News website SourceFed published a video on Jan. 6 of this year of four people supposedly trying heroin for the first time.
The video shows participants looking at heroin, making comments on its taste and look, and eventually trying the substance.
According to TheSource, this video is a parody in an effort to mock Buzzfeed’s common series in which people try strange foods, products, or lifestyle services for the first time.
Through the Youtube channel Nuclear Family, Bree Essrig, Matt Lieberman, and Steve Zaragoza created this video where they and others “pretended” to try heroin to get laughs from viewers.
The response has been far from funny.
The video has gotten more than 16.7 million views on Youtube, and the comments section is overflowing with responses on both spectrums.
Many have said that viewers who are outraged from the video are “too sensitive,” and that the video is just meant to be a harmless joke.
On the other side, viewers have reacted that this video is insensitive, and that, which such a strong heroin problem in the United States, the video makes fun of a very serious issue.
Both current and previous heroin addicts have also responded to the video. Some have said that the video really gave them a laugh, saying either it’s exactly what they act/acted like, or that it’s not realistic it all. Others said they were offended by the videos popularity for the wrong reasons, with one commenter saying, “It’s not as funny when you’re laying on your bathroom floor high and knowing you’re in trouble.”
One viewer even posted a picture of her deceased twin brother in a casket, of whom she said died of heroin.
Heroin is a highly addictive, illegal drug made from the resin of poppy plants. Milky, sap-like opium is first removed from the pod of the poppy flower. This opium is refined to make morphine, then further refined into different forms of heroin.
Most heroin is injected, which creates additional risks for its users, who face the dangers of AIDS or other infection, not to mention the actual pain of addiction.
Some of the short-term effects of heroin include feeling a “rush,” slowed breathing, clouded mental functioning, nausea and vomiting, drowsiness, hypothermia, and even coma or death due to overdose.
If someone continues to use heroin, the long term effects can include rotting teeth, constipation, cold sweats, weakening of the immune system, respiratory illnesses, muscular weakness, loss of memory, depression, loss of appetite, and insomnia.
According to the Foundation for a Drug-Free World, approximately 9.2 million people in the world do heroin. Opiates, mainly heroin, account for 18% of the admission for drug and alcohol treatment in the United States.
Many have been outraged by this video poking fun at heroin usage, while others believe the video is all in good fun, and people should stop overreacting.
If you or someone you know is addicted to heroin, call 1-877-759-5122 to find out your addiction treatment options or talk to your doctor or someone you trust.
