Different Drugs - Heroin

Heroin (diacetylmorphine (INN)), also known as diamorphine (BAN, or, especially in older literature, as morphine diacetate), is a semi-synthetic opioid drug synthesized from morphine, a derivative of the opium poppy. It is the 3,6-diacetyl ester of morphine (di-acetyl-morphine) and a morphine prodrug.^[3] The white crystalline form is commonly the hydrochloride salt diacetylmorphine hydrochloride, though, when supplied illegally, it is often adulterated, thus dulling the sheen and consistency from that to a matte white powder, which diacetylmorphine freebase typically is.^[4] 90% of illicit diamorphine (heroin) is thought to be produced in Afghanistan.^[5]*

So what is it?

Browny looking powder which you mix up and either smoke, or inject. Ever heard the song Golden Brown? They’re talking about Smack.

My Experience

I’ve never done Heroin. Which is a very good thing in my opinion. I do remember once asking a guy I knew who had done it what it was like. He told me it was a warm fuzzy feeling, a lot like being on pills, but better. And that it didn’t last long enough at all. I thought to myself that if that is all it does, I'd rather just take pills.

What I’ve seen

A friend of mine had a little place down by the river. It was a pretty small place, quite nice actually. I remember going there one afternoon to meet a friend who was staying there. It was a sunny afternoon. I remember sitting on the front porch with someone, having a fag and just chatting away quite happily. After a while, I stuck my head round the door to say hello to the others that were inside and to look for the friend I’d come to meet. I’ll never forget the looks on their faces. There were three guys inside, one just looked at me and smiled. It was a totally gormless look, he didn’t know who I was, I don’t think he knew anything. He was sitting on the sofa with his legs drawn up, hugging them. Just looking straight ahead and smiling. Knowing what I know now, I wonder if he even knew I was there. The friend I’d come to meet was one of the others. He rushed at me and told me to get out, I shouldn’t see this. He was too late.
I saw the third person sitting on the floor in front of the other sofa. He had his left hand on his knee, and his sleeves rolled up. I remember seeing him push the needle into a vein on the back of his left hand. I’d walked in at exactly the wrong moment, I’d walked in at the moment he was shooting up. That image is as clear in my head now as the day I saw it. I remember the glint of the metal from the needle. I remember seeing the point on his hand at which it entered his vein.
I felt sick.
It took me a moment to realise what I was seeing. I remember the smoke in the room, I remember working out what it was. The first person, the gormless looking one, was smoking Smack. I remember the smell only vaguely, it was a rich smell, it made me think of Cinnamon.
The next thing I remember, someone was shouting. It was the friend I’d come to meet. I don’t know what he was saying, something about me needing to get out of there. I remember just running out of the room. I threw up around the corner.
It put me off Smack for life. Seeing that guy injecting his own hand, knowing what he was injecting it with and seeing the guilty, shocked look on his face when I caught him doing it was just revolting. I was 14 at the time.

I saw some of those people around again. The next time I saw the owner of that little house, he was on the floor at a rave in London. He’d taken too much of something, passed out, and been robbed. I don’t know what happened to him.
The guy who I’d seen injecting it tried to sell me a stolen DVD player the next time I saw him. 20 quid he wanted. 20 quid. That’s how much one wrap of that stuff would have cost him back then.
20 bloody quid. That’s all it costs to ruin your life.

They say that it only takes one hit of heroin to get hooked. I reckon that’s true.
That film, Trainspotting, has a lot to answer for. I remember a girl I knew telling me she’d love to try Smack after seeing it. I thought she was mad. She got her wish though. The guy I’d seen injecting it gave her her first hit. Surprise, surprise, she got addicted. Instantly.
I don’t know what happened to her, either.

What do I think about Heroin?

I don't just think it is as lethal as everyone says it is, I know it is as lethal as everyone says it is. There is no reason to get into it. The effects are rubbish compared to the side effects, so I cannot understand why anyone would want to do it. The side effects are lethal. The risk of overdose and death is so very real, addiction is a forgone conclusion. Maybe it’s that “it’ll never happen to me” attitude. I can only guess that people think they’ll be fine, and they won’t end up hooked. But I can’t understand how people could think that. They will get hooked, it does hook you on your first go. It happened to people I know. I can’t even begin to think how hard it would be to get off Smack. I don’t know of anyone who succeeded. I know of someone who tried, but ended up just selling their prescription methadone to pay for more Smack. What I have seen is just how easy it is to get into it. 20 quid. That’s how easy. 20 quid and you’re hooked for life.


For more in depth information on Heroin and it’s effects, see what Frank say, here.


*quotes from Wikipedia