Heroin (AKA: smack, horse, mud, brown sugar) has been a part of the drug culture for many years. It is primarily used through injection causing wide spread concerns for everyone. Syringes lost or left behind by users carry disease and narcotics which can effect anyone who comes in contact with them. Syringes from heroin addicts have been found at bus benches, vacant lots by schools, alleyways and public bathrooms. Diseases such as HIV, hepatitis, and tetanus are common amongst heroin addicts (Strategy 1996). Heroin is an opiate or a downer and is made from the resin taken from the seedpod of the poppy pla

As with any drug, when addiction occurs the addict will go to extreme means to obtain the drug. This translates to increased crime in our community. The illicit drugs being used in our community directly affect the crime rate. Burglary, shoplifting, and robbery are a few that are most often connected to a heroin addict (DEA, 1996). Prostitutes are common users of heroin and can spread disease with the syringes they use and the service they provide. "Prostitution and heroin go hand in hand" (DEA, 1996). Prostitution is first used as a means to afford heroin and soon becomes a way of life as the addict's body and mind deteriorate. Prostitution has been labeled by some as a victimless crime but in affect it has several victims. One victim being the addicted prostitute, another victim is the family of a customer who contracts HIV. The number of new and younger users is rising. Some of these are described as fairly affluent, non-urban dwellers who come into the city to buy heroin. In most cases, these new users are snorting the drug rather than injecting it.

4. Mckim, William A. (1996). The risk of heroin overdose, Drug Behavior, 56.

5. Nadelmann, Ethan (1996). Methadone Maintenance Page at Lindesmith Center, Drug Research Institute.

The availability is attractive to the younger users. "The heroin can be found not only on the street, but in most clubs, and even in some quick-stop type gas stations" (Newsweek, 1996). Many rock stars have died from heroin overdose in the past and the numbers are still growing today. This issue should be alerting the younger generation of the problems with this drug. However, it is making heroin a "cool drug". The youths look at the effects of the drug on the music artists and can only focus on the tremendous high that they themselves can obtain from the drug. They do not believe the side effects or even death could occur to them. The price is also appealing for youths. In general, heroin prices are low, but there is considerable variation. Some areas report bags of heroin starting as low as $5.00. Others report somewhat higher prices. In general, purity is also high, though there is considerable variation even within the same geographic area. Heroin prices reported by police vary by area: $250-300 per gram in the Northwest to $150 per gram in Colorado, to $60-70 per gram in the East. This is due, in part, to the type of heroin available (Mexican, Southeast Asian, Colombian). Purity is also variable from lows of less than 10 percent in the Northwest to highs of more than 60 percent in the East (DEA, 1996).

3. Leshner (1999). Science-Based Views of Drug Addiction and it's Treatment. JAMA, Vol. 282, No. 14, 10-13-1999.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1900
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)