Be My Enabler, Help Me Get High

[Nikki Dolson]

I'm stuck so I plead to the higher writing powers.

I have written a character with a heroin addiction but I dont have any idea where to begin to research the process of injecting heroin. I've found articles and interviews on the dead, on crimes committed by users, statistics etc. but what I want is...well I guess I want "Heroin for Dummies" 2003 ed.

Suggestions?

[Daniel Hatadi]

Krank? Is that like ice (crystal methamphetamines)? We're ALL on it Down Under.

[Tribe]

Crystal meth indeed...it's basically used by poor white trash here in the Land of the Free.

[Stephen Blackmoore]

Always been fascinated by the economies of meth. The bulk of it in California was coming up from Mexico until they tightened border security. Now a lot of it is coming in from U.S. (and I use the term loosely) labs.

Problem is that the Mexicans are still producing a shitload of the stuff and they still want to make some money off it. Can't move it up north as cheaply as they used to, so now they're basically cannibalizing themselves. The meth problem in Tijuana has skyrocketed.

Interesting about the term "ice". Out here I've heard it referred to as crystal. The only place I've heard it referred to as ice in the states has been in Hawaii. The Puna district on the big island is loaded with tweakers. I wonder if the name difference is because of the Pacific / Asian connections in the Islands.

[Tribe]

They tend to exagerate the extent of the problem here in the Midwest...on the other hand, those labs are so darn portable and rigged that it's relatively easy (i would think) to set one up and tear another down.

[Daniel Hatadi]

Pretty much the same deal here, but it's also spread through the clubs where it's sometimes used as part of a drug cocktail of ecstasy, Viagra, and whatever else it takes to keep going all night long and into the next night too. It's messing up a lot of kids that were never told any better.

[Rob Siders]

Aside from the cost, really, I have no earthly idea why anyone would want to use meth... the way it ravages the body is just brutal. Then again, junkies aren't known for making sound decisions.

[Tribe]

"the way it ravages the body is just brutal."

You say this as if it were a bad thing.

[Stephen Blackmoore]

I had a friend who spent a good 6 months on the stuff. After that I don't know, because he wasn't my friend, anymore. It's not the ravaging the body that bothers me, so much as the smell. My god do tweakers stink. Shit comes out their pores. And he wasn't the most hygienic guy to begin with.

Had a lot of focus for stupid little tasks, though.

[Rob Siders]

"My god do tweakers stink."

You're not kidding... it's putrid to the hundredth power.

[Anne Frasier]

i remember friends shooting up kool aid way back in the days when more people did heroin. they would need a fix, didn't have one, and would shoot up kool aid for the rush. i guess it was kind of like trying to scratch a really deep itch.

[Laura Root]

Anne - you've just reminded me of a teenage friend who claimed to have tried smoking grass (as in the real life green stuff on lawns) in case that bore any resemblence to grass.

I live a very sheltered life - had just about heard of ice, but hadn't even heard the word "tweaker" till I read Hollywood Station.

[Nikki Dolson]

Y'all are the best! Thanks so much for your help!!!!!!!!!!!!!