It is mainly believed that Arab traders took opium to China in about the 7th or 8th century A.D. It was used there as a medicine until it was realized that it could be smoked in the 17th century. Heroin was created in 1874 and was marketed as a safe and non-addictive alternative to morphine. It was quickly discovered though, that heroin also produced dependancy quickly in some patients. Opiates and heroin were made illegal in 1920 with the Dangerous Drugs Act.

As you may have figured out, heroin comes from the family of drugs called Opiates, the name of which, of course, comes from the original drug in the classification, opium. Opium is dried poppy sap, which can be refined into morphine; an effective painkiller, and used also in many cough medicines and diarrhea treatments. Though some more chemical treatment, "semi-synthetic opiates" like heroin are made.

As I said before, when a person quits using heroin, as with other drugs, terrible withdrawal symptom occur because there is no longer enough opiate to make you feel happy, or even normal. Though they are not likely to be fatal or lead to any permanent injury, the symptoms are extremely uncomfortable. Symptoms include:

Heroin can be used in a variety of different ways, all depending on how you want to take it and how pure it is. There's injecting it into a vein, (often called "mainlining",) injecting it into a muscle, both via a needle of course. There is also smoking it in a pipe, smoking it mixed in marijuana or a cigarette, or just inhaling it as a powder though your nose.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Endocarditis Infection, Bluntly Heroin, , Drugs Act, Heroin Opiates, heroin drugs, reward center, opiates heroin,
Approximate Word count = 912
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)