A fair number of drugs such as Cocaine, Heroin, Buprenorphine (sic?), as well as other various opiates and other substances are most efficiently, (or at least significantly efficiently) absorbed through insufflation or "snorting".
DISCLAIMER:
[While the above mentioned drugs are most efficiently taken via the IV ROA, yielding essentially a 100% absorption rate, IV use will not be discussed here except perhaps to serve as a comparison. This thread is limited only to the intranasal/snorting ROA, and the ways in which people can increase the amount of drug absorbed, by utilizing different techniques than simply "crush and snort" ]
The problem is, drugs like cocaine and heroin salts have very poor BA orally, meaning that drip you get after snorting is the taste of drugs being wasted. So for those who don't want to IV drugs or freebase them, how can we make the process of snorting as efficient and safe as possible? ----thus incentivising people to stay away from needles for as long as possible.
FIRST: TYPES OF SNORTING;
1) Crush into fine powder and snort
1a.) Make powder into long skinny lines, snorting the dose over a period of a few minutes instead of in a single breath
1b.) Make powder into fat, long lines--snort all at once
2) Mix powder with water to form a solution
2a.) Using a straw or something similar, snort the solution off a non-porous surface
2b.) Using a dropper or oral syringe, drip, squirt, or snort the droplets into the nose directly from one of these devices
3) Put powder into a "bendy straw", with one end of straw in the mouth and the other end in the nostril, use your mouth to blow the powder sitting inside the straw directly into the nostril
NOTE: only works when both nostrils are clear enough for air to pass through, otherwise the powder will "bounce out" of the selected nostril instead of traveling through the nasal passageways.
THE PROBLEMS: why some drug is wasted when snorted;
1) Snorting powder not crushed fine enough will result in chunks of a given substance lining the membranes--meaning less surface area and less absorption
1a.) Powder that is too fine will often be sucked into the lungs or throat instead of the nasal membranes where it should be
2) The "Drip" ---> it seems inevitable, even if only small amounts of powder are snorted, some will drip down the throat and be wasted
3) Direct Bypass of nasal membranes: Sometimes when a drug is snorted, either in powder or liquid form, it seems to hit the back of the throat directly, no drip is felt, only the sensation of drug hitting throat
4) Clogged membranes: after enough powder is snorted, some of the cuts, or even the drug itself seem to stop being absorbed and "cake up", forming a barrier between drug & circulatory system
HOW TO SNORT MORE EFFICIENTLY:
I wish i knew! but i can say this:
1) Crush as fine as possible, more surface area = better absorption
2) Find the "sweet spot" in terms of suction: some find that quick, hard snorts force the powder to hit and stick to the nasal membranes, others find this causes the drug to go directly to the throat
3) Clean out your nasal passageways periodically but not frequently and avoid constant nose blowing. A little bit of water up the nose to flush out insoluble material will aid absorption so long as it is not done frequently. Also, blowing ones nose will remove caked up material, but blow to much and your membranes will become inflamed and less capable of absorption
4) If you find the powder is too fine and you can see it come out of your mouth when you exhale; either:
a) close off the used nostril and exhale out the other nostril instead of your mouth, at least this way some of the powder has a second chance to stick to nasal membranes
b) snort a few droplets of water off your finger tips into the nostril you plan to snort with, wait for the water to drip down your throat and even give it a soft blow to get rid of excess water. The point of this is to line the nasal membranes with water so that any powder is more likely to stick to them than it would a dry surface.
For those whose noses are a bit destroyed and find the powder going directly to their throats, I have found (if one is in the position to do so, and to do so safely) that snorting a bit of a less precious powder first kind of blocks the holes the powder is escaping through. Once that is achieved, the more precious powder can be snorted and less seems to hit the throat. Also, using the back of your tongue to shut the passage between nostril and throat works somewhat well, but is difficult to do---> (this is what is trying to be accomplished by the straw technique mentioned above)
This is just some preliminary thoughts and I would greatly appreciate peoples comments, critiques, experiences, thoughts, tips, or anything else relevant. Thanks in advance
DISCLAIMER:
[While the above mentioned drugs are most efficiently taken via the IV ROA, yielding essentially a 100% absorption rate, IV use will not be discussed here except perhaps to serve as a comparison. This thread is limited only to the intranasal/snorting ROA, and the ways in which people can increase the amount of drug absorbed, by utilizing different techniques than simply "crush and snort" ]
The problem is, drugs like cocaine and heroin salts have very poor BA orally, meaning that drip you get after snorting is the taste of drugs being wasted. So for those who don't want to IV drugs or freebase them, how can we make the process of snorting as efficient and safe as possible? ----thus incentivising people to stay away from needles for as long as possible.
FIRST: TYPES OF SNORTING;
1) Crush into fine powder and snort
1a.) Make powder into long skinny lines, snorting the dose over a period of a few minutes instead of in a single breath
1b.) Make powder into fat, long lines--snort all at once
2) Mix powder with water to form a solution
2a.) Using a straw or something similar, snort the solution off a non-porous surface
2b.) Using a dropper or oral syringe, drip, squirt, or snort the droplets into the nose directly from one of these devices
3) Put powder into a "bendy straw", with one end of straw in the mouth and the other end in the nostril, use your mouth to blow the powder sitting inside the straw directly into the nostril
NOTE: only works when both nostrils are clear enough for air to pass through, otherwise the powder will "bounce out" of the selected nostril instead of traveling through the nasal passageways.
THE PROBLEMS: why some drug is wasted when snorted;
1) Snorting powder not crushed fine enough will result in chunks of a given substance lining the membranes--meaning less surface area and less absorption
1a.) Powder that is too fine will often be sucked into the lungs or throat instead of the nasal membranes where it should be
2) The "Drip" ---> it seems inevitable, even if only small amounts of powder are snorted, some will drip down the throat and be wasted
3) Direct Bypass of nasal membranes: Sometimes when a drug is snorted, either in powder or liquid form, it seems to hit the back of the throat directly, no drip is felt, only the sensation of drug hitting throat
4) Clogged membranes: after enough powder is snorted, some of the cuts, or even the drug itself seem to stop being absorbed and "cake up", forming a barrier between drug & circulatory system
HOW TO SNORT MORE EFFICIENTLY:
I wish i knew! but i can say this:
1) Crush as fine as possible, more surface area = better absorption
2) Find the "sweet spot" in terms of suction: some find that quick, hard snorts force the powder to hit and stick to the nasal membranes, others find this causes the drug to go directly to the throat
3) Clean out your nasal passageways periodically but not frequently and avoid constant nose blowing. A little bit of water up the nose to flush out insoluble material will aid absorption so long as it is not done frequently. Also, blowing ones nose will remove caked up material, but blow to much and your membranes will become inflamed and less capable of absorption
4) If you find the powder is too fine and you can see it come out of your mouth when you exhale; either:
a) close off the used nostril and exhale out the other nostril instead of your mouth, at least this way some of the powder has a second chance to stick to nasal membranes
b) snort a few droplets of water off your finger tips into the nostril you plan to snort with, wait for the water to drip down your throat and even give it a soft blow to get rid of excess water. The point of this is to line the nasal membranes with water so that any powder is more likely to stick to them than it would a dry surface.
For those whose noses are a bit destroyed and find the powder going directly to their throats, I have found (if one is in the position to do so, and to do so safely) that snorting a bit of a less precious powder first kind of blocks the holes the powder is escaping through. Once that is achieved, the more precious powder can be snorted and less seems to hit the throat. Also, using the back of your tongue to shut the passage between nostril and throat works somewhat well, but is difficult to do---> (this is what is trying to be accomplished by the straw technique mentioned above)
This is just some preliminary thoughts and I would greatly appreciate peoples comments, critiques, experiences, thoughts, tips, or anything else relevant. Thanks in advance