Why do people start taking heroin?

Foxhound38 wrote: »

Just looking on from the other thread about sterilizing junkies, the most obvious question entered my head: why do people start taking the stuff in the first place. I can almost understand and sympathize with people who found themselves hooked in the 80's or even the early 90's when it first started hitting the streets - people may have been ignorant of its affects.

But surely ignorance is not an excuse now - young people can actually see what happens to people who take gear. They may have aunties or uncles or brothers or sisters hooked on the stuff, they can even take the Luas in Dublin and see what the craic is. Do the zombies infesting our cities look like they're having a particularly good time in their existance? Is it possible that young, non-using people could look at these junkies shuffling around half dead and think to themselves "that sounds like fun, I think I'll go get some heroin..."?

How do people justify starting it to themselves right now?

Personally I think people start off on a less harmful drug like hash, then they might take a E on a night out before you know it is coke and when that is no longer enough a bit of brown wont let em down

Many start taking it at a young age. As young as 12-16 so they may not be aware of the effects of it and as it is a very addictive substance it spirals to a serious addiction

Probably for the same reason a lot try smoking; to see what it's like and to fit in.

(Not saying that everyone started smoking this way btw)

Dravokivich wrote: »

To get high. Seeking a sense of euphoria in an otherwise unbearable existence. I'd imagine.



As far as I can tell, people who smoke hash, for the most part tend to be happy to stick with smoking hash.

Well there is your Pot heads who just love smoking and don't use anything else but then there is your drugies who hash just does not do enough for them but they probably would have started off on hash

Foxhound38 wrote: »

Is it possible that young, non-using people could look at these junkies shuffling around half dead and think to themselves "that sounds like fun, I think I'll go get some heroin..."?

That is possible, people see winos on the street, scruffy and half dead and still take up drinking. Same with cigarettes which are more addictive than heroin, people are nearly 100% sure they will end up hooked on cigarettes, its not so with heroin, contrary to what people might have in their heads.

There are lots of functional heroin addicts out there, just like alcoholics, and heroin users who are not addicts.

Dravokivich wrote: »

Doesn't make hash a gateway to the problem. Maybe I want to feel the thrill and rush of the wind in my hair so I cycle down a steep hill. Some people prefer to jump out of planes. Cycling down the hill wasn't good enough for'em it seems. But does that make it the gateway? no. Just because it was something that could have been more accessible to use first, doesn't mean it was what led them to heroin. They were always going to make it to heroin, with or without hash, as it gives'em what they were looking for.

I agree I was not trying to say hash was their gateway more of the wanted a high and moved up the chain until they got the high they wanted

There are many reasons people take heroin, many I've seen and heard. One is to get that high they hear about, better than nothing else. What they're not told is it's nothing like the first and they chase it and keep doing it. A lot of people seem to be have the mindset (which I'm sure has come up in all our thoughts) that YOU won't be the one to get addicted, you can try it once and never again, it won't happen to YOU. They want to try for that high they've heard about.

Also, what anti-drugs people tell you about gear is that it'll kill you. Again most think they can avoid that by doing things certain ways, but it killing them isn't nearly as bad as what happens to some users. They're destroyed by it and when they don't have it, they NEED to get it. If it killed them, it wouldn't be as bad and if they knew what could really happen, maybe they'd avoid it (but probably not). Now, this doesn't happen to everyone by all means, there are very functional junkies and people who get off. A family friend's ex-dealer was the loveliest fella you'd ever meet (at least when he had the drugs), never banged up when I was there, taught me cards, I loved him. Saw him a little while ago, first time in 14 years or so and he's off the gear, looking healthy, doesn't even smoke anymore. Always good to see.

This one I've heard a little bit too... People generally don't progress from hash to skag unless they're inclined to go to it anyway (and it so happens some of the people that they'll smoke with might have some heroin), but I've heard people who were on shiteloads of Es taking heroin as a comedown. I don't know how much this happened, but there are a couple of poor sods walking around that came from this.

There are many reasons, as I said, these are just ones I've seen or heard.

Anybody I know who had a heroin addiction (7 people) started off with hash - FACT

The point is a lot of people on heroin began with hash, but not everyone who smokes hash moves onto heroin.