Heroin cut with ketamine

phr

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Spiked heroin wreaks havoc
Ketamine mixed into street drugs
is causing hallucinations, violent behaviour

Rob Shaw, Times Colonist
Published: Tuesday, May 29, 2007


A vicious new mixture of heroin that gives users severe hallucinations is circulating on local streets, warn Victoria police.

Heroin is being combined with ketamine, an anesthetic commonly used by veterinarians, said Sgt. Grant Hamilton. Users aren't told about the mixture when buying their drugs and when they inject what they think is clean heroin, they get hallucinations that make them anxious, excitable and violent, said Hamilton.

In the past few days, police have seen more than 20 cases of such drug overdoses. Officers have had to wrestle with -- and often restrain -- users before they can administer medical attention, Hamilton said. Police are starting to circulate notices through the street community warning about the current quality of heroin.

"Hallucinations are something heroin users are not at all accustomed to," said Const. Conor King, Victoria police drug expert. "They react like you or I would react if we took Aspirin and all of a sudden the TV got up and started walking across the room."

About 2,000 intravenous drug users live in the capital region, according to numbers cited in a Vancouver Island Health Authority research proposal for safe injection sites earlier this year.

Those users will likely be surprised by the hallucinations, because they are not normally associated with heroin, which is a depressant.

It costs around $20 to get 0.1 grams (called a point) of heroin on the street. When injected, it provides a mellow, numbing high that staves off the harsh affects of heroin withdrawal, said King.

But ketamine dramatically alters that high by causing hallucinations and, in some cases, memory loss.

Known on the street as Special K, ketamine is more commonly used as a rave drug where it produces a dreamy out-of-body effect, with numbness. It is known as being in "K-land" or in the "K-hole."

"In the last week it has just seemed crazy for the drug overdoses and erratic behaviour," said Const. Brent Keleher, a downtown bike officer. "I don't remember in past months Welfare Wednesday being that noticeable. It was out of control, with the people whacked out all over the place. Even your regular users were in conditions they weren't normally in."

It's all part of the dangerous world of street drugs, where users never really know what they are buying. Drugs are mixed by dealers without any thought for safety or quality control, said King.

Street drugs such as heroin are rarely pure, he said. Dealers "cut" them with another substance similar in colour and texture to dilute the product and increase the profit margin. In the case of heroin, it's usually a white powdery substance such as talcum powder or powdered milk, he said.

Ketamine also makes a good mixing substance, because it is cheaper than heroin -- especially if it is stolen from a medical centre in liquid form, and then evaporated to leave the pure powder, said King. It is also possible that powder methadone is being cut into the heroin supply, said Hamilton. However, King said that would not produce hallucinations or violent behaviour.

Police say they'll watch to see if the tainted supply dwindles on the street.

"I would say it will sort itself out in a few days," said King. "But there's nothing to say that there aren't hundreds of little packages with heroin cut with ketamine out there. We will just have to watch and see what happens in the next days or weeks."

Link
 
^^^^ This is mainstream-media drug shock-journalism. There is rarely a story and when there is it is never straight.
 
phrozen said:
"Hallucinations are something heroin users are not at all accustomed to," said Const. Conor King, Victoria police drug expert. "They react like you or I would react if we took Aspirin and all of a sudden the TV got up and started walking across the room."

Haha! Good story phrozen, thanks for the read.
 
No problem.

This is a story from Vancouver and the surrounding areas. With that being said, does anyone know what the predominant type of heroin is over there? My guess would be tar and SEA, can anyone back that up or refute it? I'm sure someone who uses dope in that area browses these forums...
 
pretty soon you're going to be reading... REPORT: DEADLY HEROIN ACROSS THE NORTHEAST CUT WITH REAL HEROIN!!! BE CAREFUL!

Remember, safety isn't an issue when you're a drug addict. You're a criminal and it's your fault if you poison yourself. You should have been at a bar drinking beer, smoking cigarettes, gambling, and having premarital sex. Those are "healthy" addictions.
 
oldskoolbl said:
They are saying its ketamine OR methadone powder. They need to get there story straight.


No...

They're saying that the ketamine is causing the hallucinations...

It's also possible to find heroin cut with methadone - not that they aren't sure which it is...

At least they're warning the public about adulterated drugs that are adulterated beyond normal tolerances.
That's some degree of harm reduction, right?
 
^i would agree with Kalash, i think this story is way more objective than the typical moral panic stories that are reported in the news more frequently.

i mean, it even acknowleges simple facts about drugs, such as heroin creates a relaxing high that doesnt typically cuase hallucinations.
 
No, its more of a story like: "huh, honey, look what the crazy heroin addicts are injecting into themselves...what is the world coming to?"

/honey munches her everything bagel
 
hmm, thats an interesting cut. usually dope is cut with crappy stuff to increase the size/amount. i would think the dope in BC would be either tar from mexico or white heroin from SEA. who knows tho, maybe they get some of that cheap SWA #3 dope. either way, when it comes to cutting drugs, stick to the cheap substances that dont effect the high toooo much.
 
Some dumb ass dealer probably thought it would make his product seem stronger. I can't think of any other reason why they'd cut it with that.
 
phrozen said:
Some dumb ass dealer probably thought it would make his product seem stronger. I can't think of any other reason why they'd cut it with that.

same thing with ppl cutting their dope with coke...nasty shit that is. had a seizure once from doing a big shot of what i thought was heroin, but was actually like a half and half mix. fucking sucked. freal, the only reason to cut dope with active stuff is to make up for the piss poor quality.
 
About two weeks ago, a good friend of mine who I use/score with all the time complained that a few bags acquired from his secondary dealer, bags which had a different stamp than usual, had caused him to basically start tripping when injected. I thought that maybe someone had accidentally tainted the heroin supply with a research chemical, but I guess maybe ketamine could be responsible.

This was in Connecticut though, opposite side of the continent.

~CTdopeLove
 
This doesn't make much sense to me. Ketamine and heroin have completely different effects. It just doesn't seem like a worthwhile cut to me. People expecting a good heroin high and going into "K-land"; just doesn't seem to me like they would be repeat buyers. Maybe some dealer did the mix and thought his/her customers would enjoy it too, but seriously, why not tell them? Just seems like it would be detrimental to business IMO. Besides, there are many cheaper cuts to use than K.
 
phrozen said:
No problem.

This is a story from Vancouver and the surrounding areas. With that being said, does anyone know what the predominant type of heroin is over there? My guess would be tar and SEA, can anyone back that up or refute it? I'm sure someone who uses dope in that area browses these forums...


If the cops reporting the story actually had their hands on the dope, then according to them it would be a "white powdery substance" and therefore, not tar. But what do I know....


What I find more funny is this "welfare Wednesday"
....sounds funny hahahah
 
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