Heroin How would you tell if someone is currently high on heroin?

[Tommyboy]

Thanks everyone! Sounds like it's not at all an obvious drug to spot. I do have one last question - when I was on benzos I'd never be able to walk properly, I was always running into walls/my muscles would suddenly give up and I'd almost fall over, and some of the stuff you're describing here sort of sounds like how the benzos would make me (tiredness, slowed breathing, delayed reflexes, droopy eyes, slurred speech...), so would someone on heroin have trouble moving/walking/retaining balance as well or can they just walk normally as if nothing were up?

It actually is an obvious drug to spot, as long as you know what to look for. I can tell in the first minute of talking to someone in person if they are on opiates. First I will notice that they are talking more than usual and being very nice, then I will see that their pupils are tiny and glossed over, and then I will notice them scratch their arm, leg, face, or back.

 

[BiggDirty01]

I could tell that I was very high when I'd be talking with someone and I would forget what the topic of the conversation was or what I was going to say evaporate from my brain.

Sometimes this can be attributed to a high THC strain or concentrates from mmj. However the combination of the eyes and my difficulty having a normal conversation was a dead give away to friends and family. Also, I would isolate myself and passively interact when normally I'd be one of the most engaged people at a party or whatever.

 

[cLoud*]

With the walking/balance issue, I think a lot of it depends on the dose....


.....Say I do like, .1 of some decent dope, I'm not gonna be super high, I'll be in that "I'm not too low, I'm not too high" stage, where everything is exactly the same as if I were sober. Except that my pupils will be pin-pointed, and I'm feeling pretty good.

Now, if I did say, a half gram, where I know I'm about to be faded as fuck, drooling on myself and shit...it will definitely be obvious. My speech will be slurred, motor functions are all fucked up.. I don't really walk when I move, I just kind of gracefully stumble.

So, like I said, and others have said, a lot of it depends on the dose.

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Thanks everyone! Sounds like it's not at all an obvious drug to spot. I do have one last question - when I was on benzos I'd never be able to walk properly, I was always running into walls/my muscles would suddenly give up and I'd almost fall over, and some of the stuff you're describing here sort of sounds like how the benzos would make me (tiredness, slowed breathing, delayed reflexes, droopy eyes, slurred speech...), so would someone on heroin have trouble moving/walking/retaining balance as well or can they just walk normally as if nothing were up?

Most people can walk just fine while on heroin. Taking a lot can make you sleepy and "nod out", but if they are upright and alert they should generally have no problems walking. The only time I've ever seen someone have any difficulty walking while on heroin was when they were at OD or near-OD levels.

It is definitely not an obvious drug to spot, I hid my heroin use from all sorts of people for years and they were totally shocked when I told them and hadn't suspected a thing. The effects really depend on the quantity the person uses (and the quality) and whether they are new to using or only use occasionally or they are experienced and physically addicted. Many people when they are long-term addicts seem perfectly normal while on heroin and don't really get much effects off it other than feeling normal and good instead of sick and miserable.

Also, all of the "signs" of being on heroin can also be attributed to other things so don't accuse someone of being on dope just because they have small pupils, or are itchy, or are sleepy

Of all the H users I've known, none of them have lied about being high when asked. They just don't care enough to lie about it. I know I don't. Have you tried asking this guy if he uses any substances?

Maybe to you they were honest (as far as you knew). Heroin users lie about their use all the time! Because of it's legal status, how taboo it is, and how judgmental people can be about it many people feel forced to lie to at least some of the people in their lives about their drug use. It really depends how you ask them, how they think you're going to react, etc.

 

[sweetstufflover]

"High" on opioids? Opioids are great substances that make me normal. I'm normal on opioids. That's all. Get over the "addiction" and "drugs"-propaganda. It's all BS and lies.
High doses will make you tired and drowsy. That's all. But a person who's had the opportunity to LEARN how to handle opioids won't do that every day - maybe sometimes, but most times people would just take a dose that makes them feel comfortable and healthy.
Things like tiny pupils don't count, because you don't "act" tiny pupils. It's a reaction of the body.

There is no such thing as "addiction" (besides physical dependence which isn't a disease or a problem, the problem is a non-properly-working brain chemistry which leads to the need of external opioids). There is no "relapse". It's the symptoms gaining new strength and the person remembering how much relief the opioids brought. It's not a brave or honorable fight against the "demon" opioids, but a compulsive act of suppressing the own health. This compulsive behavior results of mind control, programming (propaganda...) through the media and the "education system" (=indoctrination system).


I'd say opium, its alkaloids and their derivates are some of (if not THE) the most important, valuable and precious substances known to man.

 

[rangrz]

Specific to heroin? Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay on blood sample for diamorphine and 6-monoacetyl-morphine would probably be a good place to start...

 

[J.D.]

It actually is an obvious drug to spot, as long as you know what to look for. I can tell in the first minute of talking to someone in person if they are on opiates. First I will notice that they are talking more than usual and being very nice, then I will see that their pupils are tiny and glossed over, and then I will notice them scratch their arm, leg, face, or back.

This.

 

[R(x)AGE]

ASK them straight up, this isn't the type of thing to lie about (as it probably isn't something they use only once in a blue moon), it's probably a habitual thing, and with substances that can be so imperative to the human function i.e., heroin, a person wouldn't necessarily want to deny it, instead they probably struggle with it and think about it more than you ever could imagine, so I beg you to just look this person in the face and honestly ask what you like, it isn't a quality of a person with a problem to want to create more problems by lying, instead it would probably be a way of easing their own shame about using, a catharsis of sorts; if the person is going to lie about this, than in the hypothetical instance that they didn't use drugs they would still lie about something, it is the nature of the individual on which honesty is a contingent, and if they do use heroin it probly isn't a big deal to them, it's probably at the point for them where their shame has all been spent on struggles with others, which drove them to this way of life, and if you ask nicely and in the right setting, I can easily see this conversation bringing you two closer as fellow imperfect beings.

 

[sweetstufflover]

It actually is an obvious drug to spot, as long as you know what to look for. I can tell in the first minute of talking to someone in person if they are on opiates. First I will notice that they are talking more than usual and being very nice, then I will see that their pupils are tiny and glossed over, and then I will notice them scratch their arm, leg, face, or back.

Wait a minute... and that's BAD effects? People being social, being nice and, feeling good? WTF is wrong with this world?

 

[Artificial Emotion]

The person's eye's will be half shut, even though in every other respect they will appear to be awake i.e. responding to questions. Also for myself I get speed-like effects where my energy levels will shoot up and I'll be running around cleaning and doing chores like there's no tomorrow. Itchiness and the accompanying scratching will be present in some novice users (as said).

 

[Swimmingdancer]

"High" on opioids? Opioids are great substances that make me normal. I'm normal on opioids. That's all. Get over the "addiction" and "drugs"-propaganda. It's all BS and lies.
High doses will make you tired and drowsy. That's all. But a person who's had the opportunity to LEARN how to handle opioids won't do that every day - maybe sometimes, but most times people would just take a dose that makes them feel comfortable and healthy.
Things like tiny pupils don't count, because you don't "act" tiny pupils. It's a reaction of the body.

There is no such thing as "addiction" (besides physical dependence which isn't a disease or a problem, the problem is a non-properly-working brain chemistry which leads to the need of external opioids). There is no "relapse". It's the symptoms gaining new strength and the person remembering how much relief the opioids brought. It's not a brave or honorable fight against the "demon" opioids, but a compulsive act of suppressing the own health. This compulsive behavior results of mind control, programming (propaganda...) through the media and the "education system" (=indoctrination system).


I'd say opium, its alkaloids and their derivates are some of (if not THE) the most important, valuable and precious substances known to man.

I agree with a lot of the sentiment, but I think you're going overboard. Opiates are not entirely a good thing for the vast majority of people, even though most regular users are indeed using them to self-medicate. A big problem with our society is that we are taught that when something is wrong with one's health or mental health we should just medicate the symptoms instead of trying to find the cause. I totally agree that opioids and users of opioids have an undeserved stigma and that it generally shouldn't be any different from chronically taking anti-depressants or painkillers. But we live in the real world, where in most places most opioids are illegal or at least heavily restricted, when obtained illicitly they are often cut with other substances, they are extremely expensive and difficult to obtain a consistent quality supply of, and all of this greatly impairs one's ability to lead a healthy happy life. On top of that they have lots of adverse effects, (as do many legal drugs). Most of the conditions that cause one to use opioids illicitly in the first place - like chemical imbalance in the brain - are preventable, not usually by the user, but by society, our families, and due to other environmental factors. Even once you are already in that situation where you have, say, depression, (or pain), there are better choices than opioids to deal with it. They may take a lot of work and be more difficult and harder to figure out than just taking some heroin to feel better, but they do exist and in the long-term using opiates is just perpetuating your condition and making you dependent on something that is out of your control. Personally I don't think that long-term/lifetime medication is the best answer when it comes to the vast majority of health issues. I think we really need to make some major changes in Western society and our health care systems, which are primarily concerned with profit and not wellness, and start trying to prevent and heal the causes of our illnesses rather than just masking the symptoms temporarily and being chained to drugs for the rest of our lives.

I think that the "disease" model for drug addiction is definitely much better than the "character flaw" model, but it's still imperfect in that it makes people believe the disease is unpreventable and that it's untreatable with anything other than the drug.

"High" is just a vernacular word used to describe drug-induced euphoria, meaning an exaggerated physical and psychological state with feelings of well-being, elation, happiness, ecstasy, excitement and/or joy. A lot of people assume that anyone who is on heroin would be high, or even inadvertently misuse use the term "high" just to mean "on drugs". I myself tried to explain that many heroin users just take heroin to feel normal. And even when not, there shouldn't be such a stigma attached to feeling great anyway, especially if you aren't harming anyone else in the process.

 

[Pagey]

^my bad. I thought 'high' just meant 'under the effect of a drug'. I am aware heroin doesn't usually create a feeling of elation or ecstasy (as far as I've read anyway...?).
Well this friend of mine has become very secretive since the past few months, always seems to be in some sort of different world, always appears content and tired...I've never looked closely at his eyes (they're dark, pupil size is difficult to spot) but I will next time I see him. Also he refuses to wear anything with short-sleeves even though it's super hot here (IV?), and we used to go swimming together all the time before but now he never wants to.
I haven't asked him yet because we live in an almost completely hard-drug-free environment where drugs are demonized to a point where anyone would feel ashamed about using them (it's so maddening. I wasn't able to admit my benzo addiction to anyone because of this) so I didn't really want to ask until I was absolutely certain about it. We're also quite young, which probably wouldn't help. I think I'll try telling him about my own addiction and see if he reacts to it, and if not I'll ask him I guess. Thanks a lot to all of you

 

[Swimmingdancer]

^my bad. I thought 'high' just meant 'under the effect of a drug'. I am aware heroin doesn't usually create a feeling of elation or ecstasy (as far as I've read anyway...?).

I wouldn't say it "doesn't usually", it definitely can, I think what sweetstufflover was trying to convey was that many people who use heroin are self-medicating for depression, so it often just makes them feel normal, like what someone would feel like when they are happy or content, especially when someone has been using regularly for a long time (often they end up just using opiates to keep withdrawal symptoms at bay). People use the term "high" all the time, don't worry about it.

Well this friend of mine has become very secretive since the past few months, always seems to be in some sort of different world, always appears content and tired...I've never looked closely at his eyes (they're dark, pupil size is difficult to spot) but I will next time I see him. Also he refuses to wear anything with short-sleeves even though it's super hot here (IV?), and we used to go swimming together all the time before but now he never wants to.
I haven't asked him yet because we live in an almost completely hard-drug-free environment where drugs are demonized to a point where anyone would feel ashamed about using them (it's so maddening. I wasn't able to admit my benzo addiction to anyone because of this) so I didn't really want to ask until I was absolutely certain about it. We're also quite young, which probably wouldn't help. I think I'll try telling him about my own addiction and see if he reacts to it, and if not I'll ask him I guess. Thanks a lot to all of you

I think that's a great idea, if you can make him feel like he won't be judged and that you will have some understanding of what he's going through (and will keep it a secret) then he is more likely to tell you. But don't be surprised if he doesn't want to tell you the truth and don't get mad at him if he claims he isn't using - that won't help anything. Good luck

 

[Donewthislife]

The dead giveaway for me that someone is on heroin is the "80 degree bend"....like when someone is standing but they are bent over on a 80 degree angle and you can't fathom how the person is still standing.

 

[PillJoy]

this is interesting to me faceplant - back when i was a young, carefree pot head, i was the one in my group of friends who never ever looked stoned... my eyes never got re or glassy...i was always the one who had to go in to pay for gas or buy the munchies... even now when i smoke its the same. a blessing and a curse %)

as for the op's topic -i am an opiate lover, but have yet to find a heroin connect and have never tried it -YET- but with pills i have a 'social dose' and a ' stay home and pop those3-4 roxys30s all at once" dose...to me its a waste to be really gone and have to cover - i've always kept my recreational use of opiates between me myself & i - never partied that way with anyone - so if i'm dosing before a social situation, family thing or whatever - i would typically take less and just enjoy myself, and other than my husband no one would notice anything - just me being the me they always see. it would be more weird to see me all flat and depressed having taken nothing. but then there's the really nice, "home alone " dose,when i can put on the ipod and float around in my head, or get out all my art stuff and lose a few hours... i don't think i could pull that off socially. is it different with heroin??i've become SO heroin-curious lately....
oops sorry didn't mean to hijack

 

[PillJoy]

I realise this, but for me personally, anything and everything seems to make my pupils dilate. On a low dose of opaites my pupils dont really change, on a high dose they are noticably bigger. Id be relaly interested if anyone has a reason for this, its really puzzled me.

this is interesting to me faceplant - back when i was a young, carefree pot head, i was the one in my group of friends who never ever looked stoned... my eyes never got red or glassy...i was always the one who had to go in to pay for gas or buy the munchies... even now when i smoke its the same. a blessing and a curse %)

as for the op's topic -i am an opiate lover, but have yet to find a heroin connect and have never tried it -YET- but with pills i have a 'social dose' and a ' stay home and pop those3-4 roxys30s all at once" dose...to me its a waste to be really gone and have to cover - i've always kept my recreational use of opiates between me myself & i - never partied that way with anyone - so if i'm dosing before a social situation, family thing or whatever - i would typically take less and just enjoy myself, and other than my husband no one would notice anything - just me being the me they always see. it would be more weird to see me all flat and depressed having taken nothing. but then there's the really nice, "home alone " dose,when i can put on the ipod and float around in my head, or get out all my art stuff and lose a few hours... i don't think i could pull that off socially. is it different with heroin??i've become SO heroin-curious lately....
oops sorry didn't mean to hijack

 

[Swimmingdancer]

but then there's the really nice, "home alone " dose,when i can put on the ipod and float around in my head, or get out all my art stuff and lose a few hours... i don't think i could pull that off socially. is it different with heroin??i've become SO heroin-curious lately....

I think it really depends on the amount used and whether the person uses it once in a while or on a daily basis long-term. For addicts, it usually gets to a point where you don't get the same "high" anymore and would have to take a huge (and very expensive) dose to get even close. So they would need to use just to be able to function in a social setting at all, or go to work, or whatever. It also depends on whether the person is using recreationally or self-medicating for depression or pain. If it's the latter, which many heroin addicts are, then it doesn't have as strong of effects on you, it just takes away the depression and/or the pain. If someone is using once in while recreationally and takes a reasonably high dose then they could definitely be too "high" to have fun or not be obviously on something if they weren't at home or with other people who were using or didn't care. Also, even with long-time users it might still make you pretty sleepy, not to mention extremely sensitive to alcohol, so yes, many people would (or should) probably take less if they're going out than if they're staying in and just want to feel as great as possible.

 

[adder]

Facial expression is another give-away. Someone high on an opioid has emotionless face to a sober person looking at the person high on heroin.

"High" on opioids? Opioids are great substances that make me normal. I'm normal on opioids. That's all. Get over the "addiction" and "drugs"-propaganda. It's all BS and lies.
High doses will make you tired and drowsy. That's all. But a person who's had the opportunity to LEARN how to handle opioids won't do that every day - maybe sometimes, but most times people would just take a dose that makes them feel comfortable and healthy.
Things like tiny pupils don't count, because you don't "act" tiny pupils. It's a reaction of the body.

There is no such thing as "addiction" (besides physical dependence which isn't a disease or a problem, the problem is a non-properly-working brain chemistry which leads to the need of external opioids). There is no "relapse". It's the symptoms gaining new strength and the person remembering how much relief the opioids brought. It's not a brave or honorable fight against the "demon" opioids, but a compulsive act of suppressing the own health. This compulsive behavior results of mind control, programming (propaganda...) through the media and the "education system" (=indoctrination system).


I'd say opium, its alkaloids and their derivates are some of (if not THE) the most important, valuable and precious substances known to man.

I can see someone found a perfect (for himself/herself of course) way to make his/her abuse of opioids totally justified. Plus there's an attempt to change quite a few definitions of certain phenomena taking place during addiction to opioids (with no scientific arguments in support of this theory). Well, it all looks as if you lived in a different world.

 

[Tommyboy]

I forgot to mention that the scratching is usually more subtle, so they probably won't be scratching like a fiend. I know that myself and other opiate users will try to hide scratching to make our use less obvious. What I do is I scratch an area while moving my hand in that direction to do something else.

Things like tiny pupils don't count, because you don't "act" tiny pupils. It's a reaction of the body.

They asked "how would you tell is someone is currently high on heroin." Tiny pupils counts when answering that question.

Wait a minute... and that's BAD effects? People being social, being nice and, feeling good? WTF is wrong with this world?

Where did I say that those effects are bad? I wouldn't be using opiates if I didn't like the effects.

 

[Pagey]

Well I ended up asking this friend if we could hang out today because I had something important to talk to him about; we saw each other for a couple hours earlier during which I told him about my own drug problem and how I was really struggling with withdrawal and didn't know who else to trust with this (he's my ex and we're on really good terms now so we're very close), and was really counting on him to keep it secret etc., at first he was just sympathetic but didn't say much, was sort of acting out of it as usual recently, but it looked like he was hesitating about whether or not to tell me something, so I told him about my concerns about him and how he was acting different and he admitted to taking heroin, as suspected. So that was easier than predicted I'm really glad he was able to tell me as I'm sure it's the sort of thing you really shouldn't keep for yourself, however he also said that for the moment he doesn't AT ALL want to stop, that he really likes it and it's not doing anything bad to him etc. He inherited a lot of money like a year ago so that wouldn't be an issue for him yet. I respect his decision to continue but I'm a bit worried he'll regret it at some point...do you guys think I should try to convince him to stop? I don't really know how to go about that, I'm afraid if I'm too pushy with that it might have an adverse effect and make him use more. For instance, when I was on benzos I remember each time someone mentioned something about drugs being bad I'd take more immediately for some reason. I mean, even if he hypothetically continues having enough money to sustain a heroin habit, it's extremely likely he will regret this at some point and I should probably try to help him with it immediately whether he likes it or not, no ?
(sorry that was long but I'm a bit lost)