The origins of heroin

eroin was first manufactured in 1898 by the Bayer pharmaceutical company of Germany and marketed as a treatment for tuberculosis as well as a remedy for morphine addiction. The name heroin comes from the Greek world heros, meaning hero or warrior (half god, half man), so named because those who took the drug suffered delusions of heroism.^{(8, 9)}

Heroin use is anything but heroic or god-like. The mortality rate of heroin addicts is 30 times greater than the rest of the population.⁽⁷⁾

Causes of death include:

  5% suicide
15% overdose
15% accidents
30% murder
35% illness