DOSE:

repeated

smoked

Heroin

(tar / resin)

BODY WEIGHT:

150 lb

I've previously reported on the first time I took oxy: It's called a 'Peaceful, Easy Feeling'.

The first time I tried heroin, I was nervous, and excited. I had done my homework via the internet and knew that smoking it was the safest route of administration. I had a 'wiser' experienced user/friend to teach me how to 'chase the dragon'. I must admit, a certain part of me romanticized the tar (and still does), simply because of its relationship to opium.

To give you an idea of my personal tolerances, at the time I was taking between 40-50mg of hydrocodone about 5 times a day. I wanted a clean system, so refrained from taking any hydrocodone in the morning. I got to my friends' house at around 11am, slightly withdrawing from the pills. The package which my friend had procured was a small balloon, about the size of my thumb. We grinned at each other conspiratorially over the small pink package, and she asked, 'You ready to try this?' Of course I said yes. I figured I'd already done every opiate known to man....I might as well take the plunge and try heroin.

She prepared an aluminum 'pipe' by tearing off a 4' by 4' square of foil, then running a lighters' flame over both sides of it. This is allegedly to 'burn off the impurities' on the foil. I don't know how based in fact this is, but every user I've met does it.
After readying the 'pipe', my friend gave me a dollar bill, took one of her own, then loosely folded it into a round tube- not as small as one would use for snorting something- a bit bigger. She told me we'd use our 'dope dollars' to channel the smoke, then put the folded bill in her mouth. I followed suit. She then opened up the balloon to reveal a thick, brown chunk of what looked like a cross between a rock and brown tacky candy. She placed a match-head size piece of brown, sticky goo on the upper right hand of the 'pipe'. The smell of the tar itself is much the same as vinegar.

Holding a lighter about an inch under the aluminum foil, my friend flicked the bick, and held the flame underneath the aluminum foil, while simultaneously tilting the foil a bit. I moved in with my dollar bill, exhaled, then started to inhale frantically as I saw the small brown chunk start to bubble and run very swiftly (and smokily) down the 'pipe'. The taste of heroin smoke is just like rancid ketchup. The vinegar smell carries over to the taste, and it burned the back of my throat pretty badly (and me being a smoker for 13 years, I'm no slouch). I managed to hold in the hit as she took hers, and I sat back on her bed, waiting to see what all the fuss was about. I exhaled a huge plume of smoke, waited one minute, and still felt nothing.

'Another hit?' asked my friend.
'Sure,' I said, since from my reading, I was pretty sure that the heroin crosses the blood-brain barrier within one minute, so I figured I was safe, and wasn't going to OD.

My second time following the bubbling brown trail was a little easier. I had the 'taste' in the back of my mouth, now, so didn't want to cough again (then, perhaps the anti-coughing properties of opiate was kicking in). I inhaled a lovely waft of pure, white, thick, sour smoke and held it in again. I repeated this process with my friend through about 5 hits before I felt it - a wave of gentle relaxation. The pipe was 'done' and looked a lot like a charred maze, or some arcane picture made by a medieval alchemist.

I was amazed- heroin was nothing like this 'mind blowing orgasm that you'd kill to have again'. It was just like the way most people report pot feels- it made me feel giddy, silly, gave me the munchies, and was generally very mellow. I ended up having about 3 pipes worth shared with my friend. I took around 15 hits over the course of a few hours. We'd smoke, then stop, have a cigarette, look to see if our pupils were pinned (which they were), talk, watch some Buffy, then after an hour or so, have another few hits. Overall, my first experience with heroin was lovely, and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Since that fateful day about a year ago, I've 'chipped' off and on. I enjoy the ritual of burning the aluminum foil 'impurities' off. I love the little sizzle that the brown tar makes as it starts to bubble. I savor the first hit, for it is the purest of all in terms of flavor, and I often try to tell what the heroin is cut with from the first hit's flavor and the subtle way it makes me feel. (The first time I was expecting a freight train as opposed to a VW Bug so I don't think I noticed the subtleties that I do today). I laugh at my 'heroin thumb'- the pain of the constantly flicked lighter is a feeling I'm sure any user is familiar with.

A note on powder: Since I live in Santa Cruz, the only heroin available is in tar form, however, I had a friend from NY out for a visit a few weeks ago. Following closely behind her was a very illegal package full of white powdery interestingness from her hometown. She is a shooter - something I have learned how to do simply for the knowledge, but have sworn to never do. (And since its been a year and I have NO desire to shoot, after a close call, I really think I'll hold to it).

Well, she shot her package, and told me it was good. The heroin was a dirty off-white looking powder which tasted chemically on small dab of pinky into mouth. I was mistrustful of it, myself. My heart isn't the best, and I figured if this stuff was cut with anything besides baby laxative, I'd be in deep trouble. There was a 'brand name' stamped on the wax paper package which contained the powder. I have since forgotten what the name was, but apparently this practice is very common in NY. I decided to burn the powder up and smoke it as opposed to snorting it.

I prepared a pipe, as I've become quite masterful at it. I piled up about a pinky-nail's worth of powder on one corner, and proceeded to 'cook' the powder down onto the foil. This 'heroin' behaved strangely. I could vaguely taste the rancid ketchup, but there was also a strangely sweet taste to the back of it- one which I couldn't place. The powder melted down to a thick yellowish looking blob. After one small 'taster' hit, I felt more sped-up than mellowed out, so decided to scrap it. I later found out that it was mixed, very slightly, with some sort of speed. Boy am I glad I didn't smoke that crap! The moral of the story: always test your dope. Even if it's from the same dealer, or the same package, they could mix shipments, combine pieces, whatever. Treat each piece with caution.

Over the last year, I've slowly weaned myself off of opiates. I now just smoke some occasional H. as a treat for myself....however, my husband always knows I've done it because he says my breath smells like 'sour milk'. Also - I've noticed that my bodily fluids (vaginal fluid and sweat) tend to smell slightly like the tar - not the best aphrodesic, even though it tends to make me horny as all hell. Heroin sometimes causes massive constipation (enemas are my friend....you shudder now, I know, but after a half hour on the pot with nothing to show, you'll start to think the humiliation of buying one is worth it too. I've turned many users onto enemas, and in their opinions- thumbs up all the way).

Even though I have generally had a positive experience, I've come close to breaking my 'no shooting' rule - to the point of having a spike actually in my vein - when I frantically said 'Stop! Stop! Pull it out before you shoot me up!' Wow - all that preparation - boiling, sterilization, buying a clean needle, etc. down the drain. Yup. That was one trip I didn't want to take when it came to the moment of truth. Despite the fact that shooters describe a blissful state, I didn't know what the tar was cut with - and even with cooking, I don't think it's safe.

Exp Year: 2005	ExpID: 52470
Gender: Female
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Dec 15, 2006	Views: 39,612
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Heroin (27) : Retrospective / Summary (11), Various (28)