It really does boggle the mind. As a high risk drug user myself I am aware that most of my feelings regarding the use of this chemical are ultimately hypocritical and as a classic libertarian I will always support an individuals right to put whatever they wish into there bodies as long as it does not cause direct or secondary harm to anyone else so taking that spirit into account, while I have never had to resort to criminal behaviour to support my heroin use (as much a result as luck as judgment) I have still lost my right to justify my use by the personal shame I have brought upon my family and the emotional damage it has caused.
While most heroin dependants inevitably cause collateral damage to those around them, I still do not believe that it is a fundamental unethical mode of behaviour, as while they are most certainly in the minority, stable users do exist, particularly within the medical profession as of course doctors are uniquely positioned to manage there use through access to safe product and enough self management that allows them to not only avoid traditional harms but continue to function at an optimal level. Heroin is more harmful than most drugs due to the totality of its dependence (comparable only to alcohol), acute risk of death due to overdose and the physical harm that the injection of street powders in low pH solutions causes to veins. Ironically, while dependence still remains highly likely, recreational use of medical heroin causes little to no physical damage and due to the reliability of dose the risk of overdose can be more or less completely mitigated with reasonable care and common sense.
So, while I do not judge or think less of anyone who chooses to use fentanyl or any of its analogues I still cannot fathom the logic and if the practise was not dangerous enough, use of what (as far as I know) is the most potent version of the drug in common use (does it even have a legitimate use in human medicine?) does seem particularly ill advised. Even if one manages a habit, as morpheuspapaverus has stated, the escalation in tolerance sounds as dramatic as is possible and by the time one cannot achieve a desirable effect any more how the fuck does one step it up from there, or attempt a tolerance break without subjecting them to the highest probability of overdose upon recommencing its use?
Yes I am high, yes I am waffling again but if you have read this far you obviously have enough time to waste on segues around this thread topic as I do or are just as mashed. I can see the attraction - one naive notion I have developed throughout the American opioid epidemic is that their street heroin, much of which has traditionally been white hydrochloride / 'No 4', was more susceptible to fent - uldaration due than brown from the Golden Crescent, both due to the colour and its inability to melt for chasing but about a week before Christmas my stupidity finally caught up with me. The one dealer I use who consistently has quality ('pre - drought') heroin sold me a few bags of brown powder that despite looking the part, did not run when spot tested but despite an entire bag (approx 0.2) frazzling in less than 3 lines I found myself completely floored in minutes. Although it would take the new year and the help of a test strip to confirm my suspicion (it had dissapeared before I could get some to WEDINOS), I assumed that it was most likely some sort of fentalogue at the time due to the strong (but, compared to heroin, qualitatively inferior) poppy high. However, to finish with a final piece of hypocrisy, I still ended up using all 6 bags or so, 3 IV with the help of naloxone armed supervision (only one person in my house with the heart and patience for that one...) and by the time it was finished I had admittedly developed a taste for it. By the time I returned to the dealer before Christmas I was sold standard heroin again and only managed to test some by shaking each wrap clean of residual powder but while it has not taken over yet, it is now clear that not only is it more than possible but also a desirable drug, which is why I will re - iterate one final time that I do not judge.
I just do not see the sense in exposing ones self to so much harm unless really desperate.