Heroin

 BERMUDA POLICE.COM POLICING & CRIME ON THE ISLANDS OF BERMUDA

Home
Up


Heroin

heroin poppy.jpg (42314 bytes)

The innocuous looking heroin poppy

Some background and useful information about the drug can be found at: Heroin if you want to know more try Trafficking

Bermuda saw a substantial drop-off in the number of heroin users from the mid 1980's to the early 1990's, it was not that we were doing a particularly good job (the amount of heroin seized was pathetic and the 'rewards' from importation and sale were astronomical), it was simply because the users were dying off.

The incidence of AIDS on the Island is one of the highest recorded in the world. Sharing needles is a very dangerous habit.  For those who do not appreciate the dangers, here is some advice on the use of needles ... do you still want to pump your body full of some alien, impure substance?  In Bermuda I do not recalling any 'wrap' of heroin that was more than 20% pure, 4/5 of what was being injected was other than the drug!  Oh, and if you remember all the following immediately prior to, or when you are engaged in, injecting your drug (or concoction of drugs), then you should have retained sufficient of your brain to realise that the hit you are about to take could be your last action ...

Injecting

Caring for your Veins

To keep trackmarks, bruising and vein collapse to a minimum try the following:
Use a new fit every hit
Keep rotating injection sites
Use a tourniquet that is easy to release before shooting the dope
Apply pressure to the injection site immediately after you inject, the bleeding stops

Veins & Arteries

Veins carry blood towards the heart and arteries carry it away. Injecting into an artery is potentially very dangerous and can result in a range of injuries from severe bruising to the loss of a limb.

If you do accidentally hit an artery you will notice the blood gush into the syringe and the blood will be a brighter red than usual, and is sometimes frothy. If this happens, pull out immediately, raise the limb slightly and apply pressure to the site for about ten minutes. A rule for identifying the presence of arteries is if you can feel a pulse, an artery lies beneath it. Only inject into surface veins.

Injecting into Muscle

Do not inject speed, cocaine, pills or methadone into the muscles as they can cause abscesses.

Step one: The safest injection site is your upper arm. Some users choose to inject into the upper thigh but a great deal of care needs to be taken not to inject into the sciatic nerve. You can reduce the risk by picking a sight six inches below the hips and six inches above the knee.

Step two: Keep the limb straight and as relaxed as possible.

Step three: Clean the injection site with an alcohol swab.

Step four: Holding the barrel push the needle in with one swift jab up to the hilt.

Step five: Draw back, if you get blood in the syringe you have hit a vein or an artery. Pull the needle back a quarter inch and try again. Provided the syringe remains free of blood inject slowly but continue to keep the limb relaxed.

Equipment: Intramuscular injecting require a longer needle - at least one inch in length 23 1/4 inch & 21 1/2 inch gauge are both suitable for intramuscular injection.

Skin Popping

Remember, do not skin pop coke, speed, pills or methadone as they can all lead to abscesses.

Step one: The most commonly used sites for skin popping are the forearms, thighs and stomach.

Step two: Clean the site with an alcohol swab.

Step three: Relax and slide the needle under the skin at a shallow angel.

Step four: Inject a maximum of half a mill (or 50 units on an insulin syringe). This will create a little bubble under the skin. If you have more than half a mill of liquid withdraw and repeat this process at a new site.

 

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

To e-mail click here:
 

 

to visit www.bermudapolice.com click here
 

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Bermuda.org.uk has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from its use. Bermuda.org.uk is not an official or authorised Bermuda police web site.