Can You Snort Black Tar Heroin? Symptoms & Risks

Snorting Black Tar Heroin 

Like pure heroin, black tar heroin use has many forms. It can be injected directly into the user’s veins, which is the most common way of consuming this drug. But because it’s sticky, black tar heroin tends to clog needles. Instead of injecting, though, can you snort black tar heroin? Snorting black tar heroin is also possible. Each route of administration comes with its own dangers. If you snort black tar heroin, it may cause serious respiratory problems, while injecting it can lead to dangerous infections like wound botulism or blood-borne illnesses like HIV and hepatitis.

Snorting black tar heroin, also known as insufflation, is an uncommon method of black tar heroin use. This may cause a slower onset of effects compared to injecting heroin or inhaling its vapors when heated, but it can still pose dangers such as overdose, stopped breathing, and risk of heroin addiction. It is an illicit opioid drug typically used for its ability to produce euphoric effects. Snorting black tar heroin is a less common method of administration that can have dangerous health consequences.

What Is Black Tar Heroin?

After the initial rush of the heroin wears off, a person may experience drowsiness and itching for some hours afterward.

Heroin Drug Abuse Statistics

In 2020, heroin-involved overdose death rates decreased by nearly 7% 2019 to 2020. However, more than 13,000 people died from a drug overdose involving heroin in the United States, a rate of more than four deaths for every 100,000 Americans. The number of heroin-involved overdose deaths was nearly seven times higher in 2020 than in 1999. Almost 20% of all opioid deaths involved heroin.

---

---

Black Tar Heroines Effects

Black tar heroin effects can include euphoria, relaxation, and feeling very exhausted. As with other forms of the drug, users can feel impaired, nauseous, and like they lack concentration and coordination. Other black tar heroin effects include itching, constipation, diarrhea, and dry mouth.

One of the most destructive black tar heroin effects, aside from overdosing, is the risk of dependence and addiction. Black tar heroin is also dangerous due to its unknown content [3]. Black tar heroin often contains additives and substances that can cause infections and health problems on their own.

When someone uses this drug intravenously, they’re at a higher risk of getting an infection at the site where they inject it. Common infections include necrotizing fasciitis, staph infections, and cellulitis. There’s also a higher risk of damage to the veins in individuals who inject black tar heroin, and it can lead to a collapsed vein.

Dangers Of Black Tar Heroin

Black tar heroin puts your physical and mental health in jeopardy. Taking any form of heroin comes with the same risks. Short-term and long-term effects of black tar heroin abuse can include:

Infections

Black tar heroin can suppress and decrease T and B immune cells. It can lower someone’s ability to combat infections, bacteria, and viruses. The way a person uses black tar heroin and other forms of the drug can also put them at risk for infection. 

Individuals who use black tar heroin as an injection drug and share needles are at risk for hepatitis C and HIV. In the case of black tar heroin abuse, they are frequently mixed with alcohol or other toxic substances, which increases the risk of overdose.

Black tar heroin users were at higher risk for wound botulism. Wound botulism is a potentially lethal, flaccid, paralysis that results when spores of Clostridium botulinum germinate in a wound and elaborate neurotoxin. This can lead to muscle weakness and breathing difficulties and can be deadly.

Brain Damage

Excessive use of black tar heroin can cause a lack of oxygen to the brain leading to overdose and long-term effects on movement, mood, vision, and other vital functions. More severe heroin overdoses may cause a person to stop breathing entirely, triggering even more severe brain damage. In this case, the effects are similar to a stroke. Depending on the area of the brain deprived of oxygen, a person may have a wide range of symptoms, including:

Opioids such as black tar heroin make the brain more sensitive to pain, causing some people to perceive even the slightest touch as painful. This can prove especially problematic for people who take opioids for chronic pain.

Heart Attack

Chronic black tar heroin injectors may develop collapsed veins, and infection of the valves and heart linings. Other cardiovascular effects include heart failure, blood vessel damage, low blood pressure, collapsed veins, and heart attack. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrests triggered by opioid overdose are a significant cause of death among adults 25 to 64.

Lung Disease

Lung problems, including various types of pneumonia, may result from the poor health of the user as well as from heroin’s depressing effects on respiration. In addition to the effects of the drug itself, street heroin often contains toxic contaminants or additives that can clog blood vessels leading to the lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain, causing permanent damage to these vital organs. Opioid use was associated with an increased risk for adverse respiratory outcomes, including respiratory-related death, among older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases COPD.

Black Tar Heroin Overdose

Signs Of Black Tar Heroin Overdose

Difference Between Heroin and Black Tar Heroin

Black Tar Heroin Addiction

Black tar heroin addiction can result in many damaging consequences including; mental and physical health problems, overdose, and family, social, and legal problems. Continuing to use black tar heroin, despite the negative consequences, is a classic sign of substance use disorder.

Symptoms of Black Tar Heroin Addiction

Symptoms of black tar heroin addiction include:

Black Tar Heroin Addiction Treatment

Black tar heroin addiction is a chronic disease and should be treated the same as other chronic diseases. Like those, it should constantly be monitored and managed. Heroin is a type of opioid. Opioid addiction treatment is different for each individual. The main purpose of opioid addiction treatment is to help the person stop using the drug. Opioid addiction treatment also can help the person avoid using it again in the future.

The body does go through specific symptom stages known as the opioid withdrawal timeline. The opioid withdrawal timeline varies from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the type of opioid that was used, how long it was used, and any other substances that may have been used in conjunction with opioids as well. Medically managed withdrawal opioid detox ensures the individual remains safe and stays as comfortable as possible.

Detox Treatment

The first step in treatment is medical detox. It will help you navigate the complicated withdrawal process, but it doesn’t address patterns of thought and behavior that contribute to black tar heroin abuse. Various treatment approaches and settings can help provide the ongoing support necessary to maintain long-term sobriety after you complete detox.

Cravings are very common during detox and can be challenging to overcome. This often leads to relapse. Constant medical care provided during inpatient treatment helps prevent relapse. Clinicians can provide the necessary medication and medical expertise to lessen cravings and the effects of withdrawals.

Psychotherapy

Several different modalities of psychotherapy have been used in the treatment of depression, including:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – is an effective treatment that involves making changes in both the patterns of negative thoughts and the behavioral routines which are affecting the daily life of the depressed person for various forms of depression. 
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy – is a comprehensive mental health and substance abuse treatment program whose ultimate goal is to aid patients in their efforts to build a life worth living. The main goal of DBT is to help a person develop what is referred to as a “clear mind.” 
• Person-Centered Therapy – is a strategy that allows and encourages clients to understand and resolve their concerns in a safe, supportive environment.

Dual Diagnosis Treatment

Substance abuse and mental health disorders often co-occur. In many cases, traumatic experiences can result in a mental health disorders and substance abuse. Dual diagnosis programs treat both of these issues together. The best approach for the treatment of dual diagnosis is an integrated system. In this strategy, both the substance abuse problem and the mental disorder are treated simultaneously. Regardless of which diagnosis (mental health or substance abuse problem) came first, long-term recovery will depend largely on the treatment for both disorders done by the same team or provider.

Medication-Assisted Treatments