An interesting take on heroin

[johnnybeef]

Recently, I installed the stumble extension onto my firefox browser. I stumbled upon a perticularly interesting sight in which they discuss everything about every drug that you don't learn in school. I found these statemenst about heroin perticularly interesting.

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addiction
While its addictiveness has been much exaggerated, heroin remains a highly habit forming substance. See our addiction info for more detail.

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long term use
Despite the myths, heroin is a relatively harmless drug, especially compared to alcohol or nicotine.

However, chronic heroin abuse can result in scarred and/or collapsed veins, bacterial infections of the blood vessels and heart valves, abscesses and other soft-tissue infections, and liver or kidney disease.

Constipation caused by a combination of poor eating and the effects of the drug on the bowels can lead to haemorrhoids. Addicts can also suffer from malnutrition because they're never hungry.

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I have never known anyone who has admitted to using heroin, so I can neither confirm nor deny this statement, but from what I have seen of junkies on T.V. I can't imagine how this statement is true.

and oh yeah, linky (http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/)

[cwsiggy]

God, they make it sound rather harmless if you have some smarts. I'm tempted to try it. Hundred of rock stars can't be wrong!

[TheMainEvent]

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Despite the myths, heroin is a relatively harmless drug, especially compared to alcohol or nicotine.

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Uh, OK

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However, chronic heroin abuse can result in scarred and/or collapsed veins, bacterial infections of the blood vessels and heart valves, abscesses and other soft-tissue infections, and liver or kidney disease.

Constipation caused by a combination of poor eating and the effects of the drug on the bowels can lead to haemorrhoids. Addicts can also suffer from malnutrition because they're never hungry.

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Yes, perfectly harmless

[SmileyEH]

www.erowid.org (http://www.erowid.org) is what you're looking for

-SmileyEH

[Sightless]

I had a very close person to me on this drug. It is very addictive and extremely hard to quit without a lot of family help and support.

[ethan]

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www.erowid.org (http://www.erowid.org) is what you're looking for

-SmileyEH

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http://lycaeum.org/ is good too.

[Aytumious]

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I have never known anyone who has admitted to using heroin, so I can neither confirm nor deny this statement, but from what I have seen of junkies on T.V. I can't imagine how this statement is true.


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You are talking about chronic users. If someone you knew used it occasionally for recreation you wouldn't have any clue.

[Sightless]

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I have never known anyone who has admitted to using heroin, so I can neither confirm nor deny this statement, but from what I have seen of junkies on T.V. I can't imagine how this statement is true.


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You are talking about chronic users. If someone you knew used it occasionally for recreation you wouldn't have any clue.

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Problem with Heroin, IT IS VERY ADDICTIVE...

Ask Mitch Hedberg about heroin, see what he has to say about it.

[Aytumious]

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I have never known anyone who has admitted to using heroin, so I can neither confirm nor deny this statement, but from what I have seen of junkies on T.V. I can't imagine how this statement is true.


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You are talking about chronic users. If someone you knew used it occasionally for recreation you wouldn't have any clue.

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Problem with Heroin, IT IS VERY ADDICTIVE...

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As are many other drugs. It doesn't make my statement any less true.

If you only look at hardcore, chronic users of drugs, then of course the picture is going to look wretched.

I've never done it. I'm just trying to point out that there is a large amount of misinformation about heroin and other drugs.

Its all a big government lie! Nobody ever OD's on heroin or gets addicted to it, unless theyre like, stupid or something!

[BCPVP]

Hope you have your Ouija board warmed up...

ok, it may be addictive, but physically it's not very bad for you. additionally, most of the more unpleasant physical effects of longterm usage result from the injecting of heroin, not from the drug itself. around these parts, it's not uncommon for people to smoke it. Also, heroin addiction is chemically very similiar to an addiction to painkillers. Keep that in mind, a heroin user is not always an IV drug user.

[Sightless]

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ok, it may be addictive, but physically it's not very bad for you

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WHERE DO you get this info from?????

[johnnybeef]

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As are many other drugs. It doesn't make my statement any less true.

If you only look at hardcore, chronic users of drugs, then of course the picture is going to look wretched.

I've never done it. I'm just trying to point out that there is a large amount of misinformation about heroin and other drugs.

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You make some valid points. I have never tried heroin, but I occasionally dabbled in coke and ecstasy in my college days. Niether drug was ever anything more than a special occassion to me(unlike several of my friends who had serious problems and couldn't go out and have a beer unless they had a score lined up later that night.) I suppose that most addictions stem from the person rather than the drug. To put it in plain english, many people have personalities that are condusive to addiction. Perhaps it is this view of mine that I found the statements in my OP very interesting.

You know after you've had an orgasm and your mind kind of spaces out for just a couple of seconds? That's basically it, but for a lot longer.

[jokerthief]

The reason that it's hard to believe is because it's very easy to underestimate what malnutrition can do. There are other factors like homelessness and violence that some herion addicts can also suffer which can wreak havoc on their body. Also, herion addicts could use more than one substance.

[jba]

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Many people have lost dozens of people in their extended family die from cigarettes. It is very addictive and extremely hard to quit without a lot of family help and support.

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Pure heroin is actually a very safe drug (from an OD standpoint). If you can safely calculate your dose everytime, you will not OD. However, street heroin is by no means pure, and most OD's you read about are people who get cleaner, less cut batch than what they are used to and take what is their "normal" dose, not realizing they are shooting hot and taking far too much than their bodies can handle.

edited to add: The lifestyle of a heroin (or any drug) addict is not something anyone should ever experience. From the few heroin addicts I know, their lives are basically black holes of hopelessness. Living for a drug is not living at all.

[gabbahh]

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I've never done it. I'm just trying to point out that there is a large amount of misinformation about heroin and other drugs.

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Maybe has something to do with the War on Drugs campaign held by the American government. The misinformation is also caused by the lack of scientific research on most kinds of drugs.
One of the few exceptions is THC/Mary Jane; research has shown it helps against pain. And when you have Multiple Sclerose (hope I got that one right) it really helps reducing cramps/shaking.
When you have cancer and get chemo therapy most ppl feel sick and do not want to eat. Smoking a joint can help then.
In Holland you can even get Mary Jane on the doctor's advise. A friend of mine had a ganja description and went every week to the pharmacist to get her grass.

[phixxx]

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Ask Mitch Hedberg about heroin, see what he has to say about it.

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Too bad he's dead /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[Blarg]

Many people are addicted to it for decades, and it's possible to be so without much damage. You can kill yourself or seriously harm yourself much quicker with hard drinking. A big part of the problem with heroin is all the things that can typically go with it, not the drug itself. For instance, if you're happy to just stare at your toes for hours, you don't get a lot done. I've known some heroin addicts who were content to try to live on welfare for the rest of their lives. Do that long enough and you're also almost guaranteed to be very boring and have social problems. If you're happy to just zone out and eat nothing but boxes of sugar, your body is going to turn to crap and you're going to have roid problems. If you can't afford your habit, you very well may turn to the lifestyle of a petty criminal. If you're into the subculture, you may not give a damn about needle cleanliness or think of the very idea as a paranoid conspiracy. The drug itself is hardly a healthy thing to do long-term, but its the destructive lifestyle changes and personal habits based around the habit that really make it bad. There are some people who can minimize that, but I wouldn't want to do it without a trust fund, so if I decided being a sugar-eating, toe-staring vegetable was what I wanted to do with my life, at least I wouldn't turn to being a thief over it. That would seriously interfere with my private toe time.

[InchoateHand]

Its very easy to be a functional member of society while strung out. Its hard to afford it. Getting HepC sucks--not like HIV sucks, but still sucks.

Yeah, its funny how I only know one heroin addict and he's the only guy I know that has both Hep C and has sucked dick. Do you think he would have either of these on his resume had he never got into heroin?

[HopeydaFish]

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Yeah, its funny how I only know one heroin addict and he's the only guy I know that has both Hep C and has sucked dick.

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Yours?

[rusellmj]

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http://lycaeum.org/ is good too.

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Finally, a website that catalogs it's trip reports.

I'm sure my friend would agree that heroin isn't addictive. He "chipped" for, oh, 10-15 years without becoming addicted.

[InchoateHand]

I don't think anyone said it isn't addictive. I think what people were referencing is the very well established research that indicates that "physically" it is not nearly as quickly addicting as many people assume, and that chemically, diacetyl morphia, by itself, doesn't do a lot of damage to the human body (this also makes intuitive sense, considering we have enkephalin mu receptors to begin with). This makes obvious sense when you consider that the half-life of heroin is about six hours in the average human body. Thus unless you are getting it every ~six hours, you are not going to quickly become "addicted," if by "addicted" we mean physically dependent on the substance. Most users exaggerate both the quantities they consume, and the suffering they experience during withdrawal. This in no way downplays the truely enormous damage these individuals wreck in their lives and the lives of those around them.

This is the scariest thread I've ever read. Anyone who feels that Heroin is not an insidious drug that destroys lives is stupid. I love the line, "I haven't tried Heroin but ............." Do you know why there isn't more, "I used to to do Heroin but decided to just stop"? Because it doesn't happen! Call ANY detox center and asked the intake staff "Have you ever met a recreational heroin user?" and see the response. Yes, you can be a Heroin addict for 40 years if you want unless you OD. That doesn't mean it is harmless.

LLL

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Call ANY detox center and asked the intake staff "Have you ever met a recreational heroin user?" and see the response.

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Now there is a sampling bias.

[Maulik]

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Call ANY detox center and asked the intake staff "Have you ever met a recreational heroin user?" and see the response.

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Now there is a sampling bias.

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nh

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"I used to to do Heroin but decided to just stop"

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I can say this. Used to go on day-long sessions, sleep at night, and wake up fine. Did this probably 10-15 times in roughly a month's time and then just stopped. Look, I'm glad you can pass along what you've heard, but unfortunately you don't know what you're talking about. Heroin is not the problem, idiot users are.

[GAL]

Totaly agree with above poster. Alcahol is legal, I drink it but I'm not an alcaholic, any drug may as well be legal to me because I or someone i know will be able to get it. I used to be into the house scene and took alot of E but I haven't had it for over 2 years now. I have never tried Heroin for a couple of reasons, one being I KNOW I will like it and secondly because it's not socially acceptable like alchahol, E and grass which are all drugs I would use with other people. The idea of sitting alone taking Heroin doesn't appeal to me.

[emil3000]

You seriously can't spell alcohol?

[RacersEdge]

INteresting site - I never knew Dexy's Midnight Runners was a reference to amphetamines - I though they were just a cheesy band from the 80s.