Heroin - question about realistic situations

I'm currently writing a novel, and would love some help.

In it, one of the characters is an ex-heroin addict. I don't have much knowledge or experience with opiates. The story doesn't revolve around his old habit or anything, so it's not too important that I'm not an expert, but it was a huge part of the character's past and I'd like to make it realistic. Here are some of the situations and please let me know if any of them are unrealistic.

1) He began using heroin (snorting/smoking) when he was 17, continued to use it this way until he was 20, then began shooting it. At 21 he began to get help for it, and was clean around a year later. Is snorting it for three years a realistic time period before shooting, or is it likely he'd have done it sooner?

2) He's the guitarist for the band that the story is about - it follows the "tour" they decide to go on in hopes to make it big. By the time the story/tour starts, he's been clean for a year. But he was also a member the band for roughly three years before that, on heroin the whole time. I know heroin causes isolation and people to lose jobs and friends...so is it completely unlikely that he could have remained a working member in the band while still being addicted? He was certainly the most unreliable member of the band during that time, but is it logical that he could still play with them as a group?

3) What might be some of the changes notable in him when he suddenly took to shooting? Like, in what ways would his behavior worsen from when he was only snorting it?

4) How long do tracks/physical signs of use last?

ANY help would be appreciated so much! I just want to make sure my back story works before fleshing out too much of the main story.

Thanks,
Brittany

 

1) extremley realistic

2)its not illogical, but trust would be hard to win back. my friends still dnt trust me completly and i dont blame them

3) he might drop out of exsistance even more than with snorting. snorting you still have a little urge to see people once in a while

4) you never stop having cravings, ever


good luck my friend. much love. stay off this stuff, itll kill ya

 

I think that your ideas for your character are pretty good. I'd say one thing to help you out here - check out the movie Trainspotting. In my opinion, it does a very good job explaining and demonstrating the mindset of an addict as well as the symptoms of withdrawl and cravings.

As the previous poster stated - its incredibly hard to win people back once they've labled you as an addict, particularly with heroin. Heroin is one of those drugs that holds such a huge stigma for such a large portion of the world's population that most people, once they know you've been using, loose all respect for you and all trust in you.

As you've said, a heroin addict is unreliable, solitary, and mostly concerned with nothing, until he's running out of his stash, in which case, he'd be solely concerned with where and when he's getting his next bag.

Best of luck with your novel!

 

This sounds a lot like the situation in my life.

1)I started shooting about a year after I started snorting. 3 years is possible. The first time I went to rehab was 3 years after I started.

2)The entire time I have been on heroin I've been the guitarist for a band, and we are still together. Here's our myspace: http://myspace.com/corpusdei. It probably helped that we are all older guys (24 to 30 years old) who have nothing better to do, and that I write almost all the songs. If I was just some shmuck guitarist, I'm sure I'd have gotten the boot.

3)When you first start shooting, you spend a lot of time in the bathroom learning to shoot, you pass out (nod off) frequently, you get bruises on your arms from mis-shooting, you start to get way moodier when you don't have dope...

4)The first time I tried to get help, I was clean for 4 months, and the tracks did lighten, but didn't go away.

Also, geography makes a difference. In the Northeast you can only get Heroin #4, which is also called China White, powder, or brownstone. In the South and the West coast, you can only get black tar. Black Tar = smoking and shooting, china white= snorting, smoking or shooting.

Hope I was helpful.


420

 

You've all been incredibly helpful, thank you!

It looks like I'll be able to keep all my plans regarding this character. And it does take place in the northeast, so the smoking/shooting/snorting thing will still work. And I'll definitely check out the Trainspotting movie.

My last question is still about the tracks -- Danklord, you said they lightened after four months but didn't go away. If my character has been clean for bout 10 or 11 months, would they still have light scars, or no?

Thanks again. I'll feel much more confident writing, knowing it's realistic.

 

yeah they will be gone after 10 or 11 months...but u have to remember that A LOT of people that do heroin for 3 years!! ! ! may get off the H but they will most likley wind up on maintance and taking either Methadone or Bupenorphine ( aka - Suboxone) both meds used to treat Opiate Dependency...Also in what time period did he do Heroin? keep in mind a lot of heroin addicts also use the STRONG/GOOD perscription opiates like OxyContin (aka OC), Roxicodones (aka ROXI's), and Hydromorphone (aka Dilaudid - was more popular before oxycontin came out in 1995).