I am giving an overview about the dangers and risks associated with using common illicit drugs in their purest form, the dangers of consuming impure substances, what can be done about impurities, and the safest ways to administer drugs. There are probably tens of thousands of different psychoactive substances in the world today each belonging to a certain class of drugs (psychedelics, opiates, etc), there are so many that I can not cover all of or even most of them in this guide, so I will only be covering the most popular and well known substances.
To start off, I would like to make it clear that buying and selling drugs on the darknet is a lot different than on the streets. The darknet is generally safer to use as there are no face-to-face interactions between the buyers and sellers, which means there is no violence, the buyers do not know who or where the dealer is (buyers can not snitch on or kill them if they are not satisfied with a deal), and buyers usually have a lot less to worry about. There are review and rating systems so buyers can be more informed about the reputation of vendors and the quality of their products. And there are certain laboratories such as energy control that tests drugs sold on the darknet for authenticity and impurities. Some vendors have even sent their own products to these labs to show potential buyers that their products are legit and free of impurities.
When someone buys drugs face-to-face with a dealer, they are at risk of buying from an undercover cop and if they do buy from an undercover cop, they are more than likely going to be arrested, sometimes even immediately after the purchase. Now, when someone buys drugs off of the darknet they have a lot less to worry about. If they buy from an undercover, the undercover would only have a name and an address, which means they still have to come up with more evidence before they can make an arrest. I can not say that this has never happened before, but after all the years I have been on the darknet, I have never heard of undercover law enforcement buying vendor accounts on darknet markets and using those accounts to bust buyers (at least not for drugs). Although some vendors have kept lists that contain their customers names and addresses which were later turned over to law enforcement after they got busted.
In most jurisdictions, if someone orders a small quantity of drugs such as a gram of cannabis and that gets discovered in the mail, in most cases the package will simply be seized and that buyer might receive a “love letter” which is a letter usually sent by either customs or a local police department informing the buyer that their package was seized and not to order drugs on the darknet again. As for bigger quantities, LE might perform a controlled delivery, come to the buyers house for questioning or perform a raid on their residence. If the buyer can keep their mouth shut, not admit to anything, made sure that their house is clean (no drugs at their residence) prior to their drug order, made sure that nothing incriminating can be found on their computer (all darknet related stuff including tor browser is in encrypted, hidden and disguised files/folders), used a foreign-based VPN to conceal their tor usage from their ISP provider so there will be no easily obtainable evidence that they even used tor, and made sure that they used an untraceable currency like Monero to make the purchase, then they will likely have nothing to worry about as law enforcement will not have enough evidence to prove that they bought drugs and therefore they can not make an arrest, and if for some reason they did make an arrest, the case would more than likely be thrown out in court.
Cops can seem nice, friendly and talkative, some will act like they’re your friends. But they are not, they are waiting for you to slip up and incriminate yourself. When dealing with police, always try to keep your mouth shut, pay careful attention to what they are saying, think before you speak and always keep your stories straight. Plenty of people get too engaged in small talk with the cops and accidentally slip up and admit to doing something illegal. I do believe that OPSEC and staying out of legal problems can count as harm reduction practices as getting into legal trouble can cause a lot of stress, anxiety, lead to costly legal fees/fines, and it can be bad for mental health, along with the risks of police brutality and violence by other inmates if you go to jail. After all, according to harmreduction.org, “Harm Reduction is a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use”.
There are a lot of reasons why people buy drugs. Some people can not get a doctor’s prescription for something they need like pain medication, so they go on the darknet to buy cheap heroin or fent products. Some people use drugs like adderall to enhance their mental performance and get their work done easier or more quickly. Some people live boring or depressing lives and just want to get high all the time to take their mind off of the boring/depressing aspects of their lives. Some people try new drugs because they believe that it is going to help them improve themselves and their lives. Some people don’t like to do drugs but like to sell them to make a lot of money. Some people use drugs because they seek religious or spiritual experiences. Whatever the reason is as to why you use drugs, finding out the most effective ways to administer them and use them safely is essential.
Okay, now I am about to go over different classes of drugs, but before I do that I would like everyone to know a few things about certain pills that are prescription only (like Adderall, Oxycotins, etc). Whether you buy them on the street or on the darknet, a lot of the time they are not what you think they are. If a vendor is selling an unlimited supply of adderall, it is safe to assume that what they are selling is NOT real adderall. What they are more than likely selling is home made (pressed) pills made with methamphetamine (possibly a type of toxic homemade cheap meth) and not dextro/levoamphetamine like what real adderalls contain. If you ever see a listing on a market for “mexican oxycodone”, you should know that those pills contain NO oxycodone whatsoever, but fentanyl instead. With the U.S government making it more difficult for doctors to prescribe opiates, a lot more of the pills are made illegally and contain fentanyl. You have to be very careful with those pills, if you have a mexican oxycodone and want to get high, break the pill up into 10 parts, crush up one of those little pieces and snort it and wait a little while and if you do not get high do that with another piece and if you still do not get high, continue the process until you have reached your desired effect. If a vendor is selling an unlimited supply of any prescription pill, it is safe to assume that they are not the real deal and contain more dangerous/potent drugs.
No matter what type of drugs you are going to do, always make sure that you have drank plenty of water before hand and maintain hydration.
Oh, and get a reagent drug testing kit, I can not make recommendations on which ones are best because I have never used one before, but they will help you better understand what is in your drugs.
HEROIN AND OPIATES
Way back in the late 1800s and very early 1900s when drugs were legal in the United States, “Heroin” was Bayer’s brand name for diacetylmorphine, a drug that is made from morphine and is about 3 times stronger than morphine. Since at least the 1980s, most “heroin” products have been cut with (or are entirely) fentanyl or fentanyl analogues that are usually somewhere between 10 and 20,000 times stronger than real heroin. The drug manufacturers cut heroin with fentanyl in order to maximize their profits. Synthetic opiates such as fentanyl can be cheaply and easily produced by chemists in a lab.
Whereas natural opiates (like morphine) need to be derived from real opium poppies, and semi-synthetics like heroin require natural opiates in order to be synthesized.
For manufacturers, synthetic opiates like fentanyl eliminate the need for creating and maintaining poppy fields and harvesting poppies, so they can produce their drugs a lot more discretely, quickly and cheaper. But this is dangerous for drug users because of the high potency of fentanyl and fentanyl analogues dramatically increases the risk for overdosing.
Black tar heroin is the least likely of all heroin products to contain fentanyl. Unfortunately the price of BTH has skyrocketed due to issues with the supply chain caused by the corona virus pandemic. The safest way to administer BTH is to smoke it, but DO NOT put it in your pipe and smoke it like marijuana or other drugs otherwise you will certainly overdose and possibly die after just one hit (unless you are already a long time junkie who has an out of this world tolerance for opiates). The proper way to smoke it is to take a piece of tin foil and hold that tin foil over the flame of a cigarette lighter until there is no smoke emitted from that piece of tin foil, doing this burns off anything unwanted on the tin foil and your BTH won’t have a nasty tin foil taste when you smoke it. After you have done this, get a straw or a small tube that you can use to inhale smoke through, place a small piece of BTH that is about the size of a pin head onto the tin foil and place the piece of tin foil over a flame but not directly on or in the flame (or you are going to end up burning/vaporizing/wasting a lot of the BTH) and then inhale the smoke through whatever tube you are using and then hold the smoke in and exhale when you can not keep it in any longer.
Keep in mind that black tar heroin is highly addictive both physically and mentally. If you get high off of it twice within a 4 day period of time, you are at risk of experiencing withdrawal symptoms.
Smoking certain drugs like heroin can make it much easier to control your dosage and high, the downside is that the high is not as intense and does not last as long as other routes of administration. On the other hand, injecting substances is quite the opposite. The rush and the high is more intense and much longer lasting. It is also a lot more dangerous than any other route of administration. Surprisingly enough, injecting heroin causes more damage to the lungs than smoking it. Contaminants in heroin bring small particles into the bloodstream and when they reach the lungs, they can clog and even infect blood vessels that would normally absorb oxygen from the lungs. Lots of people filter dissolved heroin through a cotton ball or cotton filter which actually makes it more dangerous because the cotton is likely to contain bacteria and that bacteria will enter the user’s bloodstream which dramatically increases the risk for weakening the immune system and developing serious lung and other organ infections.
Bacteria can even be present on the drug itself, about a year ago there was an outbreak of flesh eating bacteria that was linked to contaminated black tar heroin in California.
Imagine injecting that ^ into yourself…
Intense ultraviolet light can be used to decontaminate drugs along with equipment used to prepare and administer them. You can usually find high powered UV lights used for decontamination on popular retailer websites like Amazon. Make sure your drugs or equipment receive a full 24 hours of exposure to the UV light. Please keep in mind that if you are going to use ultraviolet decontamination techniques, try to minimize your exposure to the ultraviolet light as much as you possibly can as it can damage your skin and eyes.
If you are going to inject anything into yourself, do NOT use tap water because there is a lot of bacteria, heavy metals and potentially toxic chemicals in tap water. Use water either from a high quality water filter or water from one of those medical water pouches that usually come in first aid kits, the latter is preferable.
Snorting heroin can cause inflammation of the nasal cavity, loss of nasal cavity tissues, damaged mucus membranes, damage to the nasal and sinus passages which can lead to nasal and sinus infections, loss of sense of smell, changes in voice, frequent runny nose and nose bleeds.
As for other opiates…
There many misconceptions about the dangers of using opiates. The most notable one is that opiates cause liver damage. This is simply not true. What causes liver damage in opiate users is primarily acetaminophen (Tylenol), which comes in many of the prescription opiate pills you see today. When a person takes 2 Vicodins, they will experience a mild high from 10 milligrams of hydrocodone, but they have also taken 1000 milligrams of acetaminophen. When tolerance in the user builds, they will have to take more Vicodins to get high, and they will eventually have to take 50 milligrams of hydrocodone (10 Vicodins) to get the same high that the 10 milligrams originally provided for them. This means they are also taking 5000 milligrams of acetaminophen as well which is really dangerous. The maximum daily recommended dose of acetaminophen is 4000 mgs and taking any amount higher than that (especially daily) puts the user at serious risk of liver damage.
Acetaminophen is not the only thing commonly found in opiate pills, but Ibuprofen and Aspirin as well.
It is possible to remove the unwanted drugs like acetaminophen from pills by using a process called cold water extraction. Opiates are water soluble, meaning they can be dissolved in water. To do this you will want to crush the pills up into a fine powder and then mix it really well in very cold (but not freezing) water in a cup, after you have done this you will need some type of filter like a cotton cloth (2 coffee filters can work too) and put the filter on top of the cup and then grip it in place with both of your hand and then pour the water/pill mixture into a new cup. After you have done this most of the acetaminophen will be stuck on the filter and there usually won’t be much loss of the opiate.
Snorting, smoking or injecting crushed pills with those unwanted drugs in them is extremely dangerous and can be fatal. Always use an online pill identifier from sites like drugs.com if you are unsure as to what is in your opiate pills.
And when using opiates, whatever you do, do NOT ever mix them with alcohol. If you do, you are playing with fire. It is a deadly combination. You can forget to breath. It can lead to respiratory arrest, coma, cardiovascular instability and death.
If you get into the habit of liking the alcohol/opiate combination, do it often and think you can control it to a safe extent (not going over board), there may be a time when you find yourself way too drunk and want to get high off some opiates and pop those pills and later end up dead. Or maybe you’re not too drunk but just drunk and take the pills and then shortly after you forget you took the pills and then take more pills, which then leads to an overdose. That has happened to plenty of people before.
Many people are allergic to opiates whether they know it or not and doctors who prescribe opiates to their patients do not do anything to check if their patients are allergic to opiates as there is really no way to tell unless if someone is allergic until they take it. Allergic reactions to opiates can result in death. So if you have never taken an opiate before, start with a small dose like 5mgs of hydrocodone and if you experience negative reactions commonly associated with allergies, you should not do opiates.
Constipation is a common side of effect of using opiates. Opiates are central nervous system depressants and can cause involuntary movements within the body, muscles contractions that move food through the digestive tract are slowed down and the walls of the intestine absorb more fluid. With less fluid in the intestines, stools become hard and constipation develops.
If you get addicted to opiates, there are drugs used to treat opiate addiction such as methadone, suboxone and kratom. Kratom is preferred by some because it has the lowest risk of dependence liability out of the other options. Kratom does affect the opioid receptors in the brain and can help ease withdrawal symptoms experienced by opiate addicts. Keep in mind that kratom can be addictive too and if you become an addict, the withdrawals are much like other opiates.
AMPHETAMINES AND STIMULANTS
Amphetamines and stimulants are often used recreationally as party or study drugs. They are commonly prescribed for psychological conditions such as ADHD and autism, they are also used as appetite suppressants. They are very popular among college students. A lot of people believe that taking amphetamines like Adderal increases their IQ, confidence, focus, attention and memory. This is true for people who suffer from certain conditions like ADHD and autism, but what about people who use them but don’t suffer from psychological conditions like those? Many studies have suggested that people who take Adderall do not experience the brain boosting effects that are experienced by those who suffer from ADHD even though they might think they do. In fact, it has been shown that people who abuse adderall suffer from memory problems and cognitive decline.
Most studies have shown that people who don’t have psychological disorders and take adderall do experience more confidence, focus and better mood, but also memory decline, especially in young adults. And memory decline can lead to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
This does not apply to just adderall, but other medications that contain dextroamphetamine and other amphetamine salts.
Frequent use of Amphetamines have been linked to high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke, especially when used in combination with alcohol.
Ecstasy is often considered as a psychedelic amphetamine or an empathogen. It brings users feelings of euphoria, empathy, sympathy, happiness, increased energy and hallucinations. It has become a popular party drug and is often used by people who attend raves, concerts and dance clubs. It has also been linked in many studies to have therapeutic properties and may be able to treat PTSD and depression. In the late 1980s and early 1990s it was prescribed to people with marriage and relationship issues by therapists.
Studies conducted on animals have shown that sustained MDMA use can damage serotonin receptors and since most serotonin receptors are found in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Since the prefrontal cortex is responsible for much cognitive processsing, speculation has arisen that prolonged MDMA use may lead to impaired cognitive functioning over time.
Many MDMA tablets/pills contain different cuts and fillers.
Methamphetamine is much like amphetamine, but it has a methyl molecule attached to it which is what causes it to hit the human brain much harder than regular amphetamine, which also makes it a lot more dangerous than regular amphetamines.
Like other amphetamines, it provides users with heightened awareness, increase in mood, focus and confidence.
Long term use of methamphetamine leads to depletion of dopamine and damage to dopamine receptors in the human brain. Dopamine is the “feel good” neurotransmitter, it is released by the brain while eating, having sex, listening to music, doing drugs or doing other things that humans normally enjoy and it is what causes people to feel good during or after doing those things. When the brain does not produce enough dopamine, the person will have difficulties experiencing pleasure and will likely suffer from long-term depression.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, studies involving meth use on animals has shown that as much as %50 of dopamine-producing cells can be damaged after long-term use of relatively small amounts of meth. And in other studies, it has been shown that even one single large dose can cause damage to nerve endings in the dopamine containing regions in the brain. The nerve endings did not die but they did not grow back to their original size.
Scientists using brain-imaging techniques on human meth users have discovered that their neurons remained damaged 3 years after they quit using meth.
Studies have also shown that brain damage from meth usage can be very long lasting or even permanent.
When people binge meth, they will often stay awake for days or even weeks at a time, which leads to malnutrition (meth is an appetite suppressant), paranoia, hallucinations, psychosis and other mental health issues that can last either a long time or permanently.
Methamphetamine by itself is clearly a very dangerous drug, but most of it is made illegally and with highly toxic substances such as battery acid, red phosphorus, and many others that are even worse than meth itself.
In order to get contaminants, fillers and cuts out of meth, you are going to need some basic chemistry knowledge. Meth is water soluble and cold water extraction techniques can remove a lot (but not all) of the adulterants. I would not entirely rely on cold water extraction techniques to purify meth. I would recommend that you learn how to do a proper acetone wash.
All stimulants can cause depression and are hard on the heart, even caffeine strips calcium from the heart.
Now, about COCAINE…
It has been estimated that over %80 of cocaine in the United States has been cut with a cattle deworming drug known as levamisole, which is used to increase the bulk and weight of powdered cocaine, it also makes the drug look purer, it is believed that it adds more stimulating effects and it is difficult to test for in cocaine. It is also very difficult to remove from cocaine. This site http://cocaineo5z66elwy.onion/ has a lot of information about levamisole and how to remove it from your cocaine.
Cocaine does have a lot of the effects of other stimulants. It provides more energy and stimulation, increase in mood, focus and memory.
One study showed that children exposed to cocaine had scored over 3 points less on IQ tests than children who were never exposed to cocaine.
Cocaine is most commonly snorted but it can be taken orally through capsules/liquids or injected. The safest way to consume cocaine is orally as snorting it can damage mucus membranes, nasal lining and other nasal components.
People who consume cocaine are at higher risk for blood clots, heart attacks and strokes.
PSYCHEDELICS
The word “psychedelic” was coined by Humphrey Osmond in 1957 and literally means “to manifest the mind”. Most popular psychedelic drugs (Psilocybin, LSD, Mescaline, DMT) in their purest form do not cause any known direct damage to the human body or brain. They are not physically addictive, in fact, if you take real LSD one day and trip and take it the next day, you will either not trip or experience an incredibly mild trip.
It is strongly advised to not mix psychedelics and alcohol together and not to take psychedelics if you have existing mental health problems. Psychedelics can be used to treat mental health problems, but they may also amplify them as well. Most people who take psychedelics and experience bad trips or go crazy almost always consumed alcohol prior to or during their trip. This is because alcohol is a depressant that acts on the entire central nervous system and psychedelics can make your mind race through different thoughts, subjects and emotions, and if your mind lands into bad thoughts while drunk and tripping, it can become very difficult to think of something else and the mind may focus on bad things during the entire trip. Keep in mind that bad trips do not cause brain damage and they are experiences that can be learned from. Having a trip sitter (someone who is sober who can watch you and keep you out of trouble while you trip) can be a very good thing to have especially if you are first time tripper or want to experiment with higher doses or different combinations that you have never done before.
Not consuming alcohol, being in a good mood prior to taking the psychedelic substance(s) and being in a calm, warm, friendly and peaceful environment while tripping are all essential to avoiding a bad trip.
CANNABIS AND CANNABINOIDS
Cannabis and natural cannabinoids may be the safest psychoactive drugs in the world. Criminalization and opposition towards cannabis started in the United States in the very early 1900s when Mexican immigrants were moving into the U.S, they brought a lot of marijuana with them. Smoking marijuana during these times were often viewed as a primitive or third world practice and that is when certain states started to ban it. During the 1930s, a movie called “Reefer Madness” was released, an anti-marijuana false propaganda film that portrayed people who smoked marijuana to black out and murder people, attempt rape, suicide, etc. This film caused a lot of myths and hysteria about marijuana usage and it helped marijuana to become federally outlawed.
The outlawing of cannabis has racist and xenophobic origins.
“The reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men. The primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.” – Harry Anslinger, Founding Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.
Even the DEA admits that no one has ever died from consuming non-poisoned natural cannabis products.
Cannabis has been linked to the stimulation of new brain cell growth, enhanced visual clarity, better memory and better mood. Any health problems relating to cannabis use has never been %100 proven. It is not physically addictive either.
One thing that a lot of people do not know about cannabis is that most of it you see on the market is derived from female plants. Just like in female humans, the female cannabis plant naturally produces estrogens. This can affect affect the hormonal levels of users of both genders, but to what exact degree is not quite known. High levels of estrogen in men have been linked to obesity, depression, lack of motivation, mood swings, sexual dysfunction, blood clots and other problems. In women, too much estrogen in the body will cause them to start producing testosterone, it is the female body’s natural way to counter act high estrogen levels. It is unknown whether or not marijuana contains enough estrogen to cause any of those problems, however.
Don’t even think about doing synthetic cannabinoids like k2/spice. Substances like those are a chemical or mixture of different chemicals designed to cause effects or a high that are similar to marijuana. Those are unregulated substances and often contain other toxic chemicals (along with the experimental drug). THEY ARE NOT SAFE AT ALL.
Mixing marijuana and alcohol together is not very dangerous, in fact, it can cause nausea and prevent the user from consuming too much alcohol and can prevent aggressive behavior and violence that is commonly associated with heavy alcohol consumption.
RESEARCH CHEMICALS
Research chemicals are substances that have effects on humans that are not clearly understood. Usually newer substances like 25I-nbome, or 2C-E. Some of which are very dangerous and others like 2C-B appear to be harmless. It is strongly advised not to use research chemicals until they are understood well enough that they do not pose any risks of harming users. 25I-nbome and 2C-E are understood well enough that they can cause brain damage or even death at high doses. If you want to do a particular research chemical, do as much research as you can on the substance before you try it.
Sources and References
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323418
https://kratomguides.com/best-kratom-strains-for-opiate-withdrawal/
https://medium.com/equityorg/reefer-madness-the-racist-roots-of-marijuana-prohibition-37b9e7fb7d6c
https://www.civilized.life/articles/dea-marijuana-overdose/
https://www.kqed.org/lowdown/24153/reefer-madness-the-twisted-history-of-americas-weed-laws
https://www.drugtimes.org/methamphetamine/meth-damages-the-brain-permanently.html
https://www.medicaldaily.com/mdma-serotonin-receptors-cognitive-impairment-376656
https://www.opioidtreatment.net/blog/liver-damage-opioids/
https://www.erowid.org/chemicals/2ce/2ce_death.shtml
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/1839192
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2000-05/UNKN-Ruoc-1405100.php
https://choice.npr.org/index.html?origin=https://www.npr.org/2019/09/01/756427945/a-history-of-fentanyl
https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/fentanyl-addiction/related-topics/heroin-mixed-with-fentanyl/
https://www.erowid.org/chemicals/2ci_nbome/2ci_nbome_death.shtml
https://addictionresource.com/alcohol/resources/alcohol-and-hallucinogens/
https://cbs4indy.com/news/what-ongoing-research-suggests-about-psychedelics-ability-to-treat-mental-health-issues/
wow nice and important article for sure
I think a lot of people on the Darknet are looking to buy drugs. They’re not so interested in Harm Reduction. They want to be directed to the best dealers and the best product available right now. Or they may be interested in Harm Reduction but just not in this particular venue. There are other pressing concerns like getting the drugs, the right price, etc. That’s why it kind of feels like there is not too much traffic in Harm Reduction sub.
That said, I also think Harm Reduction is maybe not so cool. Think about it: if you go to a party or your first rave, you want to hang out with the people who are doing the drugs, trance dancing and having a good time. You don’t want to spend a long while at the Harm Reduction table. What a buzz killer. Or when you get a car, you wanna drive, no one wants to talk too much about the seat belt in their car.
Personally, I never gave a thought about Harm Reduction until I started seeing harder drugs and what could go wrong.