Heroin, Part 1

10 Responses

1. You know, I think that heroin may actually not be so good for people.

2. hey guys, love the show. i was a heroin addict for 3 years. being terrified of withdrawls i was only able to quit by trading junk for suboxone, which, since it doesn’t get me high (while still helping my chronic pain somewhat) & lasts much longer & is therefore cheaper, i am comfortable being on for life. wanted to clear a couple of things up. first of all, i have always heard that the slang name of “smack” came from the act of slapping a tourniquetted arm to raise a vein so it can be seen/shot into. also, the reason for plugging is that when you take heroin orally you get about 40%; insulflation-65%; rectally-80%; smoking-95%; injection-100%. plus, heroin crosses the blood brain barrier 3x faster than morphine does when injected, because the dicetyl part of the molecule added onto the morphine basically does nothing but make the drug slightly more fat soluble & the brain is mostly made of cholesterol & such. also, in pulp fiction they supposedly gave her adrenaline, which i doubt would work. withdrawls are a nightmare, my advice to people who are thinking about trying opiates is either don’t, or AT THE VERY LEAST never do them for 2 days in a row, & never within 72 hours of previous use to avoid getting hooked. i was called a drug addict my whole life. when i went on a morphine/oxy/smack binge after a longterm girlfriend left i came down into what i thought was the worst flu i had ever had x1000. it was only after i did some more opiates to help with my symptoms & it completely took the sickness away that i realized 1-it wasn’t a bad flu, & 2-my parents & such were wrong, i was never really a drug addict, i just really enjoyed coke, meth, acid, all that shit, but, unfortunately 3-i really was a drug addict now, & could no longer even get out of bed to live my life & not be in horrible pain without junk. i’m very thankful for suboxone, but can’t say i’ll never chip (occaisionally use) again, since it really is extremely euphoric while completely killing my knee/back pain & growing symptoms of arthritis.

   1. Thanks for the 1st person account, eerily similar to a story that I read excerpts from in part 2….

3. SO glad I’d finished eating breakfast before hearing that abscess story XD

   I read a really interesting book recently called “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts”, by Dr Gabor Mate, who has spent twelve years working with addicts in Vancouver’s Eastside. It’s about the science of addiction and the idea that addicts are much more a victim of their circumstances than of a given substance. There’s lots of cool neuroscience and psychology stuff in there, and of course some pretty caustic stories too. You guys may have mentioned it already in your Addictions episode, I only just finished season 3 of the back-catalogue so I haven’t heard that one yet 😛

   http://drgabormate.com/book/in-the-realm-of-hungry-ghosts/

   PS. Love the show, you guys are awesome!

4. Oh man, I grew up in Courtenay and remember that summer of overdoses on Vancouver Island. A guy I barely knew had two people die in his basement in Courtenay. Ugh.

5. I’m still laughing about Toren tricking the answer out of Kevin.

6. Another great, horrifying show. That abscess story was just… unmentionable. I can’t think who I’d tell it to! BTW, re Trainspotting, if you haven’t read the book you really should. It’s such an amazing ride. Every chapter is by a different character, but the only way to tell is by the accent that it’s written in. Some of it is pretty easy to read, while other parts are amazingly hard (for me). Well worth it. Can’t imagine what part 2 is going to include. And there was me thinking you’d do an episode on chocolate or Easter/Eostre tomorrow. 🙂

   1. I loved reading Trainspotting, but could only get into it if I read it out loud or at least out loud in my head, to make the accents make sense.

      1. +1 It’s the only way for some of the chapters.

7. that story about the abscess may be the best thing i’ve ever heard on caustic soda. it could have made for one of the best youtube videos of all time.