Swimmingdancer
Bluelight Crew
WHAT TO DO IF YOU DON'T HAVE A MICRON FILTER AND ARE GOING TO INJECT ANYWAY?
I know a bunch of people are just going to immediately say "use a micron filter or don't inject", but in the interest of harm reduction, say someone cannot or will not obtain a micron filter and is going to inject regardless. Isn't it better to give them the options rather than just saying use a micron filter or don't do it at all?
Note: Personally, I am particularly interested in the best filtration methods for heroin, but any info on filtration in general would be useful because I know a lot of people on Bluelight ask questions about injecting pills as well.
I know there was a thread recently that someone posted about using a cigarette filter, but it was closed with the reason given being that there is no way to prove how effective this is. However, I know there have been some studies done on the efficacy of make-shift filters for injection drug use (see example below), so that seems like reliable info to me.
I have also been given advice by some HR centre nurses, which was that the filter hierarchy supposedly is: if you don't have a micron filter, use a filter designed for IV use like the kind you can get from some needle exchanges, if you don't have one of those use a clean piece of a cigarette filter, and if you don't have one of those use a piece of cotton from a Q-tip as a last resort. Anyone have any info on how accurate that is?
I've noticed people on here saying never to use cigarette filters, why is that? And is there a difference between a cigarette filter that comes in a pre-made cigarette and the kind that you can buy for use in rolling your own cigarette? I remember being told at the needle exchange (and also by various IV users) that a cigarette filter is actually probably a better option than a home-made cotton, as the cotton fibers can break off and enter the syringe, and cotton is more likely to harbour bacteria. They also said when using a cigarette filter it's ideal to cut it instead of tearing it and not to crush it up too much, in order to minimize the risk of fibers breaking off. Take this with a grain of salt because this is just based on what people said and I don't know where they got that info - just because someone works at a needle exchange does not necessarily mean they are right about this.
STUDIES:
Here is one study I was able to find that compared micron filters to cigarette filters to cotton balls, and the use of heat or no heat, in preparing morphine pills for injection:
http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/content/6/1/37
Here is a summary:
1. CIGARETTE FILTER FOLLOWED BY MICRON FILTER: (no heat)
The best option was first using a cigarette filter to remove large particles, followed by a low-porosity 0.22 μm syringe filter, because the micron filter was likely to clog unless a coarser filter was used first. Filtration with a 0.22 μm filter removed virtually all of the tablet-derived particles and could remove some organisms (e.g. Staphylococcus aureus, Candida), but could not remove small viruses such as Hep C. However, viral infections are mostly due to blood contamination from shared needles/equipment and can be avoided by not sharing. They found that 0.22 μm syringe filters were effective in removing bacteria from 3 out of 4 injections, while larger pore filters such were inadequate at removing bacteria. Using heat in the initial extraction seemed to break some of the bigger particles into smaller particles which were then able to pass through the filter.
2. CIGARETTE FILTER: (no heat)
Two cigarette filters were required to enable the mixture to be taken into a syringe without the filter clogging. The filtered solution still had a milky colour. Part of the liquid remained in the filters, so 2 successive 1 ml rinses with water were used, which recovered most of the remaining morphine. This was recommended when pre-filtering before micron filtering as well, in order to get the most morphine out of the pills. The cigarette filter did not remove all particles, but produced a large reduction in the number of particles >50 μm, and a smaller reduction in particles sized <50 μm.
3. COTTON BALL:
They found cotton balls to be the least adequate but they didn't study them thoroughly as they discarded them as an option early on because they are so variable and porous and did not provide any better recovery of morphine.
CONCLUSION: Filtering with a cigarette filter can remove many of the larger particles but is not adequate for removal of bacteria. Filtering with a 0.22 μm filter removes all the particles and a good percentage of bacteria/organisms. Filtering with a cotton ball is unreliable.
My notes: They did not appear to study the affect of heat on killing bacteria or the possibility of fibers from the cigarette filter or cotton ball getting into the syringe. If anyone can find any other relevant studies I would be very interested in reading them and think they could be of value to this forum. If I find more I will add them to this thread.
...........
STERIFILT FILTER: Here is a study comparing the use of Sterifilt 10 μm filters versus no filtration, but it is pretty basic and does not compare it against using a cigarette filter or cotton.
http://www.ihra.net/files/2010/09/22/516.pdf
...........
TO HEAT OR NOT TO HEAT:
I know a lot of BLers say never heat your dope, because it will dissolve the cuts (anything your drug is adulterated with). However, wouldn't it be better to either cold filter the solution and then heat it, or heat the solution, cool it completely, and then filter it? I know that heating the solution will not kill 100% of all bacteria/viruses/etc, but it does kill some, so surely it is better than nothing. And apparently micron filtering doesn't kill 100% of bacteria/viruses/etc either. So, from the info that I have compiled so far, would it be fair to assume that the best filtration solution when a micron filter is unavailable would be to use a Sterifilt (1st choice) or cigarette filter (2nd choice) and then heat the solution to a brief boil?
So far most of the info I have been able to find on the subject of heating your dope has been from HR pamphlets which recommend heating it in order to kill at least some of the bacteria. Such as this one and this one.
There was a study that found that HIV-1 is inactivated once the temperature exceeds 65 degrees C and that heating cookers 15 seconds or longer reduced viable HIV-1 below detectable levels.
...........
*I know this is a very long post, but I think this is valuable HR considering how often this question comes up. Obviously it's always best to use a micron filter, but if someone doesn't have one and is unwilling to not inject, then it's better they use the best make-shift filter possible as opposed to not filtering at all.
I know a bunch of people are just going to immediately say "use a micron filter or don't inject", but in the interest of harm reduction, say someone cannot or will not obtain a micron filter and is going to inject regardless. Isn't it better to give them the options rather than just saying use a micron filter or don't do it at all?
Note: Personally, I am particularly interested in the best filtration methods for heroin, but any info on filtration in general would be useful because I know a lot of people on Bluelight ask questions about injecting pills as well.
I know there was a thread recently that someone posted about using a cigarette filter, but it was closed with the reason given being that there is no way to prove how effective this is. However, I know there have been some studies done on the efficacy of make-shift filters for injection drug use (see example below), so that seems like reliable info to me.
I have also been given advice by some HR centre nurses, which was that the filter hierarchy supposedly is: if you don't have a micron filter, use a filter designed for IV use like the kind you can get from some needle exchanges, if you don't have one of those use a clean piece of a cigarette filter, and if you don't have one of those use a piece of cotton from a Q-tip as a last resort. Anyone have any info on how accurate that is?
I've noticed people on here saying never to use cigarette filters, why is that? And is there a difference between a cigarette filter that comes in a pre-made cigarette and the kind that you can buy for use in rolling your own cigarette? I remember being told at the needle exchange (and also by various IV users) that a cigarette filter is actually probably a better option than a home-made cotton, as the cotton fibers can break off and enter the syringe, and cotton is more likely to harbour bacteria. They also said when using a cigarette filter it's ideal to cut it instead of tearing it and not to crush it up too much, in order to minimize the risk of fibers breaking off. Take this with a grain of salt because this is just based on what people said and I don't know where they got that info - just because someone works at a needle exchange does not necessarily mean they are right about this.
STUDIES:
Here is one study I was able to find that compared micron filters to cigarette filters to cotton balls, and the use of heat or no heat, in preparing morphine pills for injection:
http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/content/6/1/37
Here is a summary:
1. CIGARETTE FILTER FOLLOWED BY MICRON FILTER: (no heat)
The best option was first using a cigarette filter to remove large particles, followed by a low-porosity 0.22 μm syringe filter, because the micron filter was likely to clog unless a coarser filter was used first. Filtration with a 0.22 μm filter removed virtually all of the tablet-derived particles and could remove some organisms (e.g. Staphylococcus aureus, Candida), but could not remove small viruses such as Hep C. However, viral infections are mostly due to blood contamination from shared needles/equipment and can be avoided by not sharing. They found that 0.22 μm syringe filters were effective in removing bacteria from 3 out of 4 injections, while larger pore filters such were inadequate at removing bacteria. Using heat in the initial extraction seemed to break some of the bigger particles into smaller particles which were then able to pass through the filter.
2. CIGARETTE FILTER: (no heat)
Two cigarette filters were required to enable the mixture to be taken into a syringe without the filter clogging. The filtered solution still had a milky colour. Part of the liquid remained in the filters, so 2 successive 1 ml rinses with water were used, which recovered most of the remaining morphine. This was recommended when pre-filtering before micron filtering as well, in order to get the most morphine out of the pills. The cigarette filter did not remove all particles, but produced a large reduction in the number of particles >50 μm, and a smaller reduction in particles sized <50 μm.
3. COTTON BALL:
They found cotton balls to be the least adequate but they didn't study them thoroughly as they discarded them as an option early on because they are so variable and porous and did not provide any better recovery of morphine.
CONCLUSION: Filtering with a cigarette filter can remove many of the larger particles but is not adequate for removal of bacteria. Filtering with a 0.22 μm filter removes all the particles and a good percentage of bacteria/organisms. Filtering with a cotton ball is unreliable.
My notes: They did not appear to study the affect of heat on killing bacteria or the possibility of fibers from the cigarette filter or cotton ball getting into the syringe. If anyone can find any other relevant studies I would be very interested in reading them and think they could be of value to this forum. If I find more I will add them to this thread.
...........
STERIFILT FILTER: Here is a study comparing the use of Sterifilt 10 μm filters versus no filtration, but it is pretty basic and does not compare it against using a cigarette filter or cotton.
http://www.ihra.net/files/2010/09/22/516.pdf
...........
TO HEAT OR NOT TO HEAT:
I know a lot of BLers say never heat your dope, because it will dissolve the cuts (anything your drug is adulterated with). However, wouldn't it be better to either cold filter the solution and then heat it, or heat the solution, cool it completely, and then filter it? I know that heating the solution will not kill 100% of all bacteria/viruses/etc, but it does kill some, so surely it is better than nothing. And apparently micron filtering doesn't kill 100% of bacteria/viruses/etc either. So, from the info that I have compiled so far, would it be fair to assume that the best filtration solution when a micron filter is unavailable would be to use a Sterifilt (1st choice) or cigarette filter (2nd choice) and then heat the solution to a brief boil?
So far most of the info I have been able to find on the subject of heating your dope has been from HR pamphlets which recommend heating it in order to kill at least some of the bacteria. Such as this one and this one.
There was a study that found that HIV-1 is inactivated once the temperature exceeds 65 degrees C and that heating cookers 15 seconds or longer reduced viable HIV-1 below detectable levels.
...........
*I know this is a very long post, but I think this is valuable HR considering how often this question comes up. Obviously it's always best to use a micron filter, but if someone doesn't have one and is unwilling to not inject, then it's better they use the best make-shift filter possible as opposed to not filtering at all.
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