Heroin Is anyone, or does anyone know, a true heroin "chipper"?

[Rio Fantastic]

So we hear about chippers all the time. They're usually as close by as the legendary friend of a friend who was babysitting the parents that didn't have a clown statue - in other words, seemingly everyone knows one, or is one, but simultaneously nobody is one. The only "chippers" i've known personally were just on various stages in the road to full blown addiction, except for one guy. I've known loads and loads who claimed to be chippers, but when it came down to it were just early on in their habit or just addicts, but I lived with this guy for a year, and in all that time, despite me using, he only did twice, and he claimed to have been using that sporadically for twelve years. However, he was an alcoholic, so maybe heroin just wasn't his particular vice. I'd love to know if anyone actually is a real heroin chipper or knows someone they can personally verify was a chipper - not just "my friend's friend claims to be one", but actually personally knows that they can indeed chip. The logical part of my brain says that *surely*, in a world where humans have achieved such extraordinary things, that there must be some people with iron will and monk-like self control who can actually chip, but having met so many junkies, seen so many turn into junkies, and been one myself, my gut says that they're rarer than hen's teeth, but I'd love to hear from anyone with an opinion on the issue.

Edit: Another related question. Despite having experienced heroin addiction, not even I can accurately answer the question of what exactly it is about heroin that makes it so likely to hook someone. I've done crack and cocaine and amphetamines and MDMA, and as I'm actually naturally always preferred uppers to downers - I've always been the archetypal "uppers" kinda guy, and despite finding certain drug experiences to be more pleasurable than heroin, like MDMA or particularly hard peaks of crack or mephedrone, there's just something about heroin that seems to make it so much more fucking insidious and addictive. The only way I can describe it, which I know does it no justice, is heroin seems so much more PRIMAL. Cocaine and mephedrone and even MDMA all feel like drugs, they feel amazing but its like when you're on them you know what you're experiencing is an artificial manipulation of your neurotransmitters, but heroin just feels like such a deep, deep blissful feeling it's easy to forget in a way that I couldn't on drugs that are more "straight-up" euphoric. What do you guys think?

 

[Burnt Offerings]

If you mean someone who just casually uses heroin, then yeah. I'm a casual user. On average I'd say I use around 2 points a month. I started using H last year (it was my first opiate, pretty much, besides trying hydrocodone once in the past), quit over the summer months for work (my industry is seasonal), then started using a little bit now and then currently.

Whether myself or people like me are "in the road to full blown addiction" is pointless to talk about, I think. I can't see into the future and neither can anyone else...it's not beyond the realm of possibility that there may come a day that I'm a physically dependent addict. But that's not the case today, and in the present I'm a casual user. I know other casual users, as well. In fact at any given time I'm pretty sure that those who use heroin and are not physically dependent addicts exist in considerably greater number than physically dependent addicts.

I think a big part of the problem from a junkie standpoint, in the inability to conceptualize casual use that can go on indefinitely and doesn't inevitably devolve into junkiehood, is the fact that they're junkies, and their social group is also composed of junkies, so they have difficulty conceptualizing someone who has a different relationship with the drug than they do (and their social group does). Especially since people who use heroin and aren't committed junkies aren't exactly vocal about their use.

 

[placid space]

Yeah, Ive also never met one. That guy of yours, like youve said, its just not his thing most likey, plus hes an alcoholic. Ive used coke for a few years and one day simply quit and never looked back, ,no craving, nothing. I dont think its because its not physically addictive, it wasnt my thing. H on the other hand, even if it was not physically addictive, it draws you back like a moth to a flame.

I know people who only use ocassionally but those are either people who already had their downfall and are on some sort of medication on the side to soften that real world experience to some degree( that they had with H) or they are on their way to addiction. But a clean, sober individual who only uses opiates here and there longterm? Na-ah. Never met one. Its always the same, it only takes a different amount of time with different people. Sometimes you think someone is a chipper and has it in control but it always ends the same. Know people who've been "responsibly chipping" for years before they gave in. The longer you keep it up the less likely it is youll ever be free. I dont think Its possible to keep it up, after some time, you simply dont want to experience life without the opiate blanket that dulls reality, if you have a choice.

 

[hatrix]

I've always been a "chipper" or casual user. I've only used around 3-4 times in the past couple months, and haven't had any in over 3 weeks. I don't typically touch any other opiates unless they are given to me for free.

As great as it would be to have it more often, I know what would happen if I were to do that, so I don't. There was a time when I was using a couple times a week, and I was spending too much money. I try to avoid that these days.

 

[smackydowners]

they do exist for sure, but the only way to know if they're a true chipper is if they die or at least get to a very old age without ever becoming dependent.

 

[smackydowners]

and although i say they surely exist, they are definitely in the absolute epitome of the word minority.

 

[placid space]

they do exist for sure, but the only way to know if they're a true chipper is if they die or at least get to a very old age without ever becoming dependent.

Not necessarily. Id say one is successfull if they manage for a number of years, without going on binges more and more, without due to H start to isolate themselves, without changing their character, still progressing with life, keeping up their life schedule and social life, without when not using H they being substituting it for other substances.

and although i say they surely exist, they are definitely in the absolute epitome of the word minority.

Op asked whether we know one or are one. Saying they surely exist doesnt really mean much.

 

[Mysterie]

even if someone does chip heroin successfully long term there is some level of psychological torment they are putting themselves through. its like limiting yourself to 1 cigarette a day, your mind is always in a battle to not go over what you limited your usage to.

 

[Erikmen]

I believe it's a matter of time. I've seen this happening so many times. It seems like people go down as soon as they believe they have it under control.

 

[Mad Dash]

Oddly enough I also know one. Oddly enough I met him through bluelight hahaha. He does not post any more but ya he uses maybe a couple times a year like maybe once every 3 months. But not even that often just when the feeling arises. Like he IVs Heroin... he does not use ANY other drugs... he does not drink... he just every so often IVs Heroin.

I tried asking him about it, and he said it doesn't seem like something he could do daily, and he never understood how we shot it every couple freaking hours. He said like how many times a year do you go to a theme park? I would say like 5 or 6 times (we lived in Orlando so not a strange question) and he would say you probably had a blast and a great time right? I would say ya... Then he said but you wouldn't go the next day right? No... or even the next week right? No... He said that is how it was for him. Shooting up H was like going to the theme park... you can only go so often without it being exhausted.

I mean... the analogy makes perfect sense and I get it... I can see how that would work. But it just did not work that way for me LoL! Not at ALL!

 

[mostly-human]

There's plenty of people who have occasionally used heroin, the addiction rate is not 100%. If you mean someone who can regularly use 3-4 times a month though, then that is a dangerous game. Personally, I used to be into (IV) Meth, heroin wasn't my thing, for around a decade I didn't use heroin more then 3 or 4 times a year. It wasn't until I kicked the meth habit, that I became a full-blown heroin addict. Thing is, there was never a point where I wasn't some kind of addict.

But some people aren't addicts like this, and I've known plenty of people to try heroin and not become an addict, it's not like 100% of people get addicted. But to maintain a regular habit, that isn't negatively impacting your life, is/would be extremely difficult. Some people don't draw a line on experiences like this and they also don't become addicts.


I think one of the things about heroin is that it's so taboo, which is the line I mention above, I think in reality, a lot of people become addicted to heroin after trying because only (ok - mostly) fucking desperate drug addicts think it's a good idea to try heroin in the first place. Plenty of people don't mind breaking the law a little and trying MDMA, cocaine, whatever - but these same people are reluctant to try heroin. But sometimes you get people like this, they're not addicts by any stretch of the imagination, but they also don't care about the heroin taboo - and I've seen plenty of these sorts have a taste and then forget about it.

 

[Rio Fantastic]

There's plenty of people who have occasionally used heroin, the addiction rate is not 100%. If you mean someone who can regularly use 3-4 times a month though, then that is a dangerous game. Personally, I used to be into (IV) Meth, heroin wasn't my thing, for around a decade I didn't use heroin more then 3 or 4 times a year. It wasn't until I kicked the meth habit, that I became a full-blown heroin addict. Thing is, there was never a point where I wasn't some kind of addict.

But some people aren't addicts like this, and I've known plenty of people to try heroin and not become an addict, it's not like 100% of people get addicted. But to maintain a regular habit, that isn't negatively impacting your life, is/would be extremely difficult. Some people don't draw a line on experiences like this and they also don't become addicts.


I think one of the things about heroin is that it's so taboo, which is the line I mention above, I think in reality, a lot of people become addicted to heroin after trying because only (ok - mostly) fucking desperate drug addicts think it's a good idea to try heroin in the first place. Plenty of people don't mind breaking the law a little and trying MDMA, cocaine, whatever - but these same people are reluctant to try heroin. But sometimes you get people like this, they're not addicts by any stretch of the imagination, but they also don't care about the heroin taboo - and I've seen plenty of these sorts have a taste and then forget about it.

Excellent point, and one I hadn't considered. There is such an extreme taboo around heroin, one that doesn't exist for any other drug, even crack and meth don't share the same taboo that heroin does, that those who do try it have reached a point where 99% of the population will never get to - either they are extreme thrill seekers, very very curious, arrogant perhaps, or have reached a point where they do not care about societal norms at all, but it takes a certain kind of person to want to overcome that kind of taboo and perhaps that is reflected in the extremely high addiction rate. I'm aware not 100% of people become addicted, but I've met an awful lot of junkies and a lot of dealers and still have only met one chipper in my entire life. I am certain that they are rarer than even the statistics would suggest - I have read one in seven people who try heroin will develop a physical addiction at some point, but to me that seems like a far too low estimation.

 

[ShroomySatori]

I don't know if it would be worth it because the risk of OD would be really high for a chipper. One develops a tolerance for the respiratory depression really fast. If you are going to be a chipper why not stick with pills, a bit less life threatening I'd think.

 

[mostly-human]

I don't know if it would be worth it because the risk of OD would be really high for a chipper. One develops a tolerance for the respiratory depression really fast. If you are going to be a chipper why not stick with pills, a bit less life threatening I'd think.

It would certainly be a lot higher, I remember when I used to use occasionally, I did worry a lot more about OD'n, then again, I was also a lot more careful :/. But yeah, it is a valid point. However, heroin ODs rarely occur with heroin being the only indicated substance in the overdose, typically there's another suppressant - mostly likely a strong benzo or a lot of alcohol. Typically when someone with low tolerance takes too much heroin, they end up really fucking sick - but to actually stop breathing, there's normal something else involved.

 

[tricomb]

IMO it's kinda like finding out whether the leprechaun at the end of the rainbow exists.

 

[manboychef]

I think the fact that people generally can't chip on heroin is because their chipping days are already behind them. Most people don't start out with heroin. Most people start out with pain pills, and gradually increase. There are those of us that can stop at the pain pills, or only take them rarely. (my brother being one of these so called "chippers" He could shoot heroin with me, then stop and not go back, whereas I would be looking for next fix immediately. Also, his withdrawals were never that bad. He could smoke ciggies for a month or two then just up and quit.) Most people that end up on heroin have already been through the phase of using and end up on heroin because they are seeking a cheaper, and more easily accessible way to maintain their dependence/addiction.

The whole situation with my brother and his drug use boggles my mind. We had extremely similar upbringing, he is my brother so we have most of the same genes, and we were roomates when we were using together, thus we were in a similar environment. The only difference is he has a hard time saying no to food. He is a compulsive over eater. I think that the addiction for him has to do with food, and mine has to do with drugs. I can take or leave chocolate cake, however he has to have a piece if it is there. If there is a couple lines of oxy, he can take or leave his. I will obsess over those lines until I eventually do them.

 

[mostly-human]

Most people start out with pain pills, and gradually increase.

In my own experience, in Melbourne, Australia - that isn't the case. There really isn't a huge pain-med scene, not like I read about on here that exists in the USA. There's a huge heroin scene though. I mean, heroin is by no means the first drug most people take, but other than the odd bit of codeine in either OTC/Prescribed pain med, most people I know that take heroin - got straight onto heroin as the first opiate they've taken, myself included.

 

[Erikmen]

IMO it's kinda like finding out whether the leprechaun at the end of the rainbow exists.

Nicely put.
Maybe 100% does not exist for this experience. And maybe some people did manage. It's not like people will come to them and say congratulations..you have managed to become a recreational heroin user.

Fact is; a lot of young people died on their first try.
I'm a parent, I trying figure how would I react if my kid was trying to convince it's all good.

Some of us are just trying to pass on our experiences. Hoping that you don't take that risk.

I've suffered my share while for most of my life trying to beat my addiction. I basically lost my best 20-25 years.

But it's your life. We're here to help you whether you try or not.

 

[smackydowners]

IMO it's kinda like finding out whether the leprechaun at the end of the rainbow exists.

nailed it.

what i meant y my comment is someone may be a chippper for months or years, but thee only true evidence that theyve remained a true chipper is if they dont get addicted. a person may use heroin sporadically for a very long time but this just doesnt ever seem to happen and tends to get them in the end-or quite quickly in most cases.

 

[wintastical]

Do I count as a "chipper" if I was only shooting it two or three times a month, but only because I couldn't find/afford my usual painkillers on those days?