From: Samson Subject: Re: begining heroin use Date:1996/04/04 Newsgroups:alt.drugs.hard,alt.drugs,rec.drugs.misc (Robert J Mooney) wrote: > I had an opportunity to try a few lines of heroin- I decided it was > probably best not to use it too frequently, but it seems the more I ask > about it, the more I get nervous about trying it again... not too many > people have nice things to say about it. [...] Oh...you're wondering why you hear so much bad news about good ol' diacetylmorphine. I wonder about this sometimes, myself. It all depends on where you get your information. The usual sources are: (1) non-users (i.e, mom and dad, your pot-smoking LSD/'shroom-eating friends) (2) addicts and/or "former" addicts, and (3) the "authorities". Heroin is actually a remarkably "safe" drug: at least in the sense that it does not cause much in the way of chronic exposure syndromes, eg, liver damage, brain damage. In this sense, as any pharmacologist will inform you, it is actually safer than or at least as safe as just about any recreational (or even "medicinal") drug you can think of. Source (1) knows nothing about this, having received most of their information from other (1)'s and from source (3), the latter being a consistently unreliable source for any unbiased account of anything. If you have been reading a.d.h (or Burroughs), source (2) may have piqued some doubts in your mind... As well it should. Not being an "addict" myself, i can only relay to you what I have heard: getting hooked on H is no party. From what I have heard and read, however, I have drawn these conclusions: a. It's not _that_ easy to get (truly) hooked b. Once you are hooked, you may be hooked for life Now, you don't want (b) to happen. The question is, how does one prevent (b) from happening? There are no easy answers to this question. Then again there are more people who have avoided (b) and remained "chippers" (occasional, recreational users of heroin) than you or I will probably ever know. There is such a stigma attached to heroin use that rarely do those who never run into "problems" ever reveal themselves -- not wanting to create the "problem" of being known as a heroin user. As far as (a) goes, there are many theories as to why people become opiate-dependent...I won't go into them here, but it appears that opiate-addiction is not a matter of "one-hit-and-you're-hooked", but rather a time-(and money)-consuming _process_ or, perhaps, is related to predisposing factors including a possible congenital deficit of endogenous opioids (eg, endorphin, etc.). (I also won't be evaluating these theories here: there is an on-going scientific/psychological debate on these matters). Also, it is well known (once again, any pharmacologist will tell you) that health problems associated with heroin (besides dependence) are nearly always related to associated factors rather than the drug itself, ie., (i) dirty/pathogen-contaminated needles, (ii) overused and/or poorly functioning needles or poor shooting technique, and (iii) impurity of the product itself (eg., synthetic "copies" of heroin -- in some cases these are neurotoxic results of poor chemistry, but more often are related to the varying potency of certain drugs, mainly fentanyl analogs, which if improperly mixed can result in fatal overdose). Then, of course, there is the odd allegic reaction, and actual heroin overdose -- although the latter, from what I've seen, appears to be rare, isolated to instances in which the user thinks he is shooting less pure product than he actually is, or intentional overdose. (Of course there are exceptions, but that's life -- and you always are taking a risk when you put something in your body). Now, as for these problems, we sniffers really only have to worry about (iii). Fortunately for us here in the 90's, especially in the northeastern US (as opposed to the west coast - I believe...), purity levels are quite high these days (on average) and there has been no need for manufacturers to "spike" their products. The best 'net resources (assuming you have web access) that I have found for info on heroin are: http://www.calyx.com/~mariolap/sub/opiat1.html -- a good, consise but comprehensive article on opiates of all kinds which is linked from the DrugText(tm) site at http://www.drugtext.org/ On Hyperreal (www://hyperreal.com), the best article is Peter McDermott's http://www.hyperreal.com/drugs/opiates/nyneedles.html (not sure if that link is correct: just go to .../opiates/... and find the file "nyneedles"). Y'also might want to look at http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/pblist.htm -- that's the DEA, by the way. The article on the "Supply of Drugs to the US" has info on current purity levels. Then there's some more government info at NIDA Notes http://www.nida.nih.gov/NIDA_Notes/NNindex.html -- look through the back issues, especially. Then, of course, there are "real" books... > I guess what I'm wondering, is what is this sickness factor that I've > seen posted? Does this come after long time abuse/addiction? First of all, the sickness is not nearly as dangerous as that following withdrawal of drugs like the benzodiazepines, alcohol, barbiturates. But, from what I hear, that fact may be of little consolation when you're actually withdrawing. But, yes, you will not go through any serious withdrawal (or any at all, really), unless you have been using fairly constantly for quite some time... > Also, in > terms of usage, how long would it take a person to become addicted? The word on this: generally several months of nearly continuous use before one is "seriously" hooked. But some have said that after their first time they decided "THIS is IT, this is what I have been looking for all my life". Then again, you should know by now if this is how you feel. (And even then, it will take some time to really get hooked, though you may "yearn" for dope...) In any case, if you are really worried about the stuff, don't take it. There are more prudent ways of spending your money. But I don't think you would have posted this question, unless you enjoyed those lines and are thinking, "hmmm..._should_ I do this again? 'Cause I really would _like_ to". Don't worry too much. Don't worry to little, either. -- "...When people start talking about their bowel movements, they are as inexorable as the processes of which they speak." - W.S. Burroughs ==================================================================== From: bim@bam.boom.mil (emanlluF) Subject: Re: Heroin Use Questions Date: 1996/04/01 newsgroups: alt.drugs.hard (Kimberlee A Rivers) wrote: >I have no personal experience with drugs of any kind, so I thought this >might be a good place to ask some general question. I'm not a cop, not >interesting in converting or uncoverting people to drug use, I really am >just looking for general information (Is that a good enough disclaimer? :) > >1) I believe there are several ways one can use heroin: injection, >smoking, snorting, etc. > - I assume injection results in a near immediate effect? > - how long to feel something if you've smoked/snorted/whatever? > Smoking anything (heroin, cocaine, nicotine) actually results in a _quicker_ onset than shooting intravenously. However, as it's often easier to administer larger doses IV, that may be the more powerful experience. Smoked substances- a few seconds IV substances -Taste first as it hits the lungs, perhaps thirty seconds to the brain. >2) If it can be put into basic words, what does the effect of heroin (or >any other opiate) feel like? "Euphoria" is a common adjective used. >I've had too much to drink and times and have felt sort of dull and >happy, with "heavy limbs" -- but I'm not convinced this is anything like >the high off an opiate. > Too involved a question. Most people don't like opioids. Those of us who do like them immensely. >3) What is street heroin usually cut with? What percentage of the powder >is heroin vs cutting agent? Used to be (in NYC- dope capitol of the US) lactose (milk sugar) and quinine. First the quinine disappeared, now there's a chance of anything used as cut. The market isn't as controlled as it was once... The DEA claims NY street bags average 60% dope to 40% cut these days. I'm not sure they're far off (though I no longer have personal experience with which to judge) > >4) How much heroin does a typical (if there is such a thing) user >actually take per dose? I believe it's in the milligrams -- if it's, say >25mgs (as a pure, very uneducated guess) would this include whatever it's >cut with in the 25mgs? This is a good question. Text books will usually claim an analgesic dose of heroin (equivalent to 15mg morphine) to be about 5mg. However, users with experience with pharmaceutical heroin have stated that it takes a non-tolerant user 10-20mg of pure IV to catch a solid nod. > >5) what's the general going rate for whatever a unit of heroin is? (bag? >Balloon? hit? I'm unsure of the proper terminology) I've heard $20.00 >-- does that buy you one shot's worth, or several? In NYC the standard unit is the dime bag ($10), though nickels ($5) have returned in some areas for the first time in twenty years. A really good dime bag might be split three ways by novices, but any tolerant user will be shooting one to several per shot. Of course, most people here sniff now- a tribute to the increased potency of the dope. Here it's all glassine envelopes with trade stamps on them. On much of the west coast it's tiny balloons... > >7) If you are addicated to heroin, how long between doses before you >begin to want another? (I've read 4hrs or so. That seems a very short >time) > With unlimited access, most fiends would head for the cooker every three to four hours, however most people have habits maintained on a couple of times a day or so. It's possible to keep a habit using once per day, but it's not fun... >8) How long does the effects of a given dose last? Do you feel >"euphoric" and then get sleepy and doze off? If you're on a steady schedule (impossible on the street, but still), you only feel high for a brief time (for me perhaps 15-30 minutes) after a hit. Then comes several hours of normalacy, followed by a decline into craving and then sickness. If you use at least every 12 hours you should be able to stave off real physical symptoms. > >9) What exactly are track marks from? Just very repeated injections? >Careless injections (making scars)? Repeated injections, made worse by non-sterile conditions, cuts, other drugs (especially cocaine)...