DRUGTRAIL - MESSY COCKTAIL

The drug story gets an adulterous twist. It's not just the issue of
cocaine but its adulteration with heroin that has added a new
dimension to the Rahul Mahajan-Vivek Moitra episode. The fact that
the cocaine allegedly consumed by the duo was mixed with heroin has
proved that coke adulteration is reaching a new high.

Adulteration of cocaine with heroin (known as speedball) is not new.
But what's important is that the quantity of heroin in cocaine is
getting higher with every change of hand that the packet undergoes.
According to the cops, "In one case, we found the cocaine sample
adulterated. And the lab report proved that it was mixed with heroin."

Fouling pure coke

Delhiites enjoy the dubious reputation of being freeloaders and this
has affected the 'business' of cocaine too. According to a cokehead,
"Only users who buy directly from the suppliers get pure stuff. Those
who buy from pushers (users who also peddle it) get impure cocaine,
which is mixed with heroin or some other substance."

The modus operandi is simple. To get free cocaine, users become
pushers. They buy uncut cocaine from the dealer, take out a small
quantity for personal use and mix the rest with heroin for further
sale. The more hands it changes, the more impure it gets.

According to cops, "Some of the DJs and managers of discotheques in
Vasant Vihar, South Extension and New Delhi district sell coke. Since
they are also users, they become pushers to ensure a free supply of
coke for personal use."

Even in terms of pure business, pushers make money by adulterating
coke with heroin as a gram of cocaine costs a minimum of Rs 4,000
while a gram of heroin costs Rs 1,500.

Lethal combo

However, there's another angle to this cocaine-heroin cocktail. Says
a doctor of Lady Hardinge Medical College, "According to medical
science, taking cocaine and heroin together (speedball) is deadly. It
is usually taken for an immediate and sustained high. It can be
snorted, injected or taken orally. A speedball injection kills the
user immediately. But even if it is snorted or taken orally, it can
prove fatal, as in the recent Moitra's case." Speedball is
potentially lethal because cocaine acts as a stimulant, raising the
heartbeat, whereas heroin slows the heart. As a result, it is
possible to experience a delayed overdose.

Thus many drug addicts use speedball in order to achieve the
purported effect. Some people who use heroin also combine it with
smoked freebase cocaine (crack) that is known as a moonrock. But
isn't life worth much more?