“I’ll just try it once.”
Warning: Even a single dose of heroin can start a person on the road to addiction.1
Many people experiment with heroin, thinking, “I’ll try it once or twice. I can always stop.” But those who start down that road find it nearly impossible to turn back. Consider the words of Sam, a 15-year-old addict: “When you first shoot up, you will most likely puke and feel repelled, but soon you’ll try it again. It will cling to you like an obsessed lover. The rush of the hit and the way you’ll want more, as if you were being deprived of air—that’s how it will trap you.”1
The threat of addiction is not the worst consequence of experimenting with heroin. Jim was 21 years old and usually spent his evenings drinking beer with friends. He had already experimented with heroin so, when friends offered him a line to snort, he accepted. Fifteen minutes after inhaling, he passed out, then dropped into a deep coma, which lasted more than two months. Today, he is confined to a wheelchair, unable to write and barely able to read. Whatever dreams and aspirations he once had are gone.
The Heroin Look
Some magazines and fashion trends have promoted a “heroin chic” look: pale complexion, dark circles under the eyes, sunken cheeks and extreme thinness.2
Just as rock stars helped popularize LSD during the 1960s, so have some of today’s fashion designers, photographers and advertising people influenced an entire generation of youth by portraying heroin use in magazines and music videos as fashionable and even desirable.2
This glamorizes heroin use, ignoring the devastating realities. Fashion photographer Davide Sorrenti (right), whose work was synonymous with “heroin chic,” tragically died from a heroin overdose at age 20.43
How much do you really know about heroin?
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