This thread will be dedicated to the most basic of heroin related questions asked in Other Drugs. It would be ideal if you (the users) could post your new basic questions in this thread, but if you do make a new thread for it, we will try to have it merged in here.
Most of the info contained with-in the FAQ applies to powder heroin for the time being. I have limited experience with tar heroin, so until I get someone to answer a few tar related questions for me, it will remain this way. I will update with the added tar information as soon as possible.
Heroin FAQ by sixpartseven
What is it?
Heroin comes in two forms: tar and powder. Tar is heroin that still has natural impurities and other opiate alkaloids in it. It is an unrefined form of heroin, and can never be 100% pure heroin. Although it cannot be pure, it can be very potent. The high is also said to be different than powder heroin, most likely because of the alkaloids contained with-in it.
Powder heroin is just that, powdered heroin. It doesn't have natural impurities, but often it is far from pure, just like tar. It comes in two varieties: #3 and #4.
#3 heroin is the base form, usually found in Europe, and pretty much anywhere that is not North and South America. It isn't readily soluble in water, so it can't be IVed in its natural state, but with a little extra work, it can be IVed, but most often it is smoked.
#4 heroin is the HCL form, found in Asia, Australia, and the Americas most often, but can still turn up in other countries from time to time. #4 is readily soluble in water, so typically it is IVed or snorted, but just like how #3 can be shot, #4 can also be smoked with a little extra work.
Of course, either variation can be found in any country. No country is strictly #3 only or #4 only.
Why does it smell like vinegar?
When snorting heroin, and sometimes even when IVing it (coming from your lungs), you may get a faint whiff or taste of vinegar. Occasionally, someone will ask if the strength of that smell or taste has any bearing on the potency of the heroin. The answer is no. The vinegar that you smell/taste is actual vinegar. Vinegar (acetic acid) is a byproduct in the process of manufacturing heroin. In the end of the process, if the heroin is cleaned properly, most of the vinegar is washed out, but more often than not, the smell still lingers. The strength of the smell only indicates how well the heroin was washed and nothing more.
What are the most common cuts found in heroin?
Although any supplier of heroin can add to it whatever he has access to, there a few well known and commonly used cuts that show up more often than others. Mannitol, quinine/quinidine, lactose, and caffeine are some of the most common. Diphenhydramine, inositol, thiamine, and procaine are a few others. Diphenhydramine has been becoming more popular as a cut because of the added sedation it provides when taken in combination with the heroin.
The problem with heroin, and unlike cocaine, is that there is no easy way to clean your heroin. A process can be found on Erowid.org, but it is a complex process that most average users will not be able to carry out. This is why it is very important to filter your heroin when IVing it.
Because of the consistency of tar heroin, it is harder to cut, but that doesnt mean some people don't try. Regardless, it is somewhat uncommon for it to be cut, and its hard to find any information on what typical cuts may be used.
What's an average dose of heroin?
It depends on how you are dosing it. There are three common ways to dose - IV, intranasal, and smoking - and two other less common routes - oral and rectal.
First, consider your tolerance to other opiates. Is your tolerance really high, really low, or somewhere in-between? Because heroin is never pure, it's impossible to take your normal dose of one opiate and convert it to find out what dose of heroin would be right for you. That said, it's generally advised to start with a small dose and work your way up until you get where you want to be. "You can always take more, but you can never take less."
But, based on your tolerance, you can deduce a general idea. If your tolerance is really high, you know you are going to need a little more heroin than someone with a really low tolerance.
Snorting (powder only): Start with half of a bag/pack, but no more than one whole bag/pack. See how it makes you feel and adjust accordingly by half a bag at a time. If you plan on IVing, it's suggested to snort new batches of heroin first to gauge the potency. When you find out how much it takes to get high from snorting, take about 40 - 50% of that for an IV dose.
IV: If you insist on not snorting first to test the potency, start with half a bag/pack, but no more than one whole bag until you know the potency. Re-dosing with IV usually doesn't provide a rush with each sequential dose, but it does increase the high and CNS depression so be careful and aware of the OD potential.
Smoking: Smoking is considered to be less dangerous than any other method if administration. The theory is you will pass out before you can smoke enough to OD. While this may be somewhat true, it is not always the case. You can put more than half/one whole bag on the foil and inhale is necessary, just make sure you keep a good amount of time between each inhalation so you can keep tabs on how high you are getting.
Oral: Not suggested. It takes way too much heroin to get high orally. You will be spending outrageous amounts of money for one single dose.
Rectal: Same as IV. Very efficient way of taking heroin, so start small.
I want to IV my heroin, but I don't know how to cook it.
Never share a needle with anyone. Even if they are your closest friend, you have no idea what infections/transmittable diseases they may have. Always use a fresh needle every time you IV. Do not re-use them either.
Cooking is actually a misleading term for prepping heroin for IV use. Cooking implies adding heat, but really, you should only add heat when using tar heroin. That said, prepping heroin is a pretty simple process. I'll break it up in steps.
1) Place the desired amount of heroin into a spoon or plastic bottle cap. Make sure either one you choose to use is thoroughly cleaned and sanitary.
2) Draw clean water into your needle. Tap water is not ideal. Bottled water is much better, but sterile saline is your best choice. A needle is measured in units. 100 units = 1cc = 1ml. There is no minimum or maximum amount of water that you must use. Some say less water means less dilution and quicker onset, but that is a subjective claim and has never been proved. Its best to use a good amount of water until you get used to IVing, mainly because of issues with registering. Try 30 - 50 units.
3) Add the water to the heroin in the spoon. Make sure you re-cap your needle immediately to stay sanitary and prevent accidental dulling of the tip.
4) This is where things differ for tar and powder. Powder does not have to be heated, so in this step, all you have to do is stir the solution with the rubber end of the plunger to mix it up and get the heroin to dissolve. Heating powder causes unwanted cuts to dissolve into solution. The only reason you might want to heat it is if the heroin is having a lot of trouble dissolving. The extra cuts theoretically could keep the active drug - diacetylmorphine - from going into solution. The thing about that is diamorphine is readily soluble in water, so even though it may look like the heroin isn't dissolving, thats just the cuts not dissolving, which is actually a good thing. It's a very good bet that the diamorphine has gone into solution upon contact with the water.
Tar, on the other hand, should be heated to help the heroin dissolve into the water. The diamorphine is essentially trapped in the tar which needs to be melted to get it all out and into solution.
5) Put the plunger back in the needle and add the filter to the spoon/cap. You can use q-tip cotton as a filter if you don't have access to micron filters. Cigarette filter cotton should not be used unless it is a last resort. With the q-tip, just tear a match-head sized piece off and crush it into a ball shape, then place it into the water. Then, lightly place the tip of the needle on top of the cotton ball with the beveled side down (look closely at the tip of the needle to find the flat edge with the hole. Thats the beveled edge.)
A trick some people use is to stick the tip of the needle in the cotton ball, then place the tip of the needle in the solution and pull back on the plunger.
You'll know when you have drawn it all up because the cotton will lose most of its color and turn white again.
6) Shoot.
Its highly recommended to use micron filters when shooting any street drug to keep out all of the cuts. Q-tip cotton will keep most of it out, but not all. Cigarette filter isn't the best to use either because of the additives in it getting into the solution.
What are "stamps" and "bags" and other terms associated with heroin?
Each region of all different countries have their own slang. "Stamps" and "bags" are two examples of that. Stamp bags come from the East-Coast of the USA (New York and New Jersey most often) where the heroin comes in a waxy paper packaging with different "brand names" stamped on them. Each stamp is usually specific to a certain dealer or supplier, but often copy-cats show up, mimicking a certain batch that may have been exceptionally potent to play off its reputation, but is actually quite weak.
"Bags" is just another term for an individual dose of heroin sold on the street. It's common all across the world where a certain region doesn't have its own specific slang.
Other heroin related terms:
Packs: A Mid-West area term, most often heard in the Detroit area. Its a single dose of heroin, most often made of state lottery or keno paper.
Gel-Caps: Another Mid-West term, specifically the Dayton, Ohio area, where heroin is sold in gel-caps.
Balloon: An actual un-inflated balloon that tar heroin is sold and sometimes smuggled in.
Rig/Spike/Pin/Works/Fits or Outfits: Slang for needle.
Tie: Slang for tourniquet, or any other object used to tie off with when IVing.
Cotton Shots: Taking cotton that has already been used to filter heroin, rinsing it with fresh water, then shooting to try and catch a high off of any heroin that may have been remaining in the cotton. It is not advised to try this. Infections are a huge concern, and at the very least, you could get cotton fever, which is not fun.
Dope/Boy/Horse/Skag/H/Etc.: Slang for heroin. Chiva, hop, black are some West-Coast US terms.
How do you smoke heroin?
Only tar and #3 powder heroin can be smoked as soon as you get it off the street. What you do is take a decent sized piece of tin foil (about the size of a CD case or larger) and fold it in half along its width. Place the heroin in the center. Heat from underneath with a candle or lighter. Suck up the vapor with a straw.
Remember that smoking heroin is one of the most inefficient ways to use heroin. When you suck up the smoke, it is impossible to catch all of it, meaning a good portion is lost.
#4 heroin can be smoked, but needs to be mixed with pure caffeine at a 3:1 ratio. If you cant weigh your heroin, its hard to figure out how much caffeine you will need, and since heroin is never pure, its even harder, because you need to know exactly how much diamorphine you have. If you have #4, its better to not smoke it.
What are the dangers of using heroin?
Of course, with any method of administration, overdose is always a concern. Even though it's said that with smoking you will pass out before you OD, don't always count on that. The risk is still there.
The one route with the most dangers is IV. Besides the huge risk of OD, there is the chance of missing the shot and getting an abscess. If an abscess goes untreated, the infection could get worse, ending with the amputation of the limb with the infection. Particulate matter can get stuck in your lungs if it isn't filtered properly. And of course, there is always addiction, which is a concern with any route, although it tends to come on a lot faster with IV use.
How do I avoid addiction?
The best and most surefire way to avoid addiction is to not use often. To ensure you don't get addicted, never use more than one or two days in a row, and put three to four days between each session of using. So, for example, you could use on Sunday and Monday, then take Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off. Then you can either use again on Friday, and maybe again on Saturday, then take four days off. The more time you spend between uses, the better your chances of staving off any dependency issues.
I got addicted. Now what do I do?
You have a few options. You could detox cold turkey if you've only been using for a shot time (1 - 3 months). Or, you could go on Suboxone or Methadone. The differences between the two are quite vast, and it would need its own thread to explain the differences. Luckily, we already have those threads in Other Drugs.
Suboxone/Buprenorphine Mega Thread FAQ Version 1
Suboxone/Buprenorphine Mega Thread FAQ Version 2
Methadone Vs. Suboxone
Here are a few more links to dealing with withdrawals symptoms:
A Guide to Opiate Addiction Treatment
A Guide To Narcotic Withdrawal
Just remember that you are not stuck. Hope is not lost. Addiction can be controlled.
Anything else?
Yes. Using heroin is like playing with fire in the middle of a busy freeway at rush hour. Personally, I have been fighting an addiction to heroin for a few years, and it is not easy. In comparison, a few years is nothing to the decades others have lived through. The one thing we all have in common is that not a single one of us planned on becoming an addict. You might be saying, "But I know I'll never get addicted." You can try to live by that, but that sort of thinking is what leads to addiction. Its better to think, "I know heroin is a huge danger to my lifestyle and health, so I just wont use it," but obviously, that doesn't always work. If you do use it, stick to the schedule mentioned in the FAQ, or better yet, stick to using once a week, or once a month. Heroin ruins lives. That is an understatement. Heroin
destroys lives. And not just your own. It will affect your family, your friends, your co-workers. Anyone that is close to you will feel it. Don't let it happen to you.
Also, don't IV if you don't have to. The only time IV use is needed is when you are already addicted and snorting/smoking has become too expensive. Stick to other routes of administration. IV use leads to addiction incredibly fast.
Good luck, and stay safe.
This entails living there [great fun] usually. Its very hard to get pure in OZ, or anywhere away from the sources for that matter:/
