, is also used to treat opiate addiction. [9]
The incidence of heroin abuse in Switzerland has declined sharply since the introduction of heroin assisted treatment.
“The harm reduction policy of Switzerland and its emphasis on the medicalization of the heroin problem seems to have contributed to the image of heroin as unattractive for young people."
***
FIN
America's Heroin Epidemic Explained: The Number Of People Under The Age Of 25 Using Heroin Has Doubled In The Past Decade / Medical Daily / July 8, 2015
Painkiller Abuse Tied to Skyrocketing Heroin Use in US / LiveScience / July 7, 2015
Poppy yields the final secret to making morphine / Science News / June 25, 2015
Researchers closer to engineering yeast that make morphine, spurring worries / Science Insider / May 18, 2015
REFERENCES
[4] "Poppy law" on Erowid.org
[7] NIDA
[8] Kapoor L
(1995). Opium Poppy: Botany, Chemistry, and Pharmacology. United States:
CRC Press. p. 164. ISBN 1-56024-923-4.
[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin
[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin-assisted_treatment
[13] "BSBI
List 2007". Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived
from the original (XLS) on 2015-02-25.
[15] MYTHBUSTERS
/ POPPYSEED DRUG TEST
[16] Jim Edwards
for Business Insider . November 17, 2011 Yes, Bayer Promoted Heroin for Children -- Here Are
The Ads That Prove It
[17] "Basic Facts About Heroin".
Alcoholism.about.com.
[19] Brandon D L
Marshall, M-J Milloy, Evan Wood, Julio S G Montaner, Thomas Kerr www.thelancet.com
Published online April 18, 2011 DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)62353-7
[20] "Heroin—Illicit Drug Report" (PDF).
Government of Australia. 2007/2008
[22] Nordt, Carlos, et
al. (2006) "Incidence of Heroin Use in Zurich, Switzerland: A Treatment
Case Register Analysis". The Lancet, Vol. 367, June 3, 2006, p. 1830.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2806%2968804-1/abstract
[23] Klous MG, Van den Brink W, Van Ree JM,
Beijnen JH (2005). "Development of pharmaceutical heroin preparations for
medical co-prescription to opioid dependent patients". Drug and
Alcohol Dependence 80 (3): 283–95. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2005.04.008. PMID 15916865.
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
NIDA’s handbook,Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment.
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ New report suggests Ottawa drug users would benefit from safe injection site
http://www.macleans.ca/authors/amanda-shendruk/the-debate-over-safe-injection-sites/
IMAGE CREDITS (*In order of appearance)
"C R Alder Wright Circa 1876" by
[Royal] Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland. - [1] [2].
Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:C_R_Alder_Wright_Circa_1876.jpg#/media/File:C_R_Alder_Wright_Circa_1876.jpg
"Illustration Papaver somniferum0".
Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons -
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Illustration_Papaver_somniferum0.jpg#/media/File:Illustration_Papaver_somniferum0.jpg
"Slaapbol R0017601" by KGM007 -
I took this photo in Den Haag. I cut the seedhead and a white milk dripped out.
The next day the white milk was dried brown. I am not aware of the laws on this
topic, to err on the safe side I didnt harvest it. The cut and photo were made
for educational purposes only.. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia
Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Slaapbol_R0017601.JPG#/media/File:Slaapbol_R0017601.JPG
"Bayer Heroin bottle" by Mpv_51
at English Wikipedia - Transferred from English Wikipedia. Licensed under
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons -
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bayer_Heroin_bottle.jpg#/media/File:Bayer_Heroin_bottle.jpg
"Drugroutemap" by CIA Employee -
CIA Employee. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Drugroutemap.gif#/media/File:Drugroutemap.gif
"Heroin asian". Licensed under Public
Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heroin_asian.jpg#/media/File:Heroin_asian.jpg
"Chunkyno3" by jlcoving (talk) -
I (jlcoving (talk)) created this work entirely by myself.. Licensed under
Public Domain via Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chunkyno3.jpg#/media/File:Chunkyno3.jpg
"Heroin black tar". Licensed under
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heroin_black_tar.jpg#/media/File:Heroin_black_tar.jpg
"Short-term effects of
heroin" by Mikael Häggström.When using this image in external works,
it may be cited as follows:Häggström, Mikael. "Medical gallery of Mikael
Häggström 2014". Wikiversity Journal of Medicine 1 (2).
DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.008. ISSN 20018762. - See above. All used images are in
public domain.. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons -
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Short-term_effects_of_heroin.png#/media/File:Short-term_effects_of_heroin.png
"Long-term effects of heroin" by
Mikael Häggström.When using this image in external works, it may be cited as
follows:Häggström, Mikael. "Medical gallery of Mikael Häggström
2014". Wikiversity Journal of Medicine 1 (2). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.008.
ISSN 20018762. - See above. All used images are in public domain.. Licensed
under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Long-term_effects_of_heroin.png#/media/File:Long-term_effects_of_heroin.png
"Methadone 40mg" by Fuzzform at
en.wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia by SreeBot. Licensed under Public
Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Methadone_40mg.jpg#/media/File:Methadone_40mg.jpg
"Suboxone SL Tabs" by Jr de
Barbosa - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Suboxone_SL_Tabs.jpg#/media/File:Suboxone_SL_Tabs.jpg
"Diamorphine prescription" by
n/A - http://www.rundschau-online.de. Licensed under Public Domain via
Wikimedia Commons -
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diamorphine_prescription.jpg#/media/File:Diamorphine_prescription.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment