Chasing the elusive dragon: the need for better definition

Strang, John; Griffiths, Paul; Gossop, Michael

doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.1997.tb02935.x

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…For this respondent, the transition from smoking to injecting MA was compelled by the pursuit of a more powerful and efficient drug effect at a time when need exceeded supply (Strang, Griffiths, & Gossop, 1997). In this narrative, the transition from smoking to injecting was aimed at managing individual drug tolerance, the material conditions imposed by the structural circumstances of poverty, and drug supply (see Guise, Dimova, Ndimbii, Clark, & Rhodes, 2015).…”

Section: Dealer Idus: Social Identity and The Perceived Costs Of Injementioning

confidence: 99%

An Exploration of Factors Associated With Methamphetamine Injection Among Street-Involved Drug Users and Dealers in Los Angeles

Hunt-Howard

2016

Journal of Drug Issues

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Based on fieldwork and ethnographic interviews, this article explores the subjective meanings and processes of injecting methamphetamine and risk taking among 38 participants involved in a street drug scene, including long-term methamphetamine users and dealers recruited in an inner-city Los Angeles neighborhood, as a means of gaining insight into the factors facilitating injection. There were a multitude of individual, structural, social, and spatial factors that may influence injection as a mode of methamphetamine administration, including economic conditions, perceived cost, and efficiency of specific routes of use; social role and collective identification with a street scene; physical and social settings; drug policy and fear of arrest; social network factors, including the influence of sexual partners, peers, and the normalization of injection; other drug use, including individual drug histories and preferences for specific routes of administration among particular drug users (e.g., black tar heroin); and characteristics of the local drug market.

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Section: Dealer Idus: Social Identity and The Perceived Costs Of Injementioning

confidence: 99%

An Exploration of Factors Associated With Methamphetamine Injection Among Street-Involved Drug Users and Dealers in Los Angeles

Hunt-Howard

2016

Journal of Drug Issues

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“…Actually, "chasing the dragon" is a completely different process from smoking, though it was expressed as a refinement for the traditional heroin smoking by using porcelain bowls and bamboo tubes, which originated in Shanghai in the 1920s (3). "Chasing the dragon" refers to putting powdered heroin on a piece of tinfoil with a flame underneath to heat, then users use a tube to inhale the vapors produced when heroin sublimates after heated to a level, but heroin is not burned in the course as smoking does, so "chasing the dragon" is inhaling in essence, different from smoking, which mainly refers to "smoking heroin in a cigarette" (with tobacco or marijuana) nowadays (3,(7)(8)(9).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of Psychopathology and the Relationship between Routes of Drug Administration and Psychiatric Symptoms in Heroin Addicts

Wang

Liu

2012

Substance Abuse

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The objective of this study was to explore the characteristics of comorbid psychiatric symptoms and the relationship between different routes of drug administration and psychiatric symptoms. Five hundred and nine heroin addicts were studied in Drug Detoxification and Rehabilitation Centers in Yunnan and Heilongjiang provinces of China. The measure instrument, including demographic characteristics, history of drug abuse, and the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) scale (Chinese version), was administered to eligible heroin addicts. Among the subjects, comorbid psychopathology conditions were more severe on all dimensions of SCL-90 comparing with normal adults and the average score of Depression was highest among the 9 dimensions in heroin addicts; psychiatric symptoms were more severe in heroin injecting group than in “chasing the dragon” group and only the difference in Obsessive-Compulsive was significant, but more significant differences were found between snorting heroin addicts and chasing or injecting heroin addicts, and the average score of each dimension of SCL-90 was higher in the snorting group than in the other 2 groups. The reasons of the results and meaning for the present study are discussed. In summary, comorbid psychiatric symptoms in the heroin addicts were very common and severe and their severity varied with different routes of drug administration, suggesting that routes of drug administration should be considered as an important risk factor to mental health of heroin addicts.

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Differences in severity of heroin dependence by route of administration: the importance of length of heroin use

Barrio¹,

Fuente

Lew³

et al. 2001

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

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Chasing the elusive dragon: the need for better definition

Abstract: (1990) A method for delivery of precise doses of smoked cocaine-base to humans.

Cited by 3 publications

References 18 publications

An Exploration of Factors Associated With Methamphetamine Injection Among Street-Involved Drug Users and Dealers in Los Angeles

An Exploration of Factors Associated With Methamphetamine Injection Among Street-Involved Drug Users and Dealers in Los Angeles

Characteristics of Psychopathology and the Relationship between Routes of Drug Administration and Psychiatric Symptoms in Heroin Addicts

Differences in severity of heroin dependence by route of administration: the importance of length of heroin use

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