Recently, it was reported that the purity of black and brown tar heroin from Mexico has led to a number of heroin overdoses. In 2008 the number of deaths was up to acheter adipex 3000, which is a significant increase from the approximately 2000 deaths reported in 2000.
I see another “downer” epidemic on the horizon, typical of what happens after about 30 years of “uppers” like cocaine and methamphetamine. Across the country, there is a rise in heroin abuse along with addiction to prescription opiates, a clear indication that the next wave of drug addiction will be downers.
Fluctuations in the purity of the drug
The heroin overdoses we see today are undoubtedly linked to fluctuations in the purity of the drug. We don’t see a consistent number of heroin overdoses each year, but rather flare-ups of them, usually associated with some pure form of heroin hitting the streets.
Tar heroin is a purer form of heroin in terms of actual milligrams of the drug, but it is less pure because it contains all of the adulterants, ingredients and residues left over from processing – extracting the opium from the opium poppy into morphine and then from morphine to heroin. In the 1980s, a Mexican cartel learned how to process the morphine found in opium more efficiently. They concentrate it without eliminating the other adulterants, plant materials and everything else in the opium. The resulting morphine is converted into heroin by adding acetic acid or concentrated vinegar. The process is simple, but the heroin is very powerful because it’s difficult to cut. The finished product looks like tar and is sticky, sometimes with a black tinge. When heroin is processed and sold in this way, users “hunt a dragon,” meaning it is smoked. The heroin is so strong that burning it and then inhaling the vapor is enough to get a user high.
It’s sold in smaller gram quantities
When it hits the streets, it’s sold in smaller gram quantities, unlike a bag of heroin which contains around 300-400mg of powder. Powder is easier to cut than the tar form, and everyone along the supply chain wants a share of the profits, so they “tread” it – meaning adding something to increase the quantity. All sorts of things are added, for example if someone wants to buy brown heroin – the seller adds instant coffee when white heroin is requested – some kind of white powder like quinine or lactose is added to step on it or dilute it further. It is difficult to cut or dilute tar so that the form is anywhere from 60-80% pure actual heroin. That’s a startling contrast to heroin in the ’60s and ’70s, which made up just 1 or 2%.
Certain amount of a drug to get a certain effect,
If someone is used to injecting a certain amount of a drug to get a certain effect, they are more likely to overdose if they inject the same amount of heroin, which is much more concentrated. That’s what we’re seeing today, and as heroin use escalates, we’re seeing more requests for this type of addiction treatment. When people become addicted to opiates, they develop tolerance to the drug very quickly, and more and more of the drug is needed to satisfy their cravings. This may be one reason why opiates lend themselves very quickly to the injection method of administration. It is injected for the euphoric high.
Heroin is a drug that provides that, and because of this, people will transition from Darvon and the codeines to Vicodin, OxyContin, and heroin very quickly. Also, when heroin acheter adipex is introduced this way, it is usually referred to as “chasing a dragon” smoking it. By inhaling this vapor, the heroin is strong enough to get you high by sublimating it or smoking it and then smoking it. As a person’s need for the drug increases and they want more quantity and a stronger high, this leads to more heroin addiction.