Injecting - What is SWIYs preffered needle and syringe specifications?

[H Bomber]

Ok, so SWIM noticed that in the wide world of injection drug use there is quite a variety of options available for equipment. For IV use he prefers a 28ga needle that is 1/2" (12.7mm) in length and is permanently affixed to a 1cc (100 unit) disposable Becton-Dickinson brand (BD medical supplies) insulin syringe and which comes in a ten pack. This is when injecting heroin or the majority of other opioids (fentanyl is a notable exception). For IM use, such as when he is doing ketamine or anabolic steroids, or even just muscling opioids, he prefers a 23ga needle that is 1 1/2" and interchangeably affixed with a luer-lock connector to a 3cc syringe, also by BD, which comes with needle and syringe separately individually wrapped.

He also noticed, however, that everybody seems to have a different opinion on which is the best sort of equipment to use. So, is SWIY more a fan of 1/2cc (50u), or even 1/3cc (30u), syringes? Heck, maybe they just like to use a big old 5 or 10cc, just for fun. Perhaps they go in for the Terumo, Kendall or Walgreen's brands, or for that matter any other one of the numerous syringe manufacturers out there. Some people find 1/4" (6.35mm) length needles on their 'insulin' syringes are just more comfortable and produce less of a track mark, and others find them hard to use because of their scar tissue. A person who IMs may rather use a 1" length needle if they have a slim build. With sizes up to 33ga available, the average user has 5 gauges (up from 28ga) that they are likely to find suitable. Some prefer the minimal damage that the higher gauges offer, however many find that the lower end of the spectrum is more suitable, as they allow the syringe to fill and empty relatively quickly and are less likely to clog or break. Maybe if they are IMing they like to slap a 21ga on there and just unload that sucker, or maybe they are sensitive and would rather use a 25ga. If they skin pop, maybe they like a 26ga with a sub-cutaneous bevel. The possibilities are seemingly endless.

So, given all the factors involved, what overall specifications are swimmers looking for in their equipment?

Reputation Comments on this post:

Very good tread, swim doesn't shoot much. his friends get the one with the orange top, small needle.

[JonDub]

30g 1cc 1/2" Preferred, but have no problem using 28g 1cc 1/2". Also have no problem using 1/2 cc's if I have too. Anything bigger then 28g is just too big.

[Lac_Man]

Swim unfortunately has had no choice but to use 25 gauge at 5/8" spikes lately, which is a bummer, but the usual preference is something along the lines of 29 gauge at 1/2". It all depends on what is available. There are no needle exchanges in swim's city, and since swim's state border's Mex., where tar primarily enters the states, pharmacies are very strict about handing out needles.

[SmokeNmirrors]

30g 1cc TERUMOS duh lol

[Chromo]

My lizard's favorite is 1cc 30 gauge with a 5/16 inch needle. He likes the 31 gauge even better, but they are a bit too easy to clog and a bit too slow to fill and empty, so 30ga is a good compromise. These small gauges are very easy to insert and don't leave much of a mark. The "short needle" as it's called on the packaging is definitely preferred over the long ones, even with my lizard's tough scales in certain spots the short length always seems to work just fine with less chance of poking straight through.

[billy1nk]

Swim prefers the 1/2 cc needles. Swim finds them easier to hit with and a lot less painful.

[joshua666]

Swim likes 1/2 cc short tip needles the best,there small and easier to hide....

[dyingtomorrow]

1 CC - God SWIM wishes he could get bigger needles, but that is the largest they will sell without an RX here.

31 gauge. SWIM can hit the tiniest veins anywhere in the body with this needle with no problem. Learning to use it and all the techniques involved for shooting small veins gives you unlimited veins basically.

[zoidman1]

Swim has been using a needle the size of a pop bottle :/

[H Bomber]

Wow, short tips and small gauges are more popular than swim would've guessed. Short tips (length) fall short of his veins because of scars. And anything over 29ga has a tendency to bend, break, or get very dull in that same gristly scar tissue. Swim wishes he hadn't messed his good veins up so bad.

[east_of_eden]

swim doesn't get much of a choice, the local needle exchange only has 29,28 or 27 g. BD brand 1 cc or 1/2 cc

swim prefers 27g 1cc and these are by far the most common on the exchange, the ones they run out of most. she normally uses these for IM use, but for IV the 29g is best because the big veins are all gone and she has to use the smaller ones (even though these tend to clogg up easier).

swim doesn't think there's a choice on the length of the needle.

question: are any swimmers in the U.S. able to just walk into a pharmacy and buy needles? swim's read some posts on here that seem to imply this but she has never known pharmacys to sell without something from a doctor.

[chillinwill]

Originally Posted by east_of_eden

question: are any swimmers in the U.S. able to just walk into a pharmacy and buy needles? swim's read some posts on here that seem to imply this but she has never known pharmacys to sell without something from a doctor.

Yes some of the pharmacies you can. Some of them (at least in Red Rock's state) require a script. Even some of the pharmacies that don't require a script it is up to their discretion if they want to sell them to you.

[east_of_eden]

Originally Posted by chillinwill

Yes some of the pharmacies you can. Some of them (at least in Red Rock's state) require a script. Even some of the pharmacies that don't require a script it is up to their discretion if they want to sell them to you.

swims friend is in the los angeles area and this friend has tried several times to go into pharmacies and buy them, either making up a story of her grandma sending her in to buy her insulin needles or just asking to buy them and its never worked.

[chillinwill]

Red Rock believes it varies state to state. CA might be one of the few states that requires a script. Even here where Red Rock lives, at time the lady behind the counter asked him what they were for and he said insulin. She asked who had diabetes and Red Rock said he did and she then proceeded to ask Red Rock what brand of insulin he uses and how many units. He didn't know these answers so she didn't sell it to him at the time but Red Rock made sure to have these answers any other time he went to go buy them.

[H Bomber]

Originally Posted by east_of_eden

question: are any swimmers in the U.S. able to just walk into a pharmacy and buy needles? swim's read some posts on here that seem to imply this but she has never known pharmacys to sell without something from a doctor.

Swim can say that in Florida they sometimes give you a hard time but that it is legal. In New Jersey the sale of insulin syringes is prohibited without a prescription. In New York City syringes are readily available for free to members of the needle exchange, and the card used at the exchange provides the bearer with (theoretical) protection from law enforcement, as far as needles go at least. In parts of New York state that are not within the 5 boroughs of NYC the sale of insulin syringes at pharmacies (they are usually around $3.00-$3.50 for a ten pack, which is the primary way they are supplied when purchased) is legal through a program the state of NY has called ESAP (expanded syringe access demonstration program) {whats up with them leaving the letter 'D' out of the acronym?}. This program may provide a legal place to buy needles, but it does not make the possession of said needles legal under New York state criminal law. This is in spite of the fact that whenever a 10-pack of syringes is sold the customer is given an ESAP pamphlet stating that possession of the legally purchased syringes is legal under some section of the New York public health code. Swim supposes that criminal law supercedes the public health code, at least in the eyes of law enforcement. Don't you just love those catch 22's? Yay for overly complicated and contradictory American Bureaucracy!

[dyingtomorrow]

Originally Posted by H Bomber

In New York City syringes are readily available for free to members of the needle exchange, and the card used at the exchange provides the bearer with (theoretical) protection from law enforcement, as far as needles go at least.

SWIM has a card in Chicago that allows him to carry needles, although he always figured it was effectively worthless. SWIM can't remember a time where he was rolling somewhere with needles but not either his cooker or some dope.

SWIM also wondered if, after presenting this card, it would give the police "probable cause" to search you, or a "reasonable suspicion" to frisk you. The most likely scenario this would be brought up in would be a white kid walking around in a black "ghetto" area. Police car pulls up, asks him what he's doing here. "Uh going to my friends house." "Bullshit, you're out here coppin'. What's your thing guy, rocks or blows?" "Uhh..."

At this point unless he has a homerun excuse - which basically doesn't exist since reverse racism/racial profiling is sickeningly legally allowed in this context - the police will most likely be able to come up with some vague justification of a suspicion to meet the Terry stop / "stop and frisk" criteria to frisk him, and "plain feel" his drugs or paraphenalia in his pockets.

Officer Report: Young white male, apparently from surrounding middle/upper class area, encountered low income black area, frequenting a "known drug dealing location," "acting very nervous," "hands keep going in pockets," "suspiciously tried to avoid police contact," "prior to contact, appeared to try and signal a black male who ran off upon sighting us," "saw a glint in pocket, possibly a knife."

Of course none of this happened in reality, aside from that a young white person was in a low income black area, as if that is a crime in itself, and there aren't plenty of good reasons why white and black people could be interacting. As friends, family, lovers, group members, and so on - it's just ridiculous and racist (both towards blacks and whites) that being white in a black neighborhood is grounds to be stopped in pretty much any major city.

So back to the story, now that the police have stopped this white kid in the ghetto, his only chance is to try and talk his way out of it fast before they frisk him, so he has nothing to lose. Common strategies include "I was going to the bus stop." Or nearest subway line. Depending on how you are dressed sometimes a white person can be doing contracted construction or painting (so that can be a strategy to protect yourself if you are going in the ghetto, and would make it harder for them to write the bullshit lying report justifying the stop and might deter them). But typically any attempt at some BS they've heard already and won't buy. The desperate ones are "I was actually going to buy something, sir, but I haven't yet." In which case most of the time they let the person go for just being honest after telling them "get the fuck out of here and don't come back." Of course they know if the person is dopesick they will be right back. Fortunately the futility of the War on Drugs has demoralized a number of them, and they realize there is no point in wasting their time with all the paperwork of arresting this person who is never going to stop doing dope no matter what. Now with the needle card, another excuse might be "I was going to the needle exchange, I have my card that lets me carry them." The question I wonder is if they still would be able to search or frisk you - if that would give them probable cause of a crime (dirty cookers or heroin), or satisfy the reasonable suspcion requirement to frisk you (if they haven't already compiled enough lies based loosely on the situation) in a Terry stop.

SWIM bets such a scenario is a gray area and that whoever it happens to will be in for a drawn out court battle. On the plus side it might be the type you could get pro bono representation for though, from the ACLU or whatnot. SWIM supposes such a case could have come up in some State already and it just is low key and we don't know their resolution. SWIM definitely does not plan on flaunting his needle card until he knows the answer to this.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	That is so disgustingly true, I'm going to go vomit now...
	as usual DT comes through with a great post

[Randomdanceing]

Swim is very unfortunate, He just shot up for the first time.
Swim was forced to use a needle for horses, 20 cc and a small needle that was as thick as a acouple tooth picks >.> i blew up my vein in swims thumb.
Very poor choose of locations with a dildo sized needle >.>
Still cant move swims thumb and it feels like its been run over.

Randomdanceing added 1 Minutes and 11 Seconds later...

Arg swim messed up on not refering to himself
swims bad still adjusting to form

[SmokeNmirrors]

At this point unless he has a homerun excuse - which basically doesn't exist since reverse racism/racial profiling is sickeningly legally allowed in this context - the police will most likely be able to come up with some vague justification of a suspicion to meet the Terry stop / "stop and frisk" criteria to frisk him, and "plain feel" his drugs or paraphenalia in his pockets.

Officer Report: Young white male, apparently from surrounding middle/upper class area, encountered low income black area, frequenting a "known drug dealing location," "acting very nervous," "hands keep going in pockets," "suspiciously tried to avoid police contact," "prior to contact, appeared to try and signal a black male who ran off upon sighting us," "saw a glint in pocket, possibly a knife."

Of course none of this happened in reality, aside from that a young white person was in a low income black area, as if that is a crime in itself, and there aren't plenty of good reasons why white and black people could be interacting. As friends, family, lovers, group members, and so on - it's just ridiculous and racist (both towards blacks and whites) that being white in a black neighborhood is grounds to be stopped in pretty much any major city.

In Philly its the same way, white kid walking around the most dangerous and drug infested part of the city always draws unwanted attention. If a cop rolls up on swim, swim just tells the truth he is there coping because if swim says visiting a friend or something stupid they just get pissed. A lot of times they just don't even bother searching and just tell swim something like its just a matter of time before he is a prostitute or something. Swim has been searched before though but luckily stashed it well. If swim has works though they usually just take them anyway also it helps to show them swim still has some money so it looks like swim has scored yet. It is a bunch of bullshit and until swims heroin use, swim had never experienced any kind of racism.

[dyingtomorrow]

Originally Posted by east_of_eden

question: are any swimmers in the U.S. able to just walk into a pharmacy and buy needles? swim's read some posts on here that seem to imply this but she has never known pharmacys to sell without something from a doctor.

In the State of Illinois, pharmacies are required by law to sell you, if you are 18 or older, up to two ten-packs of needles, of a volume-maximum of 1 CC (no gauge requirements though). For any greater quantity of needles or larger volume CC, you need a prescription.

Walgreens is always kindly about selling them, but some places are assholes. Jewel grocery stores as SWIM recalls only stock ridiculously expensive needles, at least where SWIM was at. And SWIM had been hassled at a CVS before about what he was using him for, contrary to the law. Then the guy said they only had the bullshit tiny .33 CC needles which were practically worthless with the quantity of powder SWIM was doing at the time (and which SWIM still hates for being so small, which he always checks for to make sure they don't pull a fast one on him).

[east_of_eden]

swim is shocked at how many states sell needles (seemingly no questions asked) maybe CA is like this now too. It's been awhile since swim has tried to go into a pharmacy to buy them.

like someone else said, onetime when swim went in pretending to be picking some up for grandma because of her diabetes (sp?) they asked her specific questions that she had no answers to.

last night swim went to the needle exchange for the first time in a long time and its so so nice to have fresh supplies. thankfully, it seems most places at least understand the need to have this service available now.

east_of_eden added 2 Minutes and 13 Seconds later...

also, swim realized terumo is her brand, not BD. BD's are the ones with the big orange caps on the back of the syringe right, those don't seem to pull back as smoothly for her.

[mickey_bee]

Swim alternates between 1ml 29g and 1ml 30g. The 30g leaves basically no track marks, and slips in so easy, and it's got a detatchable tip so you can suck up more of the gear.
However, swim likes variety, and he first started shooting with the 29g BD insulin syringes.........so he kind of has a soft spot for em.

Swim was forced to shoot up with 28g pins last xmas.........and he was not a fan. He really felt like they were doing waaaaay more damage to his veins than his normal 30g. Not nice.

EDIT: everyone else swim knows goes in the groin though, so they use these massive detatchable dagger-like affairs. Swim isn't into that tho.

[thebige]

In the state swim lives in just go up to the counter and ask for what you want......Swim thinks in the town he recently moved to..... finally came to the conclusion that if they just didn't sell them....it may create other problems.......Just ask for a insulin syringe.They sell em for a dollar apiece.10 packs,boxes of 100 etc.


29G 1cc...............but swim doesn't use needles (true)
Your local vet will have monster sizes available.........
also a new syringe is a good addition to a emergency bug-out bag(in case of a disaster)

[Junkhead23]

Pacman uses 1/2ml syringes for fingers and palms and 1ml for others. Not sure of the gauge tbh

[psyche]

Not sure about the specs for SWIM, but regarding bying of the needles he was also asked what they are for. SWIM told the pharmacist that he has an unusual hobby of cultivating mushrooms, and you need them to inoculate sterile growing substrate with mycelia. No furhter questions were asked. Though I guess just saying for drugs could've done it, since it was a packet with instructions on safe shooting and directions to needle-exchange.

[ex-junkie]

swim used to use 28 gauge standard insulin syringes for heroin. for methadone, it was a 25.5 gauge (she thinks) butterfly needle, to which she would screw on either a 2ml or 5ml syringe for administration.

before she injected her dose of methadone (which was undiluted- ie. no diluent, not watered down), she would attach the syringe to a proper pill filter, spray it into a clean container to take out any impurities, then inject till her heart was content. still to this day, there are stains on her drivers seat (in her car), from drips and spills from this process.