News, Philip Seymour Hoffman: Why heroin is so deadly.

[Glacierx]

Originally Posted by Johnbiggs

From my experience, it's not a matter of stupidity, but rather of depression/detachment/despair. Usually people have to get to the "I just don't give a F---" point before they try it.

I don't think it has anything to do with depression any more than it is for any one who tried alcohol or marijuana just once at a party. I was watching a documentary on some of the bad boys of Country music recently. I think it was Waylon Jennings who was talking about why heroine is so bad. When you are young, and at a party, someone offers you alcohol, of which you partake to fit in (I'm sure we've all been there). Then later on, especially in the celebrity circles, someone offers you cocaine. The high is great, but the cocaine is expensive. Then someone offers you heroine for a mere $10. You partake, and the next day you feel great. No headache like alcohol, and no high price like cocaine. This is great, so you take it again the next time around thinking all along that you are not going to get addicted to the stuff.

Pretty soon your body can no longer get high on the low dose, so you start spending more and more not realizing that you are now hooked. From there things just spin out of control. It's pretty sad, but it could easily happen to any one of us.

[stepka]

I just learned another reason that heroin is deadly. Sometimes users can't get it and will go for whatever they can get. In Russia, what they often reach for is a drug called krokodil (desomorphine). It can be made at home in a similar manner to meth production, only with codeine instead of ephedrine and it produces a high similar to heroin though of shorter duration. Over time it breaks down the user's skin, which will peel off in large sheets or get infected and rot off. I will not post images b/c it's too horrifying but I will say that bones are poking out. Please do not google image unless you have a very strong stomach.