nattramn
Greenlighter
Hi I am making this post in regard to the (moderately) large ammounts of flse information regarding the opoid scene and opiod use in New Zealand.
For starters, I am currently on a maintenance dose of methadone and will be for the foreseeable future, this information provided is of my observations and personal experiences over hte last 7 years that I have been involved with various opioids in New Zealand. I have been using only methadone as i have been prescribed for six months, so you could say that i have been "sober" and have abstained from all illegal drugs in that time, so everything I relate is past tense. I live in Wellington (the capital) so all information relates to the scene here in the last ten years.
Firstly I ant to note that the opiod scene in Wellington (and all of NZ) is very restrictive and secretive, it is not the sort of thing you just blunder into, most users make their way into the sene by abusing other drugs (primarily methamphetamine, or crack, rocks, P as it is known in slang) and being introduced to morphine sulphate tablets (MST's or misties in slang terms). There are no "street" dealers and in many ways plenty of regular non hard drug users are completely unaware of the opiod scene, I have even encountered seasoned meth heads who know next to nothing about it. Its almost like a secret society in some manners, as in everyone in a local scene tends to know each other, and that outsiders know little if anything.
I'll start with a bit of background. I was introduced to the scene reasonably young (teenage years) and most users were significantly older than me (at least late twenties - early thirties, my generation is more invested in meth) through abusing other drugs (meth, IV Ritalin (methyliphendate), benzo's (jacks for slang), ghb/gbl/14bdo (rinse for slang), and other drugs, and as already an IV user. No illicit users of hard opiates in New Zealand (well at least Wellington) are not IV users, as proper heroin is very hard to come by (there may have been some non-IV use in the 80's when heroin was far, far more available - look up MR Asia for info).
The primary opiate of abuse in New Zealand is morphine sulphate (misties) whaich are available in several strengths (10, 30, 60, 100, 150, 200mg). There were two brands used when I was using, the older solid pill form (of which the purple 60mg, grey 100mg (or greycote for slang) and green 200 mg (turtle for slang) are the moist commonly used) and the commoner, newer capsule form which consistd of a half clear capsule with pinkish white beads inside, and came in a silver foil tray (MS Elson brand). Morphine is nearly always cooked up with Acetic anhydride to yield crude heroin, along with a cocktail of other opiates (6mam etc.). The process involves crushing the pills or beads, mixing with an amount of baking soda and a drip of water, which is then dried till it has no moisture over a flame/element. Then a small (2-5 10ths of a mil) amount of AA is added to the spoon, which is then covered in foil and held about a hands length above an element (sometimes left in place onto of a can, with another can holding the spoon in place on top). This heating process lasts between 5 and 20 minutes, the slower and less heat, the better. Once dried, the material has changed to a brownish colour, it is scraped up onto the centre of the spoon, a pinch of citric acid (or lemon juice if you're an idiot) is added, then a measure of water (usually 2-3 mils) which is briefly heated, filtered and drawn into a syringe. The completed product should be the colour of petrol if the product has been cooked well. It is then Morphine is almost never used "raw," as in cooked up in water as it is, unless the person is desperate and has no AA. This is NOT homebake heroin, a commonly made mistake by outsiders(I will detail home bake heroin in a subsequent post, this is crude heroin that has been produced in a clandestine laboratory from over-the counter or perscription preparations containing codeine, which is turned into morphine, and then a similar process is used with AA to turn the product into "homebake" heroin).
The second topic I wished to cover in this post as I have never seen this aspect of the opiod culture of New Zealand (or anywher else for that matter) covered anywher on the internet. Namely the theft and subsequent use of opium poppies from suburban gardens. Opium poppies are semi-commonly found in suburban properties around New Zealand, growing almost wild in some cases, in gardens in the summer months (it is considered by many garners her to be a weed, most have no idea of its true nature). I have ner seen poppy seeds available to buy in gerden centres, and have surmised from taking to others who know about them that the poppies are the continuation of those planted in gardens in the 1950's and earlier, when they were popular garden flowers (and some poppies I have seen here have beautiful flowers, large pink pom-pom types with purple centres and a hint of orange are my favorites - both in look and potency). They do seem to grow a lot more often in older parts of Wellington, but this is not universal. There is a rumor that they were first brought over by Chinese settlers, with the implication that they were growing them to use (I am not sure on the truth of that, seems unlikely). During the months on which the pods are ready, local "junkies" raid peoples properties for the pods, usually ripping the plants out of the ground (often in broad daylight, you'd be surprised about how easy it is) but in some cases bleeding them at night and coming back a few hours later to gather the opium. The pods are bled regardless with razorblades and collected up onto spoons, on which the opium is scraped up into a powder. It is then mixed with baking soda and then AA and citric acid, following the same preparations for cooking as morphine tablets. Once crude heroin has been made by the reaction of the morphine in the opium, it is then injected. I have met much skepticism in this matter when talking about it on the ntew, people seem to believe no one would inject something from a plant, or it would give the user an immediate "dirty shot" (which certainly it does if the opium is "raw"). The preparation (the AA, most likely) seems to eliminate bacterial content as I can attest that myself and many others have injected "prepared" crude-heroin-from-opium many times. The local police are aware of the matter of poppy theft ((as ikt is quite common in my area in the summer, one junike can go through nearly all the patches within reach in a summer (i have taken in excess of 40 patches in certain years), and people do get charged for that, but under local law it isonly theft if the poppies have not been bled out or prepared in any way, on which the charge becomes intent to produce morphine. There is a colloquial belief that there are different grade sof opium based on colouring: weakest yellow, normal: white, strong: pink, very strong: very light purple. I am not sure on the truth of this, but I have always noted that pink opium is a lot more bitter to the taste (i would always taste test my opium to try determine potency).
I will cover more drugs, and aspects of New Zealands drug culture in subsequent posts,
Thanks.
For starters, I am currently on a maintenance dose of methadone and will be for the foreseeable future, this information provided is of my observations and personal experiences over hte last 7 years that I have been involved with various opioids in New Zealand. I have been using only methadone as i have been prescribed for six months, so you could say that i have been "sober" and have abstained from all illegal drugs in that time, so everything I relate is past tense. I live in Wellington (the capital) so all information relates to the scene here in the last ten years.
Firstly I ant to note that the opiod scene in Wellington (and all of NZ) is very restrictive and secretive, it is not the sort of thing you just blunder into, most users make their way into the sene by abusing other drugs (primarily methamphetamine, or crack, rocks, P as it is known in slang) and being introduced to morphine sulphate tablets (MST's or misties in slang terms). There are no "street" dealers and in many ways plenty of regular non hard drug users are completely unaware of the opiod scene, I have even encountered seasoned meth heads who know next to nothing about it. Its almost like a secret society in some manners, as in everyone in a local scene tends to know each other, and that outsiders know little if anything.
I'll start with a bit of background. I was introduced to the scene reasonably young (teenage years) and most users were significantly older than me (at least late twenties - early thirties, my generation is more invested in meth) through abusing other drugs (meth, IV Ritalin (methyliphendate), benzo's (jacks for slang), ghb/gbl/14bdo (rinse for slang), and other drugs, and as already an IV user. No illicit users of hard opiates in New Zealand (well at least Wellington) are not IV users, as proper heroin is very hard to come by (there may have been some non-IV use in the 80's when heroin was far, far more available - look up MR Asia for info).
The primary opiate of abuse in New Zealand is morphine sulphate (misties) whaich are available in several strengths (10, 30, 60, 100, 150, 200mg). There were two brands used when I was using, the older solid pill form (of which the purple 60mg, grey 100mg (or greycote for slang) and green 200 mg (turtle for slang) are the moist commonly used) and the commoner, newer capsule form which consistd of a half clear capsule with pinkish white beads inside, and came in a silver foil tray (MS Elson brand). Morphine is nearly always cooked up with Acetic anhydride to yield crude heroin, along with a cocktail of other opiates (6mam etc.). The process involves crushing the pills or beads, mixing with an amount of baking soda and a drip of water, which is then dried till it has no moisture over a flame/element. Then a small (2-5 10ths of a mil) amount of AA is added to the spoon, which is then covered in foil and held about a hands length above an element (sometimes left in place onto of a can, with another can holding the spoon in place on top). This heating process lasts between 5 and 20 minutes, the slower and less heat, the better. Once dried, the material has changed to a brownish colour, it is scraped up onto the centre of the spoon, a pinch of citric acid (or lemon juice if you're an idiot) is added, then a measure of water (usually 2-3 mils) which is briefly heated, filtered and drawn into a syringe. The completed product should be the colour of petrol if the product has been cooked well. It is then Morphine is almost never used "raw," as in cooked up in water as it is, unless the person is desperate and has no AA. This is NOT homebake heroin, a commonly made mistake by outsiders(I will detail home bake heroin in a subsequent post, this is crude heroin that has been produced in a clandestine laboratory from over-the counter or perscription preparations containing codeine, which is turned into morphine, and then a similar process is used with AA to turn the product into "homebake" heroin).
The second topic I wished to cover in this post as I have never seen this aspect of the opiod culture of New Zealand (or anywher else for that matter) covered anywher on the internet. Namely the theft and subsequent use of opium poppies from suburban gardens. Opium poppies are semi-commonly found in suburban properties around New Zealand, growing almost wild in some cases, in gardens in the summer months (it is considered by many garners her to be a weed, most have no idea of its true nature). I have ner seen poppy seeds available to buy in gerden centres, and have surmised from taking to others who know about them that the poppies are the continuation of those planted in gardens in the 1950's and earlier, when they were popular garden flowers (and some poppies I have seen here have beautiful flowers, large pink pom-pom types with purple centres and a hint of orange are my favorites - both in look and potency). They do seem to grow a lot more often in older parts of Wellington, but this is not universal. There is a rumor that they were first brought over by Chinese settlers, with the implication that they were growing them to use (I am not sure on the truth of that, seems unlikely). During the months on which the pods are ready, local "junkies" raid peoples properties for the pods, usually ripping the plants out of the ground (often in broad daylight, you'd be surprised about how easy it is) but in some cases bleeding them at night and coming back a few hours later to gather the opium. The pods are bled regardless with razorblades and collected up onto spoons, on which the opium is scraped up into a powder. It is then mixed with baking soda and then AA and citric acid, following the same preparations for cooking as morphine tablets. Once crude heroin has been made by the reaction of the morphine in the opium, it is then injected. I have met much skepticism in this matter when talking about it on the ntew, people seem to believe no one would inject something from a plant, or it would give the user an immediate "dirty shot" (which certainly it does if the opium is "raw"). The preparation (the AA, most likely) seems to eliminate bacterial content as I can attest that myself and many others have injected "prepared" crude-heroin-from-opium many times. The local police are aware of the matter of poppy theft ((as ikt is quite common in my area in the summer, one junike can go through nearly all the patches within reach in a summer (i have taken in excess of 40 patches in certain years), and people do get charged for that, but under local law it isonly theft if the poppies have not been bled out or prepared in any way, on which the charge becomes intent to produce morphine. There is a colloquial belief that there are different grade sof opium based on colouring: weakest yellow, normal: white, strong: pink, very strong: very light purple. I am not sure on the truth of this, but I have always noted that pink opium is a lot more bitter to the taste (i would always taste test my opium to try determine potency).
I will cover more drugs, and aspects of New Zealands drug culture in subsequent posts,
Thanks.
