How could smoking the syrup have worked?

[RoboJesus]

Please before anyone responds that swim is an idiot and that this question has been answered before many times he asks that you read this post in its entirity. Swim apologizes for its length.

Swim has long known that it is a waste of perfectly good hydrocodone cough syrup to smoke it on cigarettes/joints/blunts and has had to lecture his friends about this issue on countless occasions. From what swim understands, the hydrocodone would be destroyed by the heat and would cause no effect at all. It is because of this knowledge that swim is so confused by a recent event.

Swim's good friend, let's call him Dubya, was recently prescribed Hydromet cough syrup which contains 5mg of hydrocodone and 1.5mg homatropine per 5 mililiters. While Dubya was over at swim's house he offered swim some of the syrup and, of course, swim accepted. Dubya suggested that it be smoked on cigarettes to which swim responded with his usual explanation that it would not work and would be a waste. Dubya, however, is a stuborn man and would only allow swim to drink any syrup if he agreed to smoke it first. Swim, an avid lover of the sizzurp, reluctantly agreed to do so.

Dubya produced a pouch of rolling tobacco and rolled himself a cigarette while swim followed suit. Next, they each took a Q-tip and dipped it into the syrup and applied heavy amounts of syrup to the rolled cigarettes until they were essentially soaked in the stuff. The cigarettes were left on top of a heater vent until completely dry.

Once dry Dubya and swim (who was still quite frustrated with the situation) lit up the cigarettes and smoked them. Then something strange occurred: with the second or third drag swim became extremely light headed and felt a tingling all over his body which he recognized as an opiate buzz. By the end of the cigarette swim felt a little nauseous and had a definite opiate body high. I should mention that swim is a regular smoker who exclusively smokes hand rolled unfiltered cigarettes and does not experience lightheadedness from a single smoke.

Ok, story time is (finally) done now.

Does anyone have an explanation as to how swim could have got high from smoking the syrup covered cigarette?

Swim insists that it was not a placebo effect because he did not believe that smoking hydrocodone syrup would do anything at all. In fact, swim still does not believe that it should be effective.

Swim apologizes for the excessively long post and greatly appreciates any help his fellow swimmers may have for him.