Converting base Heroin to salt: Would this work?

[Nodding]

I've been toying with this idea for a while but have never acted on it.
In the UK we get base Heroin, to prepare it for injection you add water, Citric acid and heat.

Now my question is this, what would happen if you then evaporated that water? Would you be left with the cut + Heroin salt?

I'm trying to cut down on IV use but don't want to deal with the reduced BA that comes with snorting base (and I can't chase to save my life ), this seems like a great way to meet in the middle.

 

[effie]

You would indeed be left with the salt and any cuts as far as I can see, yes. I've not tried it but in theory it should work! Cutting down on IV use is always a good plan

Chasing is difficult but if you get someone to show you and are prepared to waste a bit when you learn, it is actually very efficient and easy once you have the knack - it does take a while though! It's the safest ROA in my eyes as you can titrate your dose a lot more easily as it hits you so fast and it is a fairly lengthy process, reducing the risk of overdosing.. however intranasal is definitely safer than IV

 

[Deleted member 170540]

I think it would be hard to estimate the exact amount of citric acid to add to the H... Probably you would be left with heroin citrate + cuts + excess citric acid, and the excess acid would make that very unpleasant to snort. Also, citric acid salts often don't crystallise properly and you could be left with a gel-like substance when you tried to evaporate the water.

 

[effie]

That's a good point. Often people tend to use far too much citric acid anyway..

 

[Nodding]

I think it would be hard to estimate the exact amount of citric acid to add to the H... Probably you would be left with heroin citrate + cuts + excess citric acid, and the excess acid would make that very unpleasant to snort. Also, citric acid salts often don't crystallise properly and you could be left with a gel-like substance when you tried to evaporate the water.

Ahh ok, what about if I used some other weak acid, maybe vinegar?
And tbh I'm not that bothered about a bit of pain when snorting, my nose has no doubt been through much worse

 

[effie]

Vinegar's pH varies a little but it is still pretty acidic (usually pH 4-5 as far as I can recall). A too acidic solution wouldn't just hurt your nose, it could damage it, so tread carefully. I'd choose pure (pref sterile sachets of) citric or ascorbic acid over vinegar anyday, but polymath's point remains.. you will never know how pure your heroin is and so even if you could do the calculations you wouldn't know how much acid you needed to add..

 

[Nodding]

Actually that's an idea, what about Ascorbic / VitC? Would that still have the gelling problem?

 

[Nodding]

Sorry to bump my own thread but I've had another thought.

I read earlier than folks in the US put their tar in water, heat it slightly and then snort the liquid; supposedly it burns but works very well.

Any thoughts on whether this would work for UK base? As long as the smallest amount of Citric / VitC was used I can't see it doing too much damage, presuming it's not done all the time I don't think ti would do any lasting damage...?