Dear Brown Sugar,

Alice has not been able to find an estimate of the average dosage of heroin in any form. It seems to depend on the quality of the heroin itself — where it came from, whether it's natural or synthesized, how much it is cut and with what (street heroin can range from zero to 90 percent pure), as well as a person's body size and developed tolerance. Snorting it, you have to snort more than if you were injecting or smoking, and it takes approximately 10 - 15 minutes to get high (longer than from injecting or smoking). When you snort heroin, you will probably get sick, your nose will run uncontrollably, and you'll get stomach cramps.

Heroin causes a unique sensation of pleasure and pain, apparently different from other less toxic drugs. It also affects the heart, breathing, reproductive system, digestion, excretion, thinking, cough and nausea centers, eyes, voice box, muscles, and immune system. The drug's ability to relax muscles causes your eyelids to droop, your head to nod, and your speech to become slurred and slowed. Walking is also slowed. Your pupils become pinpoint and do not react to light, your skin dries out, and itching increases. Heroin also affects the hormonal system; a woman's period is delayed and a man produces less testosterone; sexual desire is dulled, often to the point of indifference.

Non-intravenous heroin doesn't give nearly as intense a rush and so is thought to be less addicting. People who snort heroin can often do so on and off for long periods of time without becoming strongly addicted. This occasional use of heroin is called "chipping," and it seems that some lucky people can remain successful chippers over months, or even years. Unfortunately, a high percentage of chippers become addicts — most junkies begin as chippers, with no thought that they would ever become addicts.

Alice

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