9781422270509

THE YOUNG ADULT DRUG LIBRARY: AN EDUCATION FOR TODAY

BY AMY STERLING CASIL

MASON CREST M I A M I

PO Box 221876, Hollywood, FL 33022 (866) MCP-BOOK (toll-free) • www.masoncrest.com

Copyright © 2024 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-4762-4 Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4222-4763-1 ebook ISBN: 978-1-4222-7050-9 Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with the Library of Congress Developed and Produced by National Highlights, Inc. Project Manager: Andrew Morkes Cover and Interior Design: Tara Raymo • CreativelyTara Layout: Priceless Digital Media, LLC Publisher’s Note: Websites listed in this book were active at the time of publication. The publisher is not responsible for websites that have changed their address or discontinued operation since the date of publication. The publisher reviews and updates the websites each time the book is reprinted.

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Introduction............................................................... 7 A Famous Actor Loses His Battle with Heroin . .............. 10 Chapter 1: What Is Heroin?........................................15 From Black Tar Heroin to Recovery . ............................ 34 Chapter 2: The Negative Physical Effects of Heroin......37 Elizabeth’s Road to Recovery ...................................... 50 Chapter 3: The Negative Mental Effects of Heroin........55 Josh’s Story: Addiction and Recovery .......................... 68 Chapter 4: Treating Addiction to Heroin......................73 Series Glossary of Key Terms.....................................88 Further Reading.......................................................92 Internet Resources...................................................93 Index....................................................................... 94 Author’s Biography and Credits.................................96 KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR: Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text while building vocabulary skills.

Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more! Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

Using illegal drugs is dangerous and potentially deadly. In the United States, more than 932,000 people have died since 1999 from a drug overdose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Drug abuse remains a major problem in the United States and in other countries. In 2019, 13 percent of people aged 12 years and over reported that they had used an illegal drug in the past month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Abuse of prescription drugs, such as painkillers, is also a serious issue. Abusing drugs can have serious effects on one’s physical and mental health. It can also be deadly. One example is the rising number of drug overdoses, which have been fueled by the growing use and spread of the deadly opioid fentanyl. Nearly 100,000 Americans died from fentanyl overdoses from June 2020 to June 2021, according to the CDC. As a young person, you may have a lot of questions about drugs, addiction, and therapy as a result of the constant flow of information from your friends, parents, teachers, coaches,

Heroin can be injected, sniffed, snorted, or smoked.

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On the street, heroin is typically less expensive than prescription opioids that are purchased in a pharmacy.

social media, and the news media. It can be confusing, because some of this information is accurate, and some is incorrect. Your questions might include: How are drugs grown or manufactured? What are the negative physical and mental effects of drug use and abuse? What are the legal penalties for possessing illegal drugs? How do you know if someone is addicted to drugs? What are some treatment options for people who are addicted to drugs? The Young Adult Drug Library series provides answers to these and other questions about illegal and misused prescription drugs, addiction, and therapy. Each title spotlights a major drug or type of drug (such as painkillers); discusses the negative physical and mental effects of the addiction on the addict, as well as its effects on family and other loved ones; and provides an overview of treatment strategies for the addiction. Stories of those who are battling drug addiction are also featured to humanize these issues and help readers better understand that anyone can become addicted to drugs, but also that there is a possibility for recovery.

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There is light at the end of the tunnel for those who are addicted to drugs. Many recovering drug abusers credit a combination of professional counseling and therapy, proper nutrition, meditation, and exercise with helping them to stop abusing drugs.

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A FAMOUS ACTOR LOSES HIS BATTLE WITH HEROIN Philip Seymour Hoffman was an award-winning film and stage actor who portrayed famous writers, public figures, heroes, and villains throughout his 22-year career. On February 2, 2014, he was found dead in his Manhattan apartment with a syringe in his arm. His autopsy showed that he had prescription drugs, amphetamines, cocaine, and heroin in his system and had died of an acute mixed-drug overdose. When one overdoses, they take too much of a drug, whether it be a prescribed medication or an illegal substance. The world was shocked by Hoffman’s death, especially his friends in the entertainment community, because he had been sober for years and had only recently begun using drugs again before his death. Hoffman had used heroin in his early twenties, according to his former partner, Mimi O’Donnell (a costume designer who first met Hoffman in 1999). O’Donnell said that when she first started dating Hoffman, he was sober and in recovery, attending therapy and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). In the acting community, Hoffman was known for being sober. He had been admired for staying sober for more than 20 years, but in his forties, he had relapsed and begun using drugs and alcohol again, following a series of events that had left him feeling depressed and vulnerable.

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The Young Adult Drug Library: Heroin

Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman at the 78th Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

First, Hoffman’s therapist had died of cancer, and he had had some disagreements with friends from AA. “He started having a drink or two without it seeming a big deal,” she recalled in an essay that was published in Vogue . But Hoffman

A Famous Actor Loses His Battle with Heroin

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Philip Seymour Hoffman and his wife at the world premiere of his movie Along Came Polly .

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The Young Adult Drug Library: Heroin

soon admitted to her that he had started to take prescription opioids. O’Donnell broke up with Hoffman and moved to a different apartment with their three children when she realized that he had begun to use heroin again. “You’re going to die. That’s what happens with heroin,” she said that she told him before moving out. After that, Hoffman tried to stop using heroin on his own, but detoxing from the drug was so physically painful for him that he returned to using it within a day or two each time he tried to stop. Hoffman knew that when he was using drugs he wasn’t financially responsible and that he wasn’t a good father to the children he and O’Donnell had together. Shortly after filming scenes for a movie in Atlanta, Georgia, Hoffman returned to his apartment in New York and began using several different drugs, including heroin. Although O’Donnell and friends tried to look after Hoffman after he came home, he bought heroin and other illegal drugs from dealers, and within three days, he was dead.

A Famous Actor Loses His Battle with Heroin

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WORDS TO UNDERSTAND

epidemic: a widespread occurrence of a disease throughout a population paraphernalia: equipment or gear needed to perform an activity, such as drug-taking synthetic: an artificial compound, such as a drug made in a lab using chemical processes withdrawal: the physical symptoms that occur after a person stops taking a drug that has produced dependency

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HEROIN

WHAT IS HEROIN? Opioid Drugs and Heroin

Opioids are drugs that interact with the nervous system through opioid receptors. They have medical uses, particularly to relieve pain. Heroin is just one of the many opioid drugs that are part of the nation’s opioid epidemic , according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Like morphine and opium, heroin is extracted from the sap and resin of opium poppy plants. Today, there are many opioid drugs, including synthetic ones that are made exclusively in laboratories. Like heroin, morphine and opium are natural opioids. How Is Heroin Made? Heroin is an illegal drug that comes primarily from Southeast Asia, and it is also sometimes made in South America. Illegal drug makers use opium poppy seed capsules to start the process. The seed capsules are cut, and a milky white substance called “latex” leaks out. It is collected, and when it has dried, it is opium, the basis for all natural and semisynthetic opiate drugs.

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Dried poppy heads.

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The Young Adult Drug Library: Heroin