As early as 3400 BC, opium poppies were grown in lower Mesopotamia. It is manufactured from the dried latex of the Papaver somniferum plant. The majority of opium’s activity was found to be attributed to the alkaloids codeine and morphine, according to 19th-century chemical analysis of the plant. C. R. Alder Wright, an English chemist at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London, experimented with combining morphine with different acids and created the first synthetic version of diamorphine in 1874. He created a more potent acetylated form of morphine, known as diacetylmorphine or morphine diacetate, by boiling anhydrous morphine alkaloid with acetic anhydride for several hours. Pure hydrochloride salt of medical-grade diamorphine is employed.Diamorphine was sold under the brand name Heroin from 1898 to 1910 as a cough suppressant and non-addictive morphine replacement. In Heroin is utilized medicinally in a number of nations to treat pain related to opiate replacement treatment as well as conditions including childbirth and heart attacks.
Diluting agents are commonly used to dilute various white and brown powders that are marketed as heroin illegally and sold all over the world. Black tar heroin is a mixed substance made mostly of 6-MAM (6-monoacetylmorphine), a morphine derivative that is produced covertly during the manufacturing of street heroin.
As of 2015, there were reportedly more heroin users globally in Asia, the Americas, and Africa than there were in 2000. A little over 1.6% of Americans report having taken heroin at some point. Drug overdose deaths are mostly caused by opioids, particularly heroin. The use of heroin has grown among all individuals 12 years of age and older during 2019 and 2020. Most persons who started using heroin did so after abusing prescription painkillers.
In Sri Lanka, the number of individuals abusing dangerous medicines has dramatically surged recently. Heroin serves a potentially hazardous role in the meanwhile. The primary illicit substance (drug) abused by more than 100,000 people in Sri Lanka is heroin, also known as KUDU. Heroin is classified as an illegal substance in Sri Lanka.The Poisonous Opium and Dangerous Drugs Act No. 17 of 1929, as revised by Amendment Act No. 41 of 2022, is the primary legislation containing laws pertaining to heroin. Without a license from the Minister, it is illegal for anybody to sow, plant, cultivate, acquire, or possess any poppy, coca, or hemp plant, or any of its seeds, pods, leaves, flowers, or other parts. This is stated in Section 27 of this Act. According to section 28 of the Act, no poppy, coca, or hemp plant, or any portion of a plant or preparation thereof, may be imported into Sri Lanka, brought into Sri Lanka, or exported from Sri Lanka. Pursuant to Section 54 as modified by Amendment Act No. 13 of 1984, no one is permitted to produce any dangerous substance in Sri Lanka or anywhere else unless they are doing so in accordance with this Ordinance’s requirements or with a license that has been granted in that regard by the Director. It is prohibited to produce, market, sell, give, get, and offer to sell, or provide to any anyone any such substances. Every person found guilty of an offense against this Ordinance, with the exception of those found guilty under section 78(5) 54a of the Act, shall, for each offence:(a) Should the Magistrate find you guilty on a summary conviction, you could face a fine of up to ten thousand rupees, a maximum sentence of five years in jail, or one of these penalties in addition to the jail sentence. In the event of a conviction before the High Court, (b) the offender faces the possibility of a fine ranging from ten thousand to twenty-five thousand rupees, imprisonment for a maximum of six months to seven years, or a combination of the fine and imprisonment.
The quantity of heroin varies according to the punishment. In this case, the net weight is the weight of heroin. The Gross Quantity is the weight of heroin at the time of arrest. It is sent to the Government handling Department, where the detained suspects are kept, to determine the net weight. After determining whether the material is truly heroin or some other drug, the net amount of heroin is measured. Following receipt of the forensic report, an indictment or charge sheet is filed against the suspect. If the quantity of heroin found is less than two grams, the punishment can be as low as fifteen thousand rupees, as high as twenty-five thousand rupees, or as low as fifty thousand rupees. Alternatively, the quantity of heroin found in between two and three grams can result in a fine of not less than one lakh rupees, as high as two lakh rupees, or as low as seven years, as high as ten years, with both forms of imprisonment allowed. Three to five grams of heroin are punishable by a fine of between two and five lakh rupees, or by a minimum of ten and a maximum of twenty years in prison, using one type of imprisonment. Additionally punishable by life in prison or the death penalty if found in possession of five grams or more of heroin. As a law graduate, the question that comes to me is why, despite the nation’s extremely stringent legal framework, we haven’t been able to spare the youngest generation from this catastrophe?
At the age of twelve or thirteen, a lot of schoolchildren are currently addicted to this.Consequently,how do they become addicted to Heroin at such a young age? Whose fault is this? I discussed with someone who was abusing heroin, and he told me he started abusing it when he was around twelve years old. The society of the past is not the same as the one we live in now. Schoolchildren used to be paired with classmates who were similar to them. They go play in the neighboring area after school. However, things have altered as of late. The competitiveness and advancement of technology have altered children’s lifestyles. Due to the competitive nature of today’s culture, students are enrolling in a variety of external classes. The main aim of parents is to make their children better than others, not to raise a spiritually enlightened child with good personality. This gives children an opportunity to socialize with different friends.Upon speaking with several heroin users, I’ve come to the conclusion that their peers were a major contributing element in their fall into this stage of life.Instead the question that comes to mind for me is whether or not parents are aware of their children’ friends and their activities with them.
Until they are in their teenage years, a lot of heroin users are unable to give up the addiction. Their entire lives and education are destroyed by this. The nation aspires to generate a workforce with education, but this is not occurring. The number of heroin users is rising. And when they run out of money to keep buying these drugs, those who are hooked to them turn to a variety of crimes. This breeds thieves inside the community. In order to obtain money, some who are hooked to this even sell their wives. As a result, the production of prostitutes in society is also widespread. Additionally, it was evident from the heroin-related cases heard in Court that pregnant women are also victims of this. Furthermore impacted in the womb is the fetus.
Injecting heroin usually involves a vein puncture, but it can also be inhaled, smoked, or snorted. The most popular delivery method in a clinical setting is intravenous injection. In addition, it can be administered subcutaneously or intramuscularly, orally as tablets. The effects typically start quickly and last for a few hours. Injection-related side effects include pneumonia, blood-borne infections, infected heart valves, and abscesses. Hours after the last use, if there has been a history of long-term opioid use, withdrawal symptoms may start. Heroin has two to three times the effect of a similar dose of morphine when injected directly into the vein. It usually takes the shape of a powder that is either brown or white. As with drug injections in general, blood-borne infections like hepatitis or HIV/AIDS can spread among users who share a needle without following proper sterilization protocols. Blood-borne infections can also spread through sharing spoons and filters, using a common water dispenser to prepare injections, and other practices. When I consulted a forensic doctor in this regard, he stated that people who use heroin are likely to have various respiratory problems. Additionally, the doctor informed me that constipation also happened. Furthermore, the doctor declared that chronic heroin usage can potentially result in bodily death. Furthermore, the doctor informed me that pulmonary edema, the medical term for the buildup of tissue fluid in the lungs, can potentially result in death. As a consequence, parents must live without their cherished son, a woman without her cherished spouse, and children without their cherished father.
In our country, facilities dedicated to the rehabilitation of drug users have been constructed. Permission in this respect has been granted by the Drug Addiction (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act No. 54 of 2007. The 1926 number is for the National Mental Health Authority, while the 1927 number is for the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board. Rehab facilities are located in Sri Lanka’s Talangama, Navadigantaya, Galle, Kandy, and Kandakadu regions. In addition, several more establishments have been created around the nation.My concern, though, is why there is still a problem with heroin addiction in Sri Lanka despite the establishment of treatment facilities. That is, why can’t we reduce the number of people going to these institutions? In my opinion, children’s propensity to use these drugs will decline if they are taught about the risks associated with them in school. I realize that a major contributing factor to this is a lack of knowledge regarding heroin. Thus, each of us has to contribute an integral role in ending the heroin addiction.
Lehansa Thrikawala