Safest Practice

Safest Practice
“The health department does have an interest in – if you’re going to do certain things – to get you to do it as healthily as you possibly can.” – New York City Mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg addressing controversy over the NYC Health Department’s Safer Heroin Practice Pamphlet on Monday, 4 January 2010.



Initial motivation for this chapter came from three places. The storyline for the documentary I’m filming, the ingenuity of my criminal lawyer Josh Seidman, and notes from Andrew Weil, M.D.’s best selling book, From Chocolate to Morphine, a must-read.

General Points -
• Take drugs in a way that gets you high slower, like eating instead of smoking, or snorting instead of injecting.
• Don’t drink and drive. And this essentially goes for everything. If you are on a drug, don’t do any activity that you wouldn’t want to be doing if you were suddenly to go unconscious. My babysitter from the mid-1980’s drunkenly drowned in her bathtub in the spring of 2009.
• Try to take only one drug at a time. Especially avoid mixing two or more downers.
• Know the drug and the source you are buying it from as well as possible. A lot of unreliable product is sold on the street. Try to have a relationship with your dealer/doctor and other customers. When there is no legal liability in a deal, it’s best if one is considered trustworthy.
• If it’s been a while since your last use or you’ve lost weight or have a cold, take less than you were or are accustomed to. Your tolerance may be lower.
• Use with friends who have more experience with the drug you are taking. If alone, inform someone before you use so they can check on you.
• If you are trying a new drug, do as little as possible to see what happens. It’s easy to take more drugs if you want. It’s much harder to take drugs out of your body. And try to be with experienced user.

ADDERALL: The least amount of amphetamine feasible should be prescribed or dispensed at one time in order to minimize the possibility of overdosage. It should be taken orally. Read about the dangers of snorting something meant to be swallowed in “How To Do Drugs.” Adderall should be used with caution in patients who use other sympathomimetic drugs. It would be good to get to the root of the student’s problem before turning to drugs for a quick solution.

ALCOHOL: Know your tolerance. Drink what you want with a purpose, what you want to achieve from the experience. Don’t drink out of peer pressure. If this is too hard, try to avoid those who would pressure you. Using different forms of discipline, one should try to control the rate of consumption. If you can’t drink slower, drink more dilute forms, such as mixers in your hard liquor. Drink water in between alcoholic beverages to prevent the following day’s hangover, which is caused by fluid loss.

“Did you know that having a hangover is not having enough water in your body to run your Krebs cycles? Which is exactly what happens to you when you’re dying of thirst. So, dying of thirst would probably feel pretty much like the hangover that finally bloody kills you.” – Paul Bettany in the film, A Beautiful Mind.

You can also drink more if you eat food before or during your drinking. If you are too drunk, vomit or go to the hospital. Place a drunken friend on his side so that he won’t choke if he pukes while passed out. If you don’t go to the hospital, try to pass out in a place where people can check on your breathing.

CRACK: “Using a glass or metal stem with a mouthpiece. Wipe mouthpiece with alcohol to prevent getting sick or infections. Use clean choy or copper wire. Pipe screens are best. If using a plastic bottle or pipe, remember to change the foil & use clean ashes. Sleep as much as possible. Let pipe cool down before taking next hit, to prevent cuts and burns. Use straight glass shooters, it will not cause burns as quickly. Wrap end of straight shooter with rubber band, thick rubber, piece of tape or paper (match book cover rolled) & clothespins so you’re less likely to hurt lips. Clean crack shooters often & carefully. File edges of broken glass shooters until it is smooth. Touch flame to shooter quickly instead of leaving it there, move fire along shooter to spread out heat.” - http://sfhiv.org/files/substance/Health%20&%20Safety%20Tips%20for%20Crack%20Smokers.pdf.
During periods of smoking crack, consume a lot of vitamin C and fluids. For more details on health and medical advice refer to the URL given above.

DELIRIANTS: Including but not limited to: Nutmeg, Mace, Amanita Mushrooms, Nightshades. User should be lying still in a safe place. In case user needs help, he should be accompanied by someone who is not on the drug. Nutmeg and Mace cause terrible hangover the next day. The mildest route of administration for Amanita Mushrooms is to smoke the dried colored peels.

DOWNERS: Barbiturates and Sleeping Pills.
Don’t use more than prescribed. Lower doses will often work. Don’t do activites that require normal judgment and coordination. If you take these and stimulants, they can work against each other. It is possible to achieve your goals without taking either. Don’t take downers if you are sick.

HEROIN: It is safer to snort than to inject.
The following is instructions for the safest possible injection process, basically for any drug that can be mixed with water.
1) Clean surface with BZK pad or use a sheet of fresh paper. BZK stands for Benzalkonium antiseptic towelettes. They are alcohol free towelettes so they will not sting.
2) Wash hands with soap or BZK pad.
3) Use new equipment every time you shoot. A new Bottle Cap. A new syringe. A new Bandage.
4) Rinse, using different water. Then mix.
5) Clean injection site with alcohol pad.
6) After injecting press gauze pad on injection site.
7) Use a band aid.
8) Return syringes to a needle exchange site.
9) Throw everything else away.
Equipment referenced above and other necessary items:
- Bleach: to disinfect used syringes when a clean one isn’t available.
- Clean Bottle: for mixing water and bleach.
- Alcohol Swabs: to clean the injection site before insertion.
- Bandages: to help avoid infection after injecting.
- Sterile Water: to mix the drug with.
- Tourniquet: to tie off above the injection site. This helps the veins surface for easier injection.
- Bottle Cap: for mixing water with the drug before it’s drawn up into the syringe. This is commonly called the “cooker.”
- Cotton Balls: to trap dirt and debris as the drug, mixed in water, is pulled into the syringe.
- Syringes: you should always get a clean new one. These are provided at distribution sites, and can be purchased at drugstores.

Always try to use with someone else. You both should be able to recognize symptoms of overdose: little or no breathing, face and lips turning blue. Ideally, you want someone else there who is sober.

INHALANTS and SOLVENTS: Keep away from fire or sparks. Don’t put your head completely in a bag. Breathe fresh air afterward. Don’t use them often. Keep out of eyes.

KETAMINE: The most common way this is administered is through injection, but this is not the safest. The liquid form of Ketamine can be evaporated down to solid crystals. You can crush these into powder, which can then be swallowed, smoked or snorted. Taken orally is, as usual, the safest route of administration. One receives a longer effect, with not as intense a peak.

MARIJUANA: You have the least risk of dependence if you eat it. Though, when taken orally the effects can be unpredictable. If you must smoke it, using a Vaporizer can decrease odds of Lung and Bronchial disease. If you smoke too often it can become more of a habit than a satisfying activity. If satisfaction levels do lower, take a break from smoking and it will be more fun the next time you try it. Especially during early use of marijuana, you should do it in peaceful surroundings. If you have a medical condition and you are smoking marijuana to treat it, get a letter from a doctor.

NARCOTICS: Opium and its derivatives.
Only real healthy use of it is to treat severe physical pain. One should never inject for recreational use. The more you enjoy this process, the more important it is that you not do it again. If you are injecting, do it in as sanitary a setting as possible. See “Heroin” in this chapter.

NITROUS OXIDE (WHIPPETS): Never breathe it directly from a pressurized tank. It’s easiest to breathe out of a balloon. You shouldn’t breathe it for more than a few minutes at a time or regularly over long periods of time.

PCP: The oral route is the safest. Trip will be less dramatic. But it’s more important to know what dose you are taking because it’s not going to hit you right away, and this can lead to taking too much. If on PCP, you should attempt to be in a peaceful setting in which practically no thought or movement is necessary.

PEYOTE: Don’t do it if you are pregnant or breast feeding. Don’t do it if you are scheduled for surgery within two weeks.

PSYCHEDELICS/HALLUCINOGENS: Know your sources. You should take them only if you are already happy in mind and body, and very comfortable with the setting and people. You should have nothing to do for the next 12 hours. (Far less time necessary for DMT, but you don’t want to plan anything too important anyway). Take them when you also do not have much to do the next day. You want to have an empty stomach. This makes nausea less likely. Take them orally. Best if saved for certain, special circumstances. Also, flashbacks are not a myth. They do occur, but very rarely. The truth is that the concern and anxiety about having a flashback are greater problems than the flashbacks themselves. So try not to worry about it.

STIMULANTS: Including but not limited to: Coffee, Tea, Caffeine-containing plants, Cola, Chocolate, Coca, Cocaine, Amphetamines, and Tobacco.
Try your hardest to let your body recharge itself after the high of a stimulant instead of just taking another stimulant to sustain the high. Ideally you want to have much more conservative limits on your frequency of use. Nutrition, rest and exercise are key forms of “recharging.” As always, better to use for a purpose, like a wrestling meet or studying for an exam, and not to rely on use for everyday activities. Take orally to prevent addiction and bodily harm.