If, on the other hand, he/she has shown that he/she actually does not know how to spell the word, and it is giving rise to confusion and hilarity, I must correct it.
HEROIN is a drug, a derivative of the opium poppy purified by a process involving certain strong chemicals and acids.
HEROINE is a female hero, especially one who is the star of a long and involved story of some kind.
Educated speakers in the Eastern United States usually pronounce both of these words just the same, HEHR-oh-inn.
In parts of Midwest and West and South, the lady hero can sometimes be heard as he-roh-EEN!
PS (Yes, Virginia, you are not totally exempt from that. It is true.)