Consumption
The majority of the heroin consumed in Hong Kong is smoked by a method which seems to be peculiar to Chinese heroin addicts. A few granules of heroin are placed on a piece of tinfoil which is held over a lighted, taper or candle. The tinfoil is tilted back and forth over the flame and the resulting smoke is inhaled through either a paper tube (known as 'chasing the dragon') or a matchbox cover ('playing the mouth organ').
Until recent years it was the practice to add an equal amount of barbitone to heroin prior to smoking. This allow- ed sublimation to occur at a lower temperature and, with the increased bulk of the liquified drug, the sublima- tion was also prolonged. The heroin at present available to addicts is of a relatively low purity and is con- sequently normally smoked without further dilution.
Other less common methods of con- sumption are by putting a small quantity of heroin into the end of a cigarette, and by injection.
Heroin smoking equipment
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