Boku_
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2008
- Messages
- 935
Here is a article i found online that explains the different forms you find heroin in around the world
"Heroin in brown, black and white
Complicating this portrayal of the political economy of heroin is the fact that different global sources of heroin produce substantially different products. Source and type of heroin are structural factors in the risk environment of heroin users: source dictates distribution and type predicts practice. How specific types of heroin are used and with what risk is therefore distributed geographically.
To restate an earlier theme, heroin production source and retail market have become increasingly intertwined: heroin from Colombia and Mexico is sold exclusively in the US; heroin from the Golden Triangle of Southeast Asia, once smuggled throughout the world, is currently limited to Australia and Canada; and heroin originating from poppies grown in Afghanistan and refined in Pakistan (Southwest Asia) is sold predominantly in Europe. Furthermore, there is regional distribution in the US: Colombian heroin prevails in the eastern US, while heroin from Mexico is found almost exclusively in the western US. These routes have been shaped by competition and supply control efforts complicated by liberalized global trade. There is no evidence that these trade routes are shaped at all by consumer demand.
Heroin has several characteristics that affect how it is used and even how it is distributed: colour, physical state; water solubility, pH balance, heat stability, weight/volume and purity (Ciccarone & Bourgois, 2003). The colour palette of heroin is summed in the title of this paper: brown, black and white; with a high degree of spectral variability. The extremes of black and white are heroins stereotypically coming from Mexico and Southeast Asia, respectively. Brown heroin can come from any of the source regions, but typically is seen coming from Southwest Asia. Physically, most of the world’s heroin is in powdered form; the only exception being the solid form of heroin coming from Mexico called “black tar” heroin. Water solubility varies, with type-4 heroin, a highly purified heroin traditionally stemming from Southeast Asia, having the highest water solubility. On the acid–base spectrum, the chemically basic form (pH > 7) of heroin comes exclusively from Afghanistan/Pakistan; all other heroin forms are in a chemically acidic (pH < 7) form. The basic form of heroin is heat stable; it therefore begins to burn and subsequently vaporize (sublime) at a higher temperature. Black tar heroin also appears somewhat heat stable. Powdered heroin, again most the world’s heroin, is light with minimal volume by weight. Light weight/low volume heroin is distributed, as one would expect, over greater distances, usually by air transport, than the one solid heroin—black tar heroin. The heavier weight and higher volume black tar heroin is only distributed to the US and mostly by land routes. Distribution at the retail level also varies by physical form of heroin: powered heroins are sold in glassine folds or tiny plastic zip baggies, while solid black heroin is wrapped in plastic and sealed in tiny balloons for sale (unpublished data). Finally, heroin purity, while highly variable, seems to have some limits by form: black tar heroin seems to plateau at about 25–30% pure (National Drug Intelligence Center, 2000), which may have a purity limit based on manufacturing.
To sum up source and heroin type: Southeast Asian heroin is stereotypically white, powdered, highly water soluble and acidic; Southwest Asian heroin is typically a brown coarse powder with poor water solubility (until acidified from its basic form by the addition of an acid) and good heat stability; Colombian heroin is off-white to light brown, powdered and acidic with good water solubility; Mexican heroin is dark brown to black, solid, vaporisable, of lower purity and despite its acidity, requires heat to go into aqueous solution.
As function follows form, drug use patterns are highly suggested by heroin type. A heroin injector in Europe quickly learns that the locally available heroin does not simply dissolve; placing the basic heroin into water and heating or shaking would produce bubbles that would be difficult, if not dangerous, to inject. Rather, a new user of Southwest Asian heroin would, perhaps, learn to smoke it first followed in time by a ritualized use of citric, acetic, or ascorbic acid and heat to aid solubility in the pursuit of injection. “Chasing the dragon,” a form of smoking in which heroin is inhaled as it is vaporized off a sheet of creased metal foil—the shape of smoke symbolising the idiom, has been documented in Europe after spreading from Asia (Strang, Griffiths, & Gossop, 1997). Interestingly, heroin smoking in Asia involved either the addition of a base to the acidic heroin, forming a heat stable salt, or the use of a cruder form—type-3 heroin. In the US there is little evidence of heroin smoking (Strang et al., 1997), despite the “smokablity” of black tar heroin. Perhaps the acidity of this form irritates users’ mucous membranes and no cultural tradition has enabled the use of a basic additive to aid in smoking black tar heroin.
Nasal inhalation, or insufflation, of heroin has two specific heroin-form-related techniques: powdered heroin can be snorted dry, or misted as a solution, while solid heroin can only be misted. Typically, black tar heroin is dissolved in water and placed into a medical spray bottle for insufflation. This technique is not popular among black tar heroin users, or used for long, as it is reportedly irritating (unpublished data). US public treatment admissions data suggest an increase in heroin inhalation and smoking during the 1990s (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: Office of Applied Studies, 2004). Most heroin inhalation treatment admissions were in the US Northeast, with only 3% coming from the West. The lower purity, and perhaps irritability, of black tar heroin may limit the popularity of this route of administration.
As risk-taking follows function and form, the spectrum of public health concerns has some correlation with heroin source/form. HIV prevalence among injection drug users is much higher in cities with powder heroin than in cities where black tar heroin is endemic (Ciccarone & Bourgois, 2003). This hypothesis extends back to the 1980s, prior to the dominance of Colombian heroin, when powdered heroin from Southeast and Southwest Asia was exclusive to the eastern US and HIV prevalence was on the rise. One might suspect that black tar heroin reduces HIV transmission at the population level because it can be smoked or insufflated, but that has not been documented. Rather, the need to heat this solid heroin into solution, combined with the ritual residue rinsing that has been observed, likely accounts for the observed variation in HIV prevalence. In addition, black tar heroin appears to induce venous scarring and users migrate to injecting it subcutaneously or intramuscularly (unpublished data); routes that have lower HIV transmission potential (Rich, Dickinson, Carney, Fisher, & Heimer, 1998). Speculatively, we might expect lower HIV prevalence in those regions in which brown heroin predominates. The reasons for this include its ability to be smoked, the use of acid to aid in solubility (e.g. acid should reduce the viability of HIV and self mixing of the acid may lead to lower pH than that seen with heroin in its acid form); and finally, brown heroin is associated with soft tissue infections, which suggests subcutaneous use.
The risk of bacterial infections is well established with heroin use. Heroin use is associated with blood disseminated bacterial infections, e.g., endocarditis, and osteomyelitis (Gordon and Lowy, 2005). Recently, there has been renewed interest in bacterial skin and soft tissue infections and their relationship to use of black tar heroin (Ebright & Pieper, 2002). Black tar heroin has been associated with wound botulism (Passaro,Werner, McGee, Mac Kenzie, & Vugia, 1998; Werner, Passaro, McGee, Schechter, & Vugia, 2000), necrotizing fasciitis (Kimura et al., 2004), tetanus (Bardenheier, Prevots, Khetsuriani, & Wharton, 1998) and soft tissue infections (Binswanger, Kral, Bluthenthal, Rybold, & Edlin, 2000; Ciccarone et al., 2001; Harris & Young, 2002; Murphy et al., 2001). These infections may be due to contamination of the heroin form or by function of subcutaneous injection in users with heroin-scarred veins. Clostridium species, e.g., those bacteria that cause botulism and tetanus, may be able to survive the harsh chemical environment of black tar heroin by forming spores; indeed, these spores may be made more viable by the heating required to solubilise tar heroin. There have also been reports of Clostridium infections among users in the UK (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000) and subcutaneous injection and/or contamination are suspected risk factors (Williamson, Archibald, & Van Vliet, 2001)."
My main question is for anyone who has travelled between the different regional continents and tried the different types of heroin you find all over the world, which was the best?
<Snip>
I was always under the impression that provided you can score the legit goods that are not heavily cut hands down the best heroin to use both either smoked or IV is the brown Afghani type heroin but it's a pain in the ass cooking it up in a spoon with acid if you wish to IV it. But boy if you shot the proper Afghani you will really feel it and of all the different Heroins the Afghani will make you nod the hardest.
As far as snorting heroin i think #4 China white is the best cos it easily turns into powder but what #4 heroin really has going for it is the way it is so easy to dissolve in water for a IV injection with no need to heat it or add acid and not to mention China white burns well off aluminium foil if chasing the dragon is more your style.
I know nothing of black tar heroin that is found in North America except that it's a major pain in the ass to organise to snort but i have read some comments online on Bluelight that a IV shot of black tar can get you feeling pretty good.
So what's the best form of Heroin you fellow bluelighters have tried?
"Heroin in brown, black and white
Complicating this portrayal of the political economy of heroin is the fact that different global sources of heroin produce substantially different products. Source and type of heroin are structural factors in the risk environment of heroin users: source dictates distribution and type predicts practice. How specific types of heroin are used and with what risk is therefore distributed geographically.
To restate an earlier theme, heroin production source and retail market have become increasingly intertwined: heroin from Colombia and Mexico is sold exclusively in the US; heroin from the Golden Triangle of Southeast Asia, once smuggled throughout the world, is currently limited to Australia and Canada; and heroin originating from poppies grown in Afghanistan and refined in Pakistan (Southwest Asia) is sold predominantly in Europe. Furthermore, there is regional distribution in the US: Colombian heroin prevails in the eastern US, while heroin from Mexico is found almost exclusively in the western US. These routes have been shaped by competition and supply control efforts complicated by liberalized global trade. There is no evidence that these trade routes are shaped at all by consumer demand.
Heroin has several characteristics that affect how it is used and even how it is distributed: colour, physical state; water solubility, pH balance, heat stability, weight/volume and purity (Ciccarone & Bourgois, 2003). The colour palette of heroin is summed in the title of this paper: brown, black and white; with a high degree of spectral variability. The extremes of black and white are heroins stereotypically coming from Mexico and Southeast Asia, respectively. Brown heroin can come from any of the source regions, but typically is seen coming from Southwest Asia. Physically, most of the world’s heroin is in powdered form; the only exception being the solid form of heroin coming from Mexico called “black tar” heroin. Water solubility varies, with type-4 heroin, a highly purified heroin traditionally stemming from Southeast Asia, having the highest water solubility. On the acid–base spectrum, the chemically basic form (pH > 7) of heroin comes exclusively from Afghanistan/Pakistan; all other heroin forms are in a chemically acidic (pH < 7) form. The basic form of heroin is heat stable; it therefore begins to burn and subsequently vaporize (sublime) at a higher temperature. Black tar heroin also appears somewhat heat stable. Powdered heroin, again most the world’s heroin, is light with minimal volume by weight. Light weight/low volume heroin is distributed, as one would expect, over greater distances, usually by air transport, than the one solid heroin—black tar heroin. The heavier weight and higher volume black tar heroin is only distributed to the US and mostly by land routes. Distribution at the retail level also varies by physical form of heroin: powered heroins are sold in glassine folds or tiny plastic zip baggies, while solid black heroin is wrapped in plastic and sealed in tiny balloons for sale (unpublished data). Finally, heroin purity, while highly variable, seems to have some limits by form: black tar heroin seems to plateau at about 25–30% pure (National Drug Intelligence Center, 2000), which may have a purity limit based on manufacturing.
To sum up source and heroin type: Southeast Asian heroin is stereotypically white, powdered, highly water soluble and acidic; Southwest Asian heroin is typically a brown coarse powder with poor water solubility (until acidified from its basic form by the addition of an acid) and good heat stability; Colombian heroin is off-white to light brown, powdered and acidic with good water solubility; Mexican heroin is dark brown to black, solid, vaporisable, of lower purity and despite its acidity, requires heat to go into aqueous solution.
As function follows form, drug use patterns are highly suggested by heroin type. A heroin injector in Europe quickly learns that the locally available heroin does not simply dissolve; placing the basic heroin into water and heating or shaking would produce bubbles that would be difficult, if not dangerous, to inject. Rather, a new user of Southwest Asian heroin would, perhaps, learn to smoke it first followed in time by a ritualized use of citric, acetic, or ascorbic acid and heat to aid solubility in the pursuit of injection. “Chasing the dragon,” a form of smoking in which heroin is inhaled as it is vaporized off a sheet of creased metal foil—the shape of smoke symbolising the idiom, has been documented in Europe after spreading from Asia (Strang, Griffiths, & Gossop, 1997). Interestingly, heroin smoking in Asia involved either the addition of a base to the acidic heroin, forming a heat stable salt, or the use of a cruder form—type-3 heroin. In the US there is little evidence of heroin smoking (Strang et al., 1997), despite the “smokablity” of black tar heroin. Perhaps the acidity of this form irritates users’ mucous membranes and no cultural tradition has enabled the use of a basic additive to aid in smoking black tar heroin.
Nasal inhalation, or insufflation, of heroin has two specific heroin-form-related techniques: powdered heroin can be snorted dry, or misted as a solution, while solid heroin can only be misted. Typically, black tar heroin is dissolved in water and placed into a medical spray bottle for insufflation. This technique is not popular among black tar heroin users, or used for long, as it is reportedly irritating (unpublished data). US public treatment admissions data suggest an increase in heroin inhalation and smoking during the 1990s (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: Office of Applied Studies, 2004). Most heroin inhalation treatment admissions were in the US Northeast, with only 3% coming from the West. The lower purity, and perhaps irritability, of black tar heroin may limit the popularity of this route of administration.
As risk-taking follows function and form, the spectrum of public health concerns has some correlation with heroin source/form. HIV prevalence among injection drug users is much higher in cities with powder heroin than in cities where black tar heroin is endemic (Ciccarone & Bourgois, 2003). This hypothesis extends back to the 1980s, prior to the dominance of Colombian heroin, when powdered heroin from Southeast and Southwest Asia was exclusive to the eastern US and HIV prevalence was on the rise. One might suspect that black tar heroin reduces HIV transmission at the population level because it can be smoked or insufflated, but that has not been documented. Rather, the need to heat this solid heroin into solution, combined with the ritual residue rinsing that has been observed, likely accounts for the observed variation in HIV prevalence. In addition, black tar heroin appears to induce venous scarring and users migrate to injecting it subcutaneously or intramuscularly (unpublished data); routes that have lower HIV transmission potential (Rich, Dickinson, Carney, Fisher, & Heimer, 1998). Speculatively, we might expect lower HIV prevalence in those regions in which brown heroin predominates. The reasons for this include its ability to be smoked, the use of acid to aid in solubility (e.g. acid should reduce the viability of HIV and self mixing of the acid may lead to lower pH than that seen with heroin in its acid form); and finally, brown heroin is associated with soft tissue infections, which suggests subcutaneous use.
The risk of bacterial infections is well established with heroin use. Heroin use is associated with blood disseminated bacterial infections, e.g., endocarditis, and osteomyelitis (Gordon and Lowy, 2005). Recently, there has been renewed interest in bacterial skin and soft tissue infections and their relationship to use of black tar heroin (Ebright & Pieper, 2002). Black tar heroin has been associated with wound botulism (Passaro,Werner, McGee, Mac Kenzie, & Vugia, 1998; Werner, Passaro, McGee, Schechter, & Vugia, 2000), necrotizing fasciitis (Kimura et al., 2004), tetanus (Bardenheier, Prevots, Khetsuriani, & Wharton, 1998) and soft tissue infections (Binswanger, Kral, Bluthenthal, Rybold, & Edlin, 2000; Ciccarone et al., 2001; Harris & Young, 2002; Murphy et al., 2001). These infections may be due to contamination of the heroin form or by function of subcutaneous injection in users with heroin-scarred veins. Clostridium species, e.g., those bacteria that cause botulism and tetanus, may be able to survive the harsh chemical environment of black tar heroin by forming spores; indeed, these spores may be made more viable by the heating required to solubilise tar heroin. There have also been reports of Clostridium infections among users in the UK (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000) and subcutaneous injection and/or contamination are suspected risk factors (Williamson, Archibald, & Van Vliet, 2001)."
My main question is for anyone who has travelled between the different regional continents and tried the different types of heroin you find all over the world, which was the best?
<Snip>
I was always under the impression that provided you can score the legit goods that are not heavily cut hands down the best heroin to use both either smoked or IV is the brown Afghani type heroin but it's a pain in the ass cooking it up in a spoon with acid if you wish to IV it. But boy if you shot the proper Afghani you will really feel it and of all the different Heroins the Afghani will make you nod the hardest.
As far as snorting heroin i think #4 China white is the best cos it easily turns into powder but what #4 heroin really has going for it is the way it is so easy to dissolve in water for a IV injection with no need to heat it or add acid and not to mention China white burns well off aluminium foil if chasing the dragon is more your style.
I know nothing of black tar heroin that is found in North America except that it's a major pain in the ass to organise to snort but i have read some comments online on Bluelight that a IV shot of black tar can get you feeling pretty good.
So what's the best form of Heroin you fellow bluelighters have tried?
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