Heroin Girl
"Heroin Girl" is a rock song by the band Everclear from their 1995 album Sparkle and Fade. This song is generally agreed to be about lead singer Art Alexakis's girlfriend and brother overdosing on heroin; he heard the policeman say "Just another overdose" about his brother's death, a lyric used in the song.
Heroin Girl
Depending on where you are in the United States, the type of heroin available on the streets will vary. Different countries produce different forms of the drug. A sticky black tar version is usually found on the West Coast.
A white, more powder-like version is more available on the East Coast. The different forms of the drug spawned different nicknames and street names for heroin. Below, you will find a collection of some of those terms.
There are a number of slang terms that people use to talk about heroin. They vary according to location and trends, popular songs of the moment, and insider code words. There are, however, a number of terms that are relatively well known and refer to heroin across different age groups and population groups:
If you or someone you love is addicted to heroin, the effects are devastating. Very few have found a way to function on heroin. Most lose their jobs, their motivation, their dreams, their relationships, their boundaries, their homes. It can take as little as one shot to become physically addicted to the drug.
The sooner the problem is addressed, the higher the chance that treatment will be successful. If you have questions about heroin addiction or how Black Bear Rehab can help you or your loved one through heroin detox and treatment. Contact us today at 706-914-2327.
From Uggs to low-rise jeans, the fashion world is seeing a resurgence of questionable trends from two decades ago. Now, it seems as though the thin, heroin-chic body of the 1990s and early aughts is also making a comeback.
Transdermal opioid intoxication has only been reported for pharmaceutical fentanyl and buprenorphine patches. Here, we report a rare case of heroin poisoning through damaged skin. A seven-year-old girl with an impaired level of consciousness and difficulty breathing was brought to a local hospital about one hour after burning with boiling water. She had a small second-degree burn on the right elbow. Clinicians were initially unable to obtain any reliable history from relatives about the cause of altered mental status. However, with a clinical suspicion of opioid poisoning, naloxone therapy started, and the patient was moderately improved. She underwent a coma workup; then she was referred to a tertiary care hospital. Further investigation revealed that after the burning, the mother left home to seek for a burn ointment from a neighbor, and the heroin-dependent father sprinkled some heroin powder over the burned area. Heroin was absorbed through the damaged skin and poisoned the child unintentionally. After three days of clinical management, the patient was discharged from the hospital in good condition without any complications. Heroin can be absorbed through damaged skin and cause poisoning. Diagnosis requires strong clinical suspicion, and an appropriate naloxone therapy may be life-saving.
A mixture of heroin and cold medicine is called cheese, heroin and ecstasy is called an H-bomb or chocolate chip cookies, and heroin and alprazolam is called bars. The combination of heroin and cocaine is called Belushi, boy-girl, he-she, and snowball, while heroin and crack is called chocolate rock, dragon rock or moon rock.
Heroin is usually varying shades of white, brown or black. White and brown heroin can have slight color variances, and they are powdery in consistency. They can also be turned into a solution that can be injected. Black heroin, on the other hand, looks like tar and often appears gooey or sticky.
Some of the signs of heroin use to keep an eye out for in addition to identifying street names for heroin include a depressed mood or periods of euphoria, suffering performance at school or work, general changes in behavior, and physical signs like abscesses, collapsed veins and nasal ulcerations.
Heroin use during breastfeeding has not been systematically studied, but it has long been known that infants exposed via breastmilk can be affected and develop abstinence if breastmilk is discontinued.[1] Heroin use by breastfeeding mothers can also prevent symptoms of withdrawal in their heroin-exposed breastfed infants.[2,3] Use of heroin as a street drug by nursing mothers carries the risk of breastmilk contamination with a variety of possible chemical contaminants that may be present in illicit heroin. Heroin use by a nursing mother is generally considered to be a contraindication to breastfeeding. Mothers who discontinue heroin use and begin methadone or buprenorphine maintenance therapy should be encouraged to breastfeed with ongoing medical support.[4]
Heroin (diacetylmorphine) is rapidly metabolized in the body to 6-monoacetylmorphine, which is about 6 times more potent than morphine; 6-monoacetylmorphine is further metabolized to morphine. All three drugs contribute to heroin's effects.
Maternal Levels. One heroin-using mother on methadone maintenance treatment had a low concentration of morphine (7 mcg/L) in her breastmilk. The presence of morphine possibly indicated recent use of heroin.[6]
Infant Levels. A 2-month-old breastfed (extent not stated) infant whose mother admitted to using heroin two days prior was admitted to the hospital. The infant's stomach contents and blood were positive for opiates, but results were not quantified.[7]
A 1-month-old infant was brought to the emergency room with respiratory distress. Free and conjugated morphine totaling of 312 mcg/L and codeine 26 mcg/L were found in the infant's urine. Hair analysis of the parents and infant were all positive for morphine, codeine and the heroin metabolite 6-monoacetylmorphine as well as cocaine and its metabolite benzoylecgonine. The authors believed that the infant had been exposed to heroin and cocaine chronically via the placenta, breastmilk and inhalation of smoked heroin and cocaine.[8]
A paper from 1915 reported a breastfed newborn infant whose mother began using heroin as a snuff for abdominal pain. She continued to use the snuff and became dependent. Her breastfed (extent not stated, but probably nearly exclusive) infant slept excessively, but when awake would curl up with abdominal cramps and cry continuously until breastfed. When the mother was deprived of the drug, the infant would yawn, sneeze, sweat, cry and have cramps in addition to occasional diarrhea. The mother was arrested and the infant was examined by the prison physician. Upon examination, the infant was "pale and flabby looking." with almost colorless lips and pinpoint pupils that did not react to light. The infant slept for most of a day then awoke with sweating and cramps. The infant was treated with camphorated tincture of opium (paregoric) and tincture of nux vomica (containing strychnine) three times daily. After 4 days of therapy, the infant reportedly appeared more cheerful and had no more cramps.[1]
A 2-month-old breastfed (extent not stated) infant presented to the hospital with irritability and a high-pitched cry. He developed hypertonia and opisthotonos and had an increased respiration and heart rate. Laboratory tests revealed a severe metabolic alkalosis. His mother admitted to using heroin 2 days prior to admission for the first time since delivery. The infant's stomach contents and blood were positive for opiates as was the breastmilk and urine of the mother. The infant developed bilateral pulmonary infiltrates and had two positive sweat tests, indicating cystic fibrosis. The authors attributed the infant's metabolic alkalosis to the profuse sweating from heroin withdrawal in the presence of undiagnosed cystic fibrosis.[7]
An 8-year-old girl was brought to a hospital in Iran by her aunt. The girl's mother had used heroin throughout pregnancy and lactation. She continued to breastfeed the child up to the time of admission to prevent heroin withdrawal. The girl had also not been enrolled in school to avoid signs of withdrawal in the child. Both mother and child were treated with buprenorphine for opiate dependence.[3]
A 1-month-old infant was brought to the emergency room with respiratory distress. Cyanosis, fixed and constricted pupils, muscular hypotony and respiratory failure were found on physical examination. Free and conjugated morphine and codeine were found in the infant's urine. Hair analysis of the infant was positive for morphine, codeine and 6-monoacetylmorphine as well as cocaine and its metabolite benzoylecgonine. The authors believed that the infant had been exposed to heroin and cocaine chronically via the placenta, breastmilk, and inhalation of smoked heroin and cocaine.[8]
One nursing mother was using heroin as a snuff and had an adequate milk supply. When she switched to using morphine by injection, her milk supply seemed to diminish and she needed to breastfeed more frequently.[1]
The amenorrhea-galactorrhea syndrome with "copious galactorrhea" was reported in 3 heroin-dependent women in their early 20's. Serum prolactin was not measured, but all had hypoestrogenism and low gonadotropin levels.[12]
Malpas is said to be a regular drug user, and continued to take heroin and methamphetamine despite being pregnant. The sheriff's department said she injected herself with heroin to help with the pain of childbirth on March 5.
"She admitted that when she felt the labor pains and felt the child breaching, she did self-administer a large dose of heroin," said Sgt. Mark Bailey of the Mobile County Sheriff's Major Crimes Unit, reported WALA-TV.
Sgt. Michael L. Befford said police were notified that the child had heroin in her system and that a needle mark was found on her right arm. She has since recovered and is in state custody, police said.
He was arraigned in Western Worcester District Court yesterday on charges of distributing drugs to a minor, assault and battery on a child causing substantial injury, reckless endangerment of a child and being present where heroin is kept. Because he has three pending cases in the court, he was ordered held in lieu of $105,000 bail, $35,000 on each.