Preparing East Coast Heroin for Injecting

[Nahbus]

SWIM has experience with east coast heroin (white to offwhite/tanish powder), but has only ever snorted it.
SWIM says he and his lady friend are going to shoot it.
Anyway, SWIMs friend always shot it, and when preparing it, she never applied heat to the water + heroin. Is this due to east coast heroin being more water soluble than a lot of the heroin depicted in movies and such?
Is this heroin in it's hydrochloric acid form? Will applying heat to this destroy the heroin? SWIM is just a bit confused because he has always read that you should use heat (and even citric acid).
Can someone shed some light on this for SWIM? He wants to be as efficient as possible.

Also, SWIM tells me that he will be going to a needle exchange, using a new needle every time, accompanied by an alcohol swab, distilled water and small cotton to filter the solution.

Thank you!

[jerbles]

Swij has never heard of or seen base in the US. I would almost guarantee it's HCl, so just put desired amount in cooker, draw up about an equal amount of water in syringe, then slowly squirt the water around the pile so it gets all of it. One should only use enough water to consume the dope, as it will hit one faster.

Swij would definitely heat it. Just don't let it boil. Heating may destroy a very, very small percentage of H (like 1%) unless it's boiled, then it will evaporate a lot of it, thus, destroying. Just hold the lighter under the spoon and when the powder starts to dissolve into the water, swish the spoon around a little and move the lighter around to get the whole area, and so it won't boil.

When I say swish the spoon around, I mean just barely move it from side to side so the liquid mixes around. There should be very small bubbles on the bottom of the spoon as heat is applied, but if the water actually boils, you've lost some shit. There will also most likely be particles still floating around that didn't dissolve, but this is usually just cut.

Actually, rather than swishing the spoon around, maybe swiy should just stir the liquid with something (holding it over a candle would let swiy use both hands to stir while he heated). This would probably be better, and should dissolve all the dope. If it doesn't dissolve, I guess it could be a base. Better be safe and try just a very small amount to see if it will dissolve.

And as swiy probably knows, a small piece of cotton ripped of a Qtip (or a small piece of cigg filter) is dropped in (it'll poof up) then stick that needle in and suck up all the dope. And swiy is good to go (after swiy gets the air out and let's it cool down). Swij usually is in a hurry and will run cold tapwater over the syringe to cool it down fast.

[jerbles]

Oh yeah, and heating it will kill a LOt of bacteria and shit that shouldn't be going into you heart... you can get a disease called endocarditis from bacteria building up in you heart and it KILLS you (100% death rate), as there's no amount of antibiotics that can clean out your heart like that once it builds up too much

Swim's had dope before that after heated, there was like black shit sunk to the bottom, and after he sucked it up the filter was brown/black from nasty shit (this is china white and should be totally clear). Brown and black tar on the other hand are full of impurities, and I really wouldn't recommend anyone shooting it, though swij has many, many times and will many more.

Black tar's really just some nasty shit, but it delivers a great, mellow high. Whereas china white gives a very strong, sometimes nauseating high. Swij does prefer China White though, but I'd say as cheap as tar is, you will probably be just as happy with either, and will definitely have a larger (lower quality) amount.

And then, it also turns into a brown liquid, so it just feels more like heroin.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Good info

[JaWill88]

yeah basically if its white powder heroin its almost for sure diacetylmorphine hydrocloride, and not the diamorphine base. only base needs an acid to break it down. if squirted with water and dissolves when stirred, then it obviously doesn't need to be heated. if it doesn't dissolve well it should be heated because that aids in breaking it down and dissolving it. but like said above, it never hurts to heat it a little to kill bacteria. heroin doesn't get destroyed be heat easily. swim lives in the northwest and has never even seen heroin in a powder form before but actually knows someone who sells it. swim just buys the black tar heroin because thats what covers the northwest. black tar pretty much has to be heated because it will take forever to dissolve otherwise. the only way it will dissolve without is by putting it in a vile and shaking very vigarously. sorry im just blabbing but i am so happy. i have been very very very sick from buprenorphine withdrawal. its not so bad when tapered properly but i was on 32mg a day and stopped abruptly. it has been awful the last week and a half just 30 minutes ago.. swim got some black tar heroin and got well. damn swim feels good. oh yeah swim wonders what the weight difference between tar and powder is. swim gets some of the best black tar around. he has been doing it for a long time and finally got the best stuff he could. swim does about a .25 of a gram to get well, and .5 of a gram to get high. does anyone have a conversion for them. swim thinks maybe like 50mg of PURE powder heroin hydrocloride is equal to like a half a gram of this tar. any insight? anyone done both?

[jerbles]

swij has. and it's funny, but swij had just had a shot after about 14 hours of severe withdrawal when he made his post.

As for which is better? China White or black tar, I really couldn't say. Swij is definitely prefferable to CW, but is always very happy to acquire some black tar, as it is cheaper and generally lasts longer, although has a noticeabley lesser effect. They're really both completely different. Black Tar gives swij more of a natural high, like opium (only about 10x), while China White feels more (semi)synthetic, like oxycodone or fentanyl.

And no, the China White swij get's isn't just fentanyl labled as China White as some seem to believe. Swij has done both (pure CW, CW cut with fent, and fent on it's own). And China White is much more sensetive to heat than black tar, due to it's form, but a little heat shouldn't "destroy" any noticeable amounts of H, and is required for swij's shots.

However, swij also been in the dope game quite a while (actually made a shitload of money dealing when he was 17-20) and eventually got about the best hook-up around. It took a long time and a lot of stepping of from dealer to dealer, but he was bringing these guys so much money that the dude that sold it to his guy wanted swij's business for himself, and that went on through about 5 guys.

I'm not trying to brag, I definitely know swij isn't near the top of the ladder. Far, far from it, but the shit he gets is rather pure, and needs to be cut for injection, unless one can measure out about 5mg. It comes at a very, very high price too, though. And swij only buys for personal use these days.

Alright, I don't know how the fuck I got so off topic, but back to the subject... Nahbus, if swiy doesn't want to heat his dope, he could just squirt hot water into the dope, but it should be pretty hot (like microwaved) and MUST be cooled down before shot. This method wouldn't really carry the risk of your shit evaporating, I wouldn't think. And swij has done it before, but it became too much of a pain in his ass for his liking.

Sorry, but swij finds himself just typing and typing when he feels so great... there's just so much to say about heroin, china white and black tar. There's also the brown powder form, which in swij's experience is just black tar that's been crushed into a cut. In these parts, people use Dormin, a sleep aid, which contains diphenhydramine (same shit in benadryl) and it really adds to the nod, swij thinks.

Most white powder heroin people get is a form of herion (known as raw to swij) that's been heavily cut with something, resulting in the white powder. The raw swij get's is a pure white/offwhite rock, but like he said, is very expensive. A gram generally costs about 3 times that of a normal white gram. It took swij a long time to finally get what he now gets. Not that anyone cares, but it went like this (numbers are swij's age):
15-16 - capsules filled with fluffy/chunky white powder
17 - grams of a tan, rocky substance
18-21 - grams of greyish rocky substance
22-23 - pure white grams coming in a single, solid rock

The black tar has always been the same since he started, which is why swij never really bought into it. Although, sometimes it's more brownish and hard, like dogfood as my buddy would say, and sometimes it's really black and sticky which tends to be much better in swij's experience.

Again, sorry for the long post of swij's life story... hehe... swij didn't realize it was gonna be so damn long as he nodded out about every few sentences and sort of forgot what he already said.

[Nahbus]

ah, thank you, this has cleared some things up for SWIM.
He said he should be going to a needle exchange and picking up some dope tomorrow, and if all goes as planned, I will let you know how SWIMs experience went.

Thanks again for the information.

[~lostgurl~]

SWIM used Philly dope for 2 years and never cooked it. It dissolves almost instantly and when it doesn't you just stir it a bit with plunger end of the syringe (if it is sterile, straight from packet) Boiling it would surely cause some heroin to evaporate (not sure how much) but just heating it is a terrible idea, that wont kill any bacteria, water needs to be boiled to kill bacteria, bacteria thrives in warm water. Definitely use a filter and most of all remember that your dose will be much less than what you needed while snorting to get high.

[jerbles]

Heating doesn't really lose much of anything. Black tar should definitely be boiled, as it's more tollerant to heat, and also full of bacteria, I would say. And if swiy doesn't need to heat it to dissolve, then don't.

swij has IVed heroin for a long time (8 years) and has never not heated his dope. I don't know if it's always been necessary for it to melt, but swij has never thought about doing a cold shot.

A lot of the shit swij would get was in the form of tan rocks, and when cooked would turn tan (almost yellow). The rocks wouldn't have melted without heat, unless he would have crushed them up maybe, but who's got time for all that?

[~lostgurl~]

SWIM was referring to the white/tan/brownish powder heroin sold on the east coast only. She has no idea when it comes to black tar or rock heroin.

[Nahbus]

SWIM has what his friend would call "junkie dream veins".
I'm assuming SWIM won't NEED to use a tourniquet if he doesn't have to, correct?
If he remembers correctly, they can be bad for your veins, although his friend claims the opposite.

[~lostgurl~]

Agreed, tourniquets can be tricky as once you register, you need to loosen the tourniquet before injecting and this movement can sometimes cause your needle to move out of the vein. But for many, finding a vein without a tourniquet is impossible. Having someone else control the tourniquet can make it easier. Pumping up the veins by lifting heavy objects or doing cardio exercise can be a good substitute, or a warm compress.

[Nahbus]

SWIMs veins are huge and very clearly visible, popping up from his skin. He has no doubt in his mind that he can hit without one.

[old hippie 56]

Swim always had trouble with tourniquets, cause more errors than prevented.

[jerbles]

agreed. swij only tried using one once and couldn't even get it to work. Swij also used to have very nice, visible veins, but after using a few times, it seems like all his veins sunk in deeper. Now he just looks for the green under his skin and sticks it in best he can, which usually works fine (with lots of practise ).

If swij has been lazy all day or not doing anything active, his veins are nearly invisible, but if he does a little work (runs, lifts heavy objects etc.) all his veins buldge out. It was weird, because swij was in rehab a long time ago, and his veins were always sticking out, and it pissed him off because whenever he was using they never would. Swij spent most of his time in there thinking of which veins he would hit first when he got out.. hehe

Also, tourniquets are bad for swiys veins (despite what some junkies might say...) as the needle causes more damage when one's veins are so pumped up like that. Swiys veins will also most likely roll around a lot, so I'd say fuck the tie and just go for it. Swij's arm would usually go numb before he could even see his veins, so he didn't even try using one.

[trptamene]

Can USA be added to the thread title?
This is a truly international forum.

[jerbles]

uh.... what?

[trptamene]

East Coast may mean something else to people who are not from the US.

[Nahbus]

argh!
Ok so SWIM and his lady friend got their dope, started out by snorting it, yada yada.
Tonight they decided they would try and shoot it.
SWIM shot his lady, it took him about the 3rd time to find her vein, saw the blood and very slowly injected her with a very small amount. No problem, really.
Then he tried to do it to himself and couldn't! He tried maybe like 10-15 times. It was super hard for him to do it with one hand. Pulling the plunger out was very difficult, it seemed stuck. Then he started asking his lady to pull the plunger for him (she's afraid of needles and was kind of weary about it) and all the times he had her do it they did not find his vein. It was very frustrating. She had to go home eventually and he didn't get a chance to do it.
Are there any tips on doing this yourself? His rigs seem really hard to push and pull, especially with one hand. He couldn't seem to find a comfortable way to hold it. And his veins are freaking huge, the problem doesn't necessarily lie with finding the vein (that will just take practice I guess), it's trying to find a good holding position to pull the plunger out.
Anyway, he's kind of bummed out, but he will try again tomorrow when he is not alone.
Any tips would be great.
He wishes his rigs had a ring on the plunger to put his finger in so it would be easier.
Thanks!

[~lostgurl~]

1 mil needles are easier to draw back than the 3 mil detachables. Try using the vein on the inside of the elbow, it seems the least likely to roll especially if your veins are big. Make sure your arm is resting on something so that the only thing that will move the needle out of the vein is the hand holding the needle.

[Nahbus]

SWIM says he has 1cc 31 guage insulin needles. He can only get them in the ____ where he gets his dope, or online. And right now SWIM only has 7 left (they only bought a 10 pack, to try it out)
What kind of needles would SWIY suggest ordering online?

[~lostgurl~]

1cc 27 guage. 31 is very tiny, no wonder you were having trouble with the plunger, it would have to be moved very slowly.

[Nahbus]

SWIM tried again tonight with his girlfriend.
He had been practicing ways of holding the syringe, and this time he had success! It took him a few tries to find his vein, but when he saw the blood suck back into the syringe he went for it. He thinks he missed some of the shot, though. After the shot there seemed to be a bump where he shot and it got kind of itchy. He got high, though, so most of it went into his vein (then slowly got higher after, perhaps from the missed portion?)
Then he shot his girlfriend on the first try.
All went well!
Anyway, what happens if you miss a shot? Does it still all get into your system, just not as fast? The spot where he shot is somewhat sore (feels like a sore muscle) and still slightly bumped up (feels like a liquid filled sac of sorts). I know you can get abscesses from missed shots, but how likely is that? Should SWIM be worried aout missing shots?
He's seen his friend miss plenty, and from what he's seen, he thinks he did miss some of it.
But all in all, it worked! Yay!

[~lostgurl~]

If you miss a shot with heroin it takes about 10 minutes to come on. If the bump on SWIY's arm is going down then it should be fine. If there has been no change or it has gotten worse seek medical attention. If you are concerned at all seek medical attention.

[Nahbus]

Yeah, SWIM figured so. Naw, the bump is pretty much gone.
But yeah, that seems right because SWIM says he got high at first (he didn't put a lot in the shot, he wanted to get a feel for shooting first), then about 10 minutes later got even more high, slowly.
Maybe next time SWIM should find a vein, shoot half, pull back to see if he's still in the vein, then shoot the rest.
I think it was mainly due to him changing finger positions from pulling to pushing that it must have knocked out at some point.

Oh well, he will try again some other day (he and his girlfriend still exclusively snort the dope, and are only injecting on occasion. It's just one of those things they do when things are feeling "special." Yada yada yada)

[~lostgurl~]

I think you will find the whole process much easier with a bigger guage 25-27 rather than 31 which I think (don't quote me on this though) should only be used for insulin or skin popping. Also drawing back again halfway through injecting will cause more damage to your veins. See this thread for more details: Injecting heroin