Heroin
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by DanH (talk | contribs) at 04:55, April 19, 2007. It may differ significantly from current revision.
An illegal narcotic drug, manufactured from the opium poppy, cultivated for its properties since at least 3400BC (in Mesopotamia).
Heroin was briefly commercially marketed as a cough medicine for children, and as substitute for medicinal morphine, having been erroneously believed to be less addictive.
Apart from medicinal use under strict control, heroin is now banned worldwide, with stringent penalties for its possession, manufacture and trafficking, including the death penalty in many countries.
Illegal use of heroin is typically via injection (sometimes mixed with cocaine - 'speedball'), snorting, or smoking/inhalation - 'chasing the dragon'. Large doses of heroin can be fatal, and the drug has often been used as a murder weapon.