Smoking heroin in the first place can be considered an HR alternative to IV, furthermore, there isn't much harm that can be avoided by smoking something. IMO, the only thing to watch out for is burning the foil while you are inhaling through the tube... Try getting the heavy duty tin if you can, and be careful/reasonable with the lighter as to not crisp the foil. I have searched all over the internet, and I have been unsuccessful in finding legitimate health risks associated with aluminum vapors, so if anyone has any info on this I would greatly appreciate it!
Anyways, I would not be too concerned with the health risks associated with chasing, but I could be wrong... Just be thankful you use this ROA instead of IV.
I actually believe that smoking tar IS NOT a "harm reduction" alternative to injecting. Meaning, its not necessarily safer. I believe this because if you use proper technique and sterile equipment when injecting heroin(just like i would assume you would want to use proper, healthy, technique qhen smoking tar), it can be a very safe way of doing heroin.....and in many instances, its much safer than smoking as long as you know what you are doing of course. Smoking anything, like said above, is ALWAYS dangerous, and smoking tar, which has certain cuts in them etc, etc, not to mention the opiate alkaloids themselves....is very harmfull to your lungs no matter how you smoke it. And if you get a heroin habit and your ROA is smoking, it could cause more damage much more quickly than you would if you were injecting it using proper technique and supplies.
Allthough, many drug addicts(as i know from personal experience) wouldnt take the time to get proper sterile supplies and wouldnt spend a penny on sterile water, or a new needle(ive been there trust me)....and in that case, it is possible and sometimes likely that smoking the heroin is safer. But, that is definitely not a guaranteee.....because as I said earlier, smoking heroin is very harmfull to your lungs...more so than smoking ciggarettes or weed. And it is very possible that you could get some sort of lung infection, or some other complicatoion from smoking heroin MUCH quicker than someone who is injecting heroin, even if they dont use perfect IV technique and proper supplies. But like I said, its up in the air......I just dont believe its right to say that smoking heroin is definitely better than injecting it. I dont believe that the difference in ROA changes your addiction like that.
I know that when I started snorting heroin(and sometimes smoking it) I eventually(very quickly) became EXTREMELY addicted to the drug, and I ended up stealing, pawning, lying, etc...to get my fix. And when I started injecting, I actually had to steal and lie less than i did before because it took less of the drug to get me high. Of course my tolerance eventually rose up again so I was probably back to where I was before, but injecting the heroin definitely did not make me any more addicted to the drug. My addiction was in my mind, it didnt matter how I put the opiates in my body, it just mattered that they were there, on my receptors, keeeping me nice and warm and happy.
So I guess what im trying to say is yes, smoking heroin, in some instances, can be considered safer than injecting heroin....but on the other hand, there are definitely situations where injecting the heroin would be a ebtter option.
I also believe that smoking heroin wastes waaay too much of the diacetylmorphine and whatever other opiate alkaloids there may be. I dont care how good your technique is or how much of the smoke you are able to capture into your lungs through your "tube" or "cone". When you burn heroin(almost directly), it charrs alot of the opiate(s) into useless and harmfull(to your lungs) substances. And whatever opiates that are left that you did mange to get vaporized correctly, will get you high, theres no doubt aboput that, and it may even feel really good, but the high is short lived compared to other ROA's, more dangerous than other ROA's when using proper technique, and wastes more of your drug than you can realize....its impossible to tell how much of the drug you charred into wasteland, but you will have to purchase more heroin to get high again sooner than you would have if you had snorted it, or injected it....and possibly even plugged it.
Im not telling people to not smoke there heroin and always inject or anything. Im jsut trying to open your mind to the fact that smoking is definitely not always the best option, no matter the technique and no matter what harm reduction advice someone will give you in this thread.
Everyone can do what they want, thats just my experience after many many years in heroin trade and addiction.