Street speed (UK) IV: is it alright to do it and if so what methods do you use?

[Rogg If]

Hi there everyone
Yesterday I wanted to score some charlie to bang up but realised I really couldn't afford it so instead I scored some speed, as I hadn't done it in ages -the girl (very reliable dealer who's never ever sold shit stuff to me or others) told me that was pretty strong stuff but still there was no way I could be sure. Here in the UK most of the speed you find is shit, but you might get lucky sometimes. Meth over here is quite hard to find and anyway it costs something like £120 for a gram, no way. So we usually get amph sulphate, and its quality varies a lot.
The gram I bought was this wet lumpy stuff, supposed to be a sign of quality but it actually isn't, considering anyone could fuck around with it, just like folks do with charlie.
So, I smelt it and it really seemed like good stuff - I had a tiny snort to test it and I was fucking flying, no joke. So I decided I might as well try to give speed IV a go as I'd never done it before.
I had absolutely no idea how to cook it up - I'm more into opiates - and tried to look it up online, but the only amps people mentioned were pills or meth. I just poured the equivalent of a line in the spoon, dropped 0.7mil and first observed how it dissolved. It seemed like there was no shit in it floating or at the bottom so I assumed it was near-uncut - please forgive me/let me know if I'm talking shit, I've never done this with amps before. I thought it might be like coke and that I should avoid using a flame. I just stirred the shit thoroughly and after a few minutes most of the bits had dissolved. I filtered twice, just as precaution, and banged up, and actually it was really really really good, nice rush and shit! I ended up doing it about 5 times cos I was so happy I'd found an IV high that good and cheap! I'd have kept doing it but then I thought there might be stuff I should know about . I mean I'm pretty fucking happy I found a nice high that's only £20 a gram and I feel like doing it again, but I don't wanna lose limbs either or get some fucking horrible disease because of it. Sooo this is why I quickly went online to ask my wiser and older fellow bluelighters for advice and information. Don't be having a go at me, don't call me names or tell me to go kill myself, cos I might start enjoying it and then it'll get real twisted, yeah I'm that kind of lad ahah.

Thanks in advance guys!

 

[SoonAJunkie]

Hey I can't say how to do it but I suggest you don't iv it.I think that you will have dangerously high heartbeat and generally,speed is destructive, let alone when ived.In the sake of harm reduction just snort it,I don't think it provides any good rush like other drugs.Not worth the dangers.

Also,speed is usually cut as hell,that's why the price is so low.

 

[Rogg If]

Well actually I did get a rush. I agree with what you say in general, but that gram I got really is different. Like I wrote it seemed pretty pure -although I don't know much about amps, I've done speed many many times, and this one's defo the best I've ever got - I was really surprised cos I didnt expect to get that good a high

And yeah I know IVing speed aint a great idea - but I wanna know exactly what is dangerous, what the risks are, and IF you still decide to go IV, what you should imperatively do. I mean, everyone says injecting pills is proper bad but I've been doing it for ages and have never had any problem whatsoever.

 

[SoonAJunkie]

Well actually I did get a rush. I agree with what you say in general, but that gram I got really is different. Like I wrote it seemed pretty pure -although I don't know much about amps, I've done speed many many times, and this one's defo the best I've ever got - I was really surprised cos I didnt expect to get that good a high

And yeah I know IVing speed aint a great idea - but I wanna know exactly what is dangerous, what the risks are, and IF you still decide to go IV, what you should imperatively do. I mean, everyone says injecting pills is proper bad but I've been doing it for ages and have never had any problem whatsoever.

I think problems have to do with heart and blood pressure.If you overdo it,just if,you could be in serious trouble and get a heart attack or very high blood pressure.Dehydration could be a problem too,with speed.IMHO,IV'ing stimulants is not a good idea,cause they play games with your homeostasis and are harmful to the body.

 

[Rogg If]

But the risks you mention are also true for snorting, aren't they? My body temperature actually did go through the roof after I'd had those few shots and I was sweating real badly, more than I'd ever had with any other drug before, so I believe what you say. It can be very dangerous. What I was wondering though is what people cut speed with, and what do those cutting agents do to you? I've decided I'll stick to snorting it, however good IVing it felt, cos I started freaking out thinking what chemicals it was cut with & what I'd put in my bloodstream. A bit funny considering I've jacked up coke and other crap before - but speed does get that really "dirty drug" name.

 

[BlueHues]

Hmm, I could leave this here, but I think this would have better success in EADD, since amphetamine sulphate is pretty exclusive to certain European countries, and here in OD, you're more likely to receive conflicting info from Americans/Australians who assume it's the same thing as crystal.

OD---->EADD

 

[bimbam]

But the risks you mention are also true for snorting, aren't they? My body temperature actually did go through the roof after I'd had those few shots and I was sweating real badly, more than I'd ever had with any other drug before, so I believe what you say. It can be very dangerous. What I was wondering though is what people cut speed with, and what do those cutting agents do to you? I've decided I'll stick to snorting it, however good IVing it felt, cos I started freaking out thinking what chemicals it was cut with & what I'd put in my bloodstream. A bit funny considering I've jacked up coke and other crap before - but speed does get that really "dirty drug" name.

Hey, im from uk and the speed we get is usually pure but if we do cut it its usually glucose or lactose which u can buy from supermarkets or chemists ad mix it on a 1 to 1... ratio. Hope this helps x

 

[mydrugbuddy]

i think that in the UK speed is commonly cut with sodium bicarbonate which i believe is pretty benign stuff compared to pure speed at least. I once knew some dealers who obtained a batch of what was meant to be very high purity and strength. They cut it 50/50 and it was still like rocket fuel.

Personally i wouldnt dream of injecting speed, its not a substance known for being 'clean', more known for being 'nasty' and i wouldnt want anything unpure like that running directly round my bloodstream straight to my heart. Perhaps someone who has tried injecting it will be able to be more helpfull but personally i would say its not worth the potential risks of infections or worse.

 

[Sammy G]

I like IV-ing and I like(d) speed. I wouldn't bang up street speed if you paid me though.

Lots of people do, however, and to be honest I haven't heard of many complications among the people I've known who like it. Though that probably has more to do with the somewhat self-limiting nature of shooting speed when compared to other popular IV drugs than it has to do with safety.

UK speed is frighteningly impure, and as you rightly point out, moistness and smell are not reliable indicators of potency or purity.

 

[Sprout]

There is the risk of a paracetamol cut, more often found in whatever shite passes for 'coke' these days, as opposed to Phet. But APAP is the last thing you wanna be shooting - though 0.7ml won't hold a sizeable amount, especially if you don't heat it.

 

[doorknob]

Pure speed is a white powder. It doesn't smell of anything, as you said wet stuff isn't a sign of quality - it is water and solvent.

I wouldn't put it anywhere near your veins unless you do some sort of clean up, I can't imagine IV solvent will do you much good.

An acid/base extraction is easy enough and will take a lot of crap out. The difference is night and day, nice clean high and minimal comedown. This "paste" bullshit and the myths surrounding it need to fuck off. Smell = impurities most likely toxic.

 

[Rogg If]

Cheers guys for your help, I'd already decided I wouldn't iv it again & your posts go along what I imagined it could do to me. I got quite para cos I'd done 5 times in a row and started thinking maybe I was gonna get some mutant cancer or some really fucking horrible disease - and in a way that is good cos it calmed down a great deal my desire to shoot everything in sight into my bloodstream & got me thinking of really trying to stop injecting at all.
Yeah wetness and lumps mean fuck all, though that speed I've had really was strong, too strong even, I've never had shit like it and I'm not sure it was enjoyable in the end, in fact it got pretty bad, at first I was totally speeding outta my box totally buzzing, going around doing things, but after a while I started feeling like I was losing my mind - I didn't sleep for 3 days, despite taking some benzos, bupe & drinking, just couldn't calm down. Going totally paranoid and seeing insects or rodents everywhere, scary as fuck. Oh and the comedown was one of the worst I've ever had.

 

[Shambles]

i think that in the UK speed is commonly cut with sodium bicarbonate which i believe is pretty benign stuff compared to pure speed at least.

I would not fancy injecting bicarb. Fizzy blood is not something to be aiming for. Fortunately, it is almost always lactose that it's cut with which is pretty benign to inject. Unless you've got diabetes, maybe.

I used to IV speed all the time. Was a bit of a hobby of mine for rather a long while. Main problems are that it's unfeasibly fiendish and you can end up injecting a lot more than you intended to initially. I've never noticed and particular health and welfare issues beyond those you'd get from habitual speed use via any ROA. Frequency of injection can be a problem - you will lose veins rapidly unless you're scrupulous about cycling sites and using fresh pins every time. Other obvious issue is ODing cos it is tempting to just keep upping the dose to sillyhigh levels. Cos it all hits at once you are at fairly high risk of overdoing if injecting. Basically, the iffy bits are much the same as injecting anything else. Make sure to filter properly however clear the solution appears to be, and obviously make sure to leave any undissolved gunk in the spoon. Speed dissolves very readily in water - shouldn't even need heat. You can get a lot in a 1ml syringe. Which, whilst handy for tolerant folk, is also a bit tempting for going for stupidly large doses. Reckless behaviour and speed are a bit of a heaven-made match, infortunately 8)

Having said all that, I stopped injecting the stuff when quality went to shit. Quality is so appalling in the UK these last few years that I'd not be happy injecting street speed. RC stims being another matter entirely, but come with somewhat different risks of their own.

 

[Rogg If]

Thanks Shambles for your post, good advice and information, I totally agree about the fiendish aspect of it, I mean, I shot up five times in a very short time and had to force myself to go out for a walk to give it a break or I'd've done a lot more. Just to make sure, you were injecting amphetamine sulphate, right? When was that? I've been told speed in the UK was mental in the 70s & 80s and it went downhill since. I had no idea you could OD on speed! It makes sense though, like you said, you end up taking so much more when injecting, I guess there has to be limit to how much your body can tolerate. I assume a speed OD is like a heart attack?
I did it the way you said, it dissolved easily and didn't heat it, and there barely was any gunk. Anyway, I won't be doing it again, it was a bit too weird. And as you said, the quality varies so much - most of the time absolutely shite - that there's no way I'd do it on a regular basis. We really do have crap drugs in the UK, shitty gear, 5%pure coke, etc...

 

[Shambles]

Was mostly throughout the 90s I was using speed heavily. Quality was outstanding at the time. Started with sulphate powder then - by complete fluke and coincidence - got introduced to a rather major speed chemist and things got a bit more heavy-duty. AFAIK, he was the first person to start selling "base". I'd certainly never come across it before and nor had anybody else I knew. Was all but impossible to sell cos it was so outrageously strong people weren't up for it. A gramme keeping you up for a week solid is a bit much for working folk in particular, so people used to doing the odd gramme of sulphate powder didn't know what hit 'em. Also got the odd bit of meth which he made only for himself and would share with friends sometimes.

Quality went to shit in the early 2000s. Did stick at it for a while cos am very much a speedfreak, but gave up in the end cos quality is simply appalling. If you can get decent quality speed, firstly it's a minor miracle, and secondly there's really not even much need to inject it. It works just fine orally or nasally (or indeed rectally). I don't think you gain much from injecting speed beyond the instarush. Which is exactly how needle fixations are formed. And you really don't want one of those cos all of a sudden everything gets injected

Oh yes, and speed OD basically heart attack. Never had one myself but have been in some very dodgy states that certainly didn't feel safe. A big part of the problem being awake for days with nothing to eat - really does do some damage. Psychosis being the other big risk. Have a lil experience with that... but am mostly a good boy these days. Comparatively, anyway.

 

[Rogg If]

Your story is pretty interesting cos I really don't know that many speedfreaks, it is a rarity around here (London), though a lot of my mates up north and in Scotland take speed every weekend, it's still one of the main drugs up there, are you from round there by any chance? Man I can't even imagine what the stuff that chemist gave you was like, I so wish I knew someone that knew chemistry, that would be pre-tty interesting haha..
I reckon the speed I got was "a minor miracle" like you said, I mean, that was very VERY intense, and maybe, as you wrote, I wasn't up for it. I'm just not used to it, I've done lots of rocks and charlie in my life but that was something else entirely, you need some sort of tolerance for it to be enjoyable. At times my heart was just pounding so hard it almost hurt and I'd never been sweating so much; I nearly fainted a few times. As for psychosis, I don't think I know what it feels like but the mental state I was after those three days was pretty close to what I imagine it's like. I kinda understand "speed kills", no fucking wonder!
Well, the needle fixation, I already had it, and I've pretty much shot up everything you could think of, H, coke, even crack, speedballs, sleeping pills, all benzos, painkillers, and now speed, that's why I wanted to try it, it was the only one I'd never IV'd. At one point I was even thinking of trying banging up vodka but only for 5minutes before realising what an fucking stupid idea it would be. But I think I'm done with needles now and I wanna stop doing that shit, I find it ridiculous. We'll see how it goes...
So are you drug free now, Shambles?

 

[Shambles]

Your story is pretty interesting cos I really don't know that many speedfreaks, it is a rarity around here (London), though a lot of my mates up north and in Scotland take speed every weekend, it's still one of the main drugs up there, are you from round there by any chance? Man I can't even imagine what the stuff that chemist gave you was like, I so wish I knew someone that knew chemistry, that would be pre-tty interesting haha.

Am actually from London originally, but this would be around the Oxford region where I was living at the time. Wasn't so much every weekend as every day pretty much for years on end. Well, until the Class As took over 8)

Stuff from chemist fella was just nuts. Never had speed like it before or since. People genuinely did give it back and ask for it to be cut. Never quite understood that cos surely having a purer product is always better - just buy less of it, maybe. A gramme was really too much for the average punter, but cos nobody had heard of this squidgy "base" stuff they were pretty about buying it at all. Most ridiculously intense was pure freebase oil. That was a wee bit intense IV'd I can assure you

(also insanely dangerous - pretty sure even i wouldn't take things that far these days)

Me drug free? Erm... in a word, no. But cut out the worst of my excesses. I do still like my stims but speed is pointless - certainly where I live - so stick to RC stims. 2-FA is as close to oldskool sulphate powder as it gets and is a nice reminder of what "normal strength" speed was like before people started faffing with sillystrong pastes which unfortunately rather destroyed the speed scene completely (more or less) as people just started selling any old crap cut with water and/or other solvents cos "wet + stinky = banging speed". Except when it doesn't. Which is just about every time 8)

Well, the needle fixation, I already had it, and I've pretty much shot up everything you could think of, H, coke, even crack, speedballs, sleeping pills, all benzos, painkillers, and now speed, that's why I wanted to try it, it was the only one I'd never IV'd. At one point I was even thinking of trying banging up vodka but only for 5minutes before realising what an fucking stupid idea it would be. But I think I'm done with needles now and I wanna stop doing that shit, I find it ridiculous. We'll see how it goes...

Snap. Except I did shoot up vodka (actually I think it was Jack Daniels but was a long time ago in my distant, reckless yoofdom). A very unpleasant sensation. Kinda like getting very drunk instantaneously with a hangover kicking in in what seems like minutes. Was a one-off for fairly obvious reasons. Pills are probably more dangerous to inject than alcohol, incidentally. Not that I've not done it too (before I knew any better) but really not a wise move. Micron filters are essential for shooting pills and can be acquired from various online sources and some needle exchanges.

"Speed kills...

...but I'm too young to die"

 

[bimbam]

Hey sorry to but in ... glad you're ok... sounds like you dropped on some half decent tackle. I'm a speed freak and so is Leepy my chap, and have been for 14yr but we only ever oral bomb it. Having said that, I need to knock it on the head cos it aint working like it used to, I sleep and eat on it but then again manage to get all the wife duties done and work a full time job, I need 3 week off work to sleep it off and stay off it. Anyway be safe and hopefully speak soon x

 

[Rogg If]

Shambles, what's RC stims? I know I shouldn't jack up pills, I know... But every time I just tell myself "Alright that's the last time I do it", obviously. I'm seeing a doctor at a drug help centre tomorrow.. Can I get micron filters at the needle exchange? I always filter twice when I do it though and so far I really haven't fucked my veins up like people had told me I would. I never fuck around using the same spot twice or sticking too much in the spoon, always really clean and that, maybe that's why. Btw banged up speed again today, for absolutely no reason, although I'd vowed I'd never do it again. "That's the last time I do", yeah! Oh well.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

I had an IV speed habit for years, but looking back on it now I have to wonder why I bothered because sulphate seems to be just as good, if not better, taken orally. For me it was definitely a needle fixation, plus the entire ritual of preparing a shot is pretty damn compulsive by itself - especially with amphetamine added OCD. This led to sessions where I was having a fix every 20 minutes or so, with the dosage skyrocketing into stupid territory! However, my veins never suffered until I started using critic with gear, much later on in my drug career. I actually found the effects from IV sulphate to be much more spacy and trippy than stimulating - almost like a different drug entirely. In the ignorance of youth I used to 'cook' the solution - ill never forget the smell that was given off - repulsive but somehow alluring...