Why do people start taking heroin?

13-12-2013 08:53PM

What I wonder is why are people attracted to certain groups of people or certain life styles in the first place, I think before anyone gets hooked that's the key they are attracted to the lifestyle!

Call Me Jimmy · 13-12-2013 09:11PM

Well I think the amount of lifestyles associated with drug-taking are numerous so I'd say it'd be more a rejection of a single lifestyle - namely working 9-5 type jobs - that is more pertinent (sorry couldn't think of a more normal word). I am speaking in the cases of people who are not necessarily psychologically or emotionally damaged.

13-12-2013 09:19PM

Call Me Jimmy wrote: »

Well I think the amount of lifestyles associated with drug-taking are numerous so I'd say it'd be more a rejection of a single lifestyle - namely working 9-5 type jobs - that is more pertinent (sorry couldn't think of a more normal word). I am speaking in the cases of people who are not necessarily psychologically or emotionally damaged.

That's an important point its not 9 to 5 they want to escape its hard work and the restriction of ever day life something in their personality is attracted to the idea of being able to live like that.

Tigger · 13-12-2013 09:25PM

Hash makes me para and I've never taken e or coke. Speed is gross acid is confusing but smoking opium or heroin is lovley. Problem is that if you wake up and have a drink of vodka or wake up and have some smack you are having a problem. Willpower is the answer but smack takes a lot of will power.

Lots of people smoke herion sometimes it if you have no job no woman no car and no hope then I can see why it would become a answer rather than a recreational drug .

Lingua Franca · 13-12-2013 10:42PM

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

Not "relatable" in the slightest...

Can you explain why not?

I did mean relatable as in the drugs mentioned (oxycontin, percocet) are not ones that would be common in Ireland, but otherwise the process of falling into addiction would be the same. Not that everyone can personally relate to it, if that's how you took it.

Lingua Franca · 13-12-2013 10:49PM

ceadaoin. wrote: »

Not really. A lot of American heroin users start out abusing prescription painkillers. As their tolerance builds they need more pills which they can't afford so they move onto heroin which is cheaper.

I wouldn't imagine many Irish people start heroin that way.

Prescription pills like diazepam, temezepam, xanax etc are commonly abused.

dd972 · 13-12-2013 11:02PM

Existential agony is probably the main driver among other factors.

kupus · 13-12-2013 11:09PM

Environment is the key. Im a firm believer that you are a product of your environment.
You grow up around addicts more than likely you'll become an addict. There is always exceptions, but very rare. (Im talking about ghetto areas btw and not MAry married to Johnny in the suburbs who is downing a bottle of merlot and painkillers every night).

Eg I had a brazilian stay with me for a while once, one tough looking bstard, one look at him and you knew he didnt have anything easy in life. He came from the slums and lost many of his friends along the way through drugs violence and gang life. But the parents beat him to go to school. he hated it, but beat him to school they did. HE graduated and a priest helped him get a scholarship to a university and he studied science.
He is now a scientist teaching others about black holes.
But as he says he was the exception if his parents didnt make him go to school and strict about who his friends were he would have ended up in a gang with the other slum children and the only thing they know is violence drugs and death, definitely not black holes.

rolliepoley · 13-12-2013 11:26PM

The rush and then the feeling, its like getting a hug from God.

Gran Hermano · 13-12-2013 11:33PM

lukesmom wrote: »

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.

100% of alcoholics i know started off on milk - FACT
It could be said it got them into the whole habit of drinking and interacting with bottles.
Should we ban milk?

WoollyRedHat · 14-12-2013 12:20AM

I dunno, but I'm thinking of doing some to keep me up tomorrow night to do an essay and then be able to head for work in the morning.

Splat Strawberry Jam · 14-12-2013 12:37AM

Merkin wrote: »

I think if you're a habitual drug user than you always want to top your best high and heroin seems to fulfill that because it is supposed to be absolutely amazing. So I think for some people who are big into narcotics in the first place it's simply upping the ante on everything they've tried before only it's not so easy to extricate yourself once hooked.

I'm a habitual drug user and that is claptrap. I use drugs (cannabis) every now and then because it is relaxing and fun. I dont yearn for a greater high. It's the same argument as assuming that someone who drinks a Bacardi Breezer will eventually yearn for absinthe. Ridiculous, simplistic and ignorant.

thebaz · 14-12-2013 12:42AM

certifiedcrepe wrote: »

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)

good point, why would anyone today start smoking ?? me , I'm an ex smoker , and regret ever getting hooked - What positive thing can cigarettes add to your life?

What positive things can heroin bring to your life ?

Been, around a lot of addiction in my life, and very few get started cause life was wonderful , not an excuse , more an escape

ceadaoin. · 14-12-2013 12:45AM

Lingua Franca wrote: »

Prescription pills like diazepam, temezepam, xanax etc are commonly abused.

Opiates like OxyContin etc would more naturally lead to heroin as it would be cheaper alternative. I'm no expert but I didn't think they were commonly abused in Ireland to the extent that they are in the US so the slide into addiction depicted on the imgur link wouldn't be a very common scenario. Obviously the bits about once they start using and it getting more frequent then moving onto shooting up etc would be common denominators everywhere.

enfant terrible · 14-12-2013 12:47AM

campo wrote: »

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

I think the actual path is alcohol, cigarettes then heroin.

Splat Strawberry Jam · 14-12-2013 12:47AM

mariaalice wrote: »

A far more interesting question is why are people so desperate to get high or escape reality, how come some can dabble in a bit of weed when young and leave it at that, why do some people crash and burn and some don't.

Why are the examples given and questions asked based on extremes though? Alcohol is always described as "a few drinks" yet smoking weed gets the "desperate to escape reality" line. Weed does not make you escape reality. You simply relax and feel enjoyment. I have never slurred my speech on weed and booty-called someone i really shouldnt be booty-calling. I have regrettably done that while drunk. I believe there is a far greater sense of reality escapism with alcohol.

I smoke weed on a couple of occasions a week. I have a very good job and a lot of responsibility in a competitive field. I am in my 30s with a nice girlfriend and good mates who are all doing their own thing well in life. Head exploded yet?

ElvisChrist6 · 14-12-2013 12:51AM

kupus wrote: »

Lets play a game of spot the middle class in this thread lol, hash as a gateway drug....Thats too expensive..

Glue is THEE gateway way drug, cheap affordable and found everywhere. NExt comes painkillers from the doc morphine or other lighter generic drugs, easily cooked by those who know how to make an injectible hit.
Then pushers start giving free hits to get hooked and bang your down the rabbit hole. With F all chance of getting out. Until you go on meth which is just state sponsored pharma invested drug use anyway.
A few people I know who went on meth went back using again. Its either total abstinence or bust.

When you say "meth", do you mean phy (methadone) or that American drug that's only come in here the past couple of years? Big difference, and we don't call our one meth.

anncoates · 14-12-2013 12:52AM

I blame all the jim jims in this town and all the politicians making crazy sounds.

thebaz · 14-12-2013 12:56AM

why would people smoke crack or crystal meth too ?

ther usage , nearly always leads to horrible lives .

Then why do people take prescrition mood altering drugs ? why do people binge drink , and not drink like the French/Italians , as enhancer to food ?

deep questions for a sober baz, friday night , leading up to Christmas - who has no smokes to help him unwind.

Splat Strawberry Jam · 14-12-2013 01:04AM

anncoates wrote: »

I blame all the jim jims in this town and all the politicians making crazy sounds.

Although Lou Reed enjoyed some golden brown in his time, i find that song to be a great means of putting one off taking heroin. He seems to glorify the feeling it gives yet the insular and lonely nature of the heroin high is brilliantly illustrated. The song has layers maaaaaan

obezyana · 14-12-2013 01:40AM

Iv taken E, Speed, Coke, Hash(in a yop as I don't and won't smoke) I drink every now and then I ain't addicted to any one of them. I wouldn't ever go near Heroin as the idea of getting hooked on it scares me a bit

the rest iv done no problem I'm not an addictive person so iv never worried about getting hooked on any drug iv taken but as I said Heroin would be a complete no no.

Dionysius2 · 14-12-2013 01:56AM

campo wrote: »

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

More people start off on nicotine than on any other drug but oooops, nearly forgot cos that's a legally available extremely damaging drug that people can buy once they are of age. No bothers though cos all that harm and personal injury that people worry about well that takes a long time to show, like, and by the time it does show up well the smoker has paid a huge amount in tobacco tax so there's a kind of entitlement there to do damage since it's your money that will sustain you in the hospital. Well it will go a long way, like. And it's so easy to swap the baccy for the hash.....they are so alike and all that.

Nettle · 14-12-2013 03:09AM

Back in the 80/90's when heroin first became a problem in Ireland mainly dublin, it is thought be as it was used as a come down from pills, and that is still the case today, I have met many an addict through previous work places that became addicted as they used gear to come down off crack cocaine.

As for the hash being a gate way drug, this is stated as many addicts who speak of getting into the drug scene, started off with hash, this isn't to say that every person who smokes hash will end up on gear.

The reasons for people who use gear will vary like the weather, some try it thinking they won't become addicted, some get into to it because they are surrounded by it, some because they use it to block out life troubles, some because of peers and others because they are just blind to the terror and heart ache that heroin brings to the individual and their families.

The approach to heroin use in his country is ridiculous, too much money is pumped into the non effective cure and not enough into the prevention. Methadone has had it's day, whilst is does help in the short term however the long term effects from it are at worse than the gear itself.

tdv123 · 14-12-2013 03:15AM

I took Vicodin (a weaker form of morphine) before when I was in the States & it was ****ing lovely. 6 or 7 hours of pure pleasure. So I can see why people get addicted to stuff like that.

Nettle · 14-12-2013 03:20AM

tdv123 wrote: »

I took Vicodin (a weaker form of morphine) before when I was in the States & it was ****ing lovely. 6 or 7 hours of pure pleasure. So I can see why people get addicted to stuff like that.

I have a brother who is addicted to the heroin he had a 15 year clean run only recently had a relapse, I asked him why did he go back on it knowing what the cold turkey is like, his response to was they go on about the ****s, the nightmares, the vomits but the one thing they won't tell ya is about the rush ya get from the tip of your toes to the top of your head, he said that there is even a difference in the feeling from the smoking of it to the injecting of it, can't see the attraction meself! Each to our own and all that jazz

Frank Garrett · 14-12-2013 03:22AM

I smoked it because I had the mentality of trying every drug once just to see what's it like. I didn't like so I never tried it again.

I have two friends who used it regularly and I don't understand why. I never considered injecting it because I hated needles at the time and I knew injecting it would ruin my life.

I've also tried ecstasy, coke, mushrooms, hash and speed, ecstasy and hash are the only ones I bothered spending money on.

ceadaoin. · 14-12-2013 03:26AM

I stumbled across r/opiates on reddit a while ago. You can read the posts on there for some insight into the life of a heroin/opiate addict. Not everyone that uses drugs are like the junkies you see around Dublin city centre. Some people are very high functioning.

Zambia · 14-12-2013 03:39AM

There is no main reason people go on smack. There are a lot of common factors . In the end like most things motive, means and opportunity all line up.

Give me Dublin smack heads over ****ed up crystal meth users any day.

Crystal meth is pure evil.

Why do people start taking heroin?

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