Zoology - Human Health and Diseases Question with Solution | TestHub

Heroin, also called diacetylmorphine, is a highly addictive morphine derivative that makes up a large portion of the illicit traffic in narcotics. Heroin is made by treating morphine with acetic anhydride; the resulting substance is four to eight times as potent as morphine [Morphine (a pain-killing drug) is an alkaloid found in opium, which is the dried milky exudate obtained from the unripe seedpods of the poppy plant]. Heroin constricts the user’s pupils; slows respiration, heartbeat and gastrointestinal activity and induces sleep. However, heroin’s most valued effect is the ecstatic reaction that it gives after being intravenously injected; within seconds a warm, glowing sensation spreads over the body. This brief but intense rush is then followed by a deep, drowsy state of relaxation and contentment that is marked by a clouding of consciousness and by poor concentration and attention.