Heroine is a mental drug and that is considered one of the Opium derivatives. Just like any other derivative of opium, heroine has high levels of dependency that is defined by the symptoms of addiction. In the birth of addiction to heroine in America stems from the mid to the late 1800s, where opium was not as popular as it is today ( Carlson et al., 2016) . During the mid 1800s, the dens for sale of Opium were scattered in a place that is currently referred to as the Wild West. The influx of Opium during this period was largely attributed to the drug being sneaked into the country via the immigrants from China who had moved to this place to work as railroad constructors. The famous names for opium included brands like the Wild Bill Hickok and the formidable Kit Carson, which were more frequent in Opium dens.
In the Old West, there was a stereo-typed picture of the use for Opium, where there was a story telling of the cowhand belly up to the bar drinking whiskey immediately after riding it hard and long on the railroad ( LaPat et al., 2016) . In real sense, the cowhand was not at all the said belly that was up to the bar. It was instead a cowhand stuck in a prone position in a room with dim candle light smoking opium in the accompaniment of an oriental prostitute. What became common of these cowhands was that they would spend several weeks in the dens and in a constant dream state, where they eventually could become physically addicted to the effects of the drug.
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It is also evident that during the mid 1800s, alcoholism was a very big problem, where it became one of the major sources of violence and death ( Connors & Nelson, 2016) . By the late 1800s, Opium was promoted as a cure for the alcoholism, where it had proved to work with counter-effects as of that for alcoholism. Several researches into the drug developed, where Opium was developed as an analgesic drug, working with the effect of relieving pain in 1810. In fact, during the same period, the drug was considered as one of the wonder drugs as it had the capability of eliminating severe pain associated with operations in the medical field or for victims of traumatic incidences.
In the wake of the discovery of opium as a pain killer, the user was left in a numb or euphoric but dreamy state. Due to its discovery that it harbored euphoric side effects, the drug was named Morpheus. This name was extracted from the naming system of the Greek god of dreams, a discovery that was put forth by Serturner, one of the German Pharmacists. During the mid 1850s, the drug became available in the US, where it was evidently popular in the medical profession for both medical use and research. It is also evident that the benefits of using the Drug as a pain killer were regarded as nothing short of remarkable especially to the doctors who prevailed during that period ( Carlson et al., 2016) . It was just unfortunate that the addictive effects of opium worked on the flip side of the profitable effects while these addictive properties of the drug went unnoticed up to the end of the civil war.
As the civil war took age, people were exposed to morphine as it was considered as the treatment for the war-related injuries. These war-related injuries also skyrocketed, while the reported cases of trauma as a result of the effects of the war also increased tremendously ( Connors & Nelson, 2016) . This led to the increase in the number of the addicts especially the tens and thousands of the confederate soldiers from the north. Within ten years of arrival of morphine in the US, the country was plagued with one of the major epidemics, the use of the drug. It is evident that there are not statistical records that are available for the number of addictions during this time, even though the problem grew larger to proportions that could raise serious concerns related to the medical profession.
In 1874, the major response to the increasing problem of morphine was found through the intervention of a new drug, where this drug was called Heroin, named after the trademark name in Germany ( LaPatet al., 2016) . After its invention, Heroin was exported to the US from Germany, while the sales pitch in the US attracted the market among American doctors who were serving in the treatment of morphine addicts. Heroine became the most safe and non-addictive substitute for morphine. This brought about an increased use of heroine to counter the effects of morphine, until the levels of addiction to heroine increased to vast levels.
From the early 1900s, world renowned drug companies especially those based in the US began to manufacture over the counter drug kits for heroine. The kits were made of a glass hollowed needle sold alongside vials of opiates that were packaged in attractive imprinted cases of tin. In the early 1900s, it was common to see Laudanum, which was considered as opium in an alcohol base, which was sued to treat pain related illness ( Connors & Nelson, 2016) . This laudanum was served as an over the counter drug for all ages. During the same period, there was a course for advertisement and marketing campaign that targeted heroine as a product that could work in curing all the types of physical and mental disorders. These disorders were characteristically alcohol withdrawal, depression, trauma and old age ( Carlson et al., 2016) .
At this time, heroine was unregulated, where it was sold freely in the US until 1920s when the congress found out that there was danger of the drug. Through the enactment of the Dangerous Act, the over-the counter purchase for the drug became illegal, while the distribution of the drug became federally regulated ( Connors & Nelson, 2016) . The only setback with the passing of the act was that it came in too late. The market for the drug in the US had already taken root. It is estimated that by 1925, over 200,000 heroin addicts had already developed and the use of the drug had already flourished. The use has hence increased on an annual basis until today.
Approximately all of the heroin fueling comes as resurgence that enters the US from as far as 1933 mile away border in Mexico. The officers at the customs in Nogales have seized more and more incidences of heroin smuggling. The heroin is hid in vehicles that cross through the port of entry like the one at Nogales gate. On the other hand, small amounts of this drug are entered the US via foot by men who are dubbed as mules, who hike the smuggling routes that have been established in the deserts. Some other smuggling routes are via the air, where the drug is smuggled by planes ( Carlson et al., 2016) . Most of the smuggled drugs are taken to stash houses in major cities of the US near the international line like the San Diego and Los Angeles. From these centers, the drug is driven in loads along interstate freeways to their places of destination within the US. It is evident to note that the operations for entry of the drugs to the destinations are highly compartmentalized, where nobody knows anything. The major reason for the use of the drug is in its depressant effects.
References
Carlson, R. G., Nahhas, R. W., Martins, S. S., & Daniulaityte, R. (2016). Predictors of transition to heroin use among initially non-opioid dependent illicit pharmaceutical opioid users: A natural history study. Drug and alcohol dependence , 160 , 127-134.
Connors, N. J., & Nelson, L. S. (2016). The Evolution of Recommended Naloxone Dosing for Opioid Overdose by Medical Specialty. Journal of Medical Toxicology , 1-6.
LaPat, K. D., Yousaf, M., & Joshi, T. R. (2016). Heroin-induced toxic leukoencephalopathy.
