= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
Hul-Gil comments on A rationalist's guide to psychoactive drugs - Less Wrong Discussion
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
= 783df68a0f980790206b9ea87794c5b6)
Loading…= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Powered by Reddit
= f037147d6e6c911a85753b9abdedda8d)
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (47)
Why nothing about opioids?
Some quick facts about opioids, including heroin. I have written up a version of this with sources if so desired.
0.) Opioids cause feelings of well-being and euphoria, and usually some sedation (though some can be stimulating). They do not generally cause mental impairment, unless enough are taken to cause one to nod off. Negative side-effects are rare at low doses, but increase as dose does, and can include nausea and constipation.
1.) Most opioids - again, including heroin - are not toxic in any manner*. (Meperidine is a notable exception.) One could be on morphine, for instance, one's entire life, and not suffer ill health effects beyond constipation (usually easily fixed with magnesium).
2.) Opioids are very addictive. No qualifiers here.
3.) Heroin addicts are usually so unhealthy because of drug prohibition, not because of the drug itself. Some of the things heroin is cut with are dangerous in combination with it (like quinine), or just plain dangerous; its manufacture is illegal and there is no quality control; and it is expensive, so addicts engage in behaviors like injection or theft.
4.) Opioid withdrawal will not kill you, and opioids are usually fairly hard to overdose on accidentally. Most heroin "overdoses" are actually due either to what is thought to be a contaminant in the heroin, or due to mixing drugs to make a limited supply of heroin last longer (see #3).
*I have read an article stating they can cause dopaminergic toxicity, which is what rewires your brain to require opioids after using them for a long time. As far as I know, this is reversible, however.
I have a theory that most opioid addicts are actually self-medicating for psychological pain. Opioids been found to be efficacious in the treatment of depression and anxiety, but concerns over addiction prevent them from being marketed for these uses. I find this odd, because benzodiazepines are used for psychiatric purposes, but are also (less, admittedly) addictive, and their withdrawal symptoms are much worse.
I've known a few people who have died from "heroin" overdose. So even if heroin doesn't tend to kill in itself, "heroin" is still quite dangerous.
I'm not convinced this is true. Heroin was certainly causing social problems back in the days when it was still legal, i.e., the reason a movement started to ban it in the first place.
From reading about heroin, isn't a lot of the danger from the acids involved in synthesizing onto the original morphine the 2 acetyl groups, leftover in the final powder?
I don't think so - acetic anhydride is really the only other reagent involved in the step we're considering, and an excess wouldn't be harmful in any way... except, possibly, making the product a bit uncomfortable to ingest, if too much acetic acid was left over. (An excess of acetic anhydride is commonly used so as to make sure all the morphine reacts; any excess will become acetic acid - i.e., vinegar - as well.) It's common for a little to be left over, giving heroin its characteristic (vinegar-y) smell, but I don't think it's dangerous.
So I'd say that there's no danger here... but lack of quality control in general is definitely a big problem indeed.
I don't know about other cities, but I've used heroin in NYC off and on for almost 5 years, and I can safely say that, although I attempted to control for nutrition etc., I almost always had some deleterious effects on my skin etc. from (presumably) additives, even using "pure" stuff. If you're taking something in intravenously, very pure is not pure enough.
Injection is not just because of pricing. It's not that expensive-- $/effect is greater than many other opioids. Addiction behavior is known to manifest around drugs that have quick onset, quick fade of effect, and an intense peak. Injection yields this. Also snorting it will tear up your nose, possibly because you haven't filtered it yet (which virtually everyone does before IVing).