Heroin Assembly

Heroin. 6 letters. 3 syllables. 1 word. 1 very strong word. Heroin. What comes to mind when you hear that? Needles? Drugs? That's what most people think. But, there is so much more to heroin. It is much deeper on the inside.

On September 21st and 22nd, Chris Hickey, a Manchester firefighter and EMT came in and spoke to the school about heroin. His goal was to scare us by showing graphic pictures and get it through our heads that this stuff isn't funny and we shouldn't mess with it.

In his slide show, there were very real pictures, true facts, and heart breaking stories. Chris Hickey taught us that not only heroin, but many other drugs are also very dangerous. He showed us different ways it looks, and different ways its used. He told us about the short term and long term effects. The short term effects consist of: the high you get, the rush you feel, dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, and itching. The long terms effects can cause damage on the inside and outside. It causes heart problems, eats at your flesh, and tears at your skin. They also include deterioration of brain matter, muscle and bone pain, collapsed veins, arthritis, bad teeth, weak immune system, and insomnia. Many users are also so high that they share needles and get AIDS. Users may also have withdrawals which include shaking, and sweating.

Chris Hickey made a very big impact at West High. During his presentations many students had to leave the room. Chris Hickey, wasn't offended. He wanted to frighten us. He showed us the real pictures, he told us the real stories because he wanted to protect us. Chris Hickey wants to stop the Heroin War.

I believe that we need more people like Chris Hickey because he is one person, trying to make an impact on thousands of people. He is just one person, against all odds. He helps people, he saves people. I believe that we need more graphic presentations because it scares us, to the point where we don't even want to remember the things we saw. We don't want to do these dangerous drugs because of the things it has done to other people.



By: Becka St. Cyr