Chapter 7 Discussion
I would definitely not be willing to go this far to help a friend who was determined to use heroin. Even though this man has good intentions, there is no guarantee that his friend will not want to ingest heroin later in the future; will he always be there to ensure that the heroin that his friend ingests is safe? As such, the solution presented by this UK man is not practical. I do believe that there are other effective alternatives to helping such a friend. Therefore, in my case, I would suggest that we meet up with several heroin addicts, say in a support group. This way, my friend would get to hear their stories and the negative effects that heroin has had on their lives. Perhaps this could convince him to quit the idea of wanting to ingest heroin.
People do not commonly use heroin alone for their first experience because it is highly addictive. Heroin has the tendency of entering the brain rapidly, causing a fast, intense high (Moraes, 2016). Therefore, it is very possible to get addicted to the drug after ingesting it for the very first time. One is also likely to experience withdrawal symptoms after ingesting the drug for the first time as well (Moraes, 2016). For this reason, a person cannot function without the substance, and may even need higher doses to experience more “highs.” This, coupled with the withdrawal symptoms, makes it difficult for users to quit heroin on their own.
Drug abuse is quite rampant these days. This is attributable to many factors, peer/group influence being one of them. Therefore, people in groups normally try out different drugs for different reasons. I do believe that other drugs people first use in a group include crack cocaine, marijuana, powdered cocaine, ecstasy, cannabis and amphetamines.
Reference
Moraes, F. (2016). Heroin user’s handbook. Ronin Publishing.
