What Is Heroin Made From? Main Ingredients & Heroin Cutting Agents
Heroin is made from the opium poppy, which is mostly grown in southern Asia. Making it involves several different types of chemicals and includes many steps. This page will tell you about where heroin comes from, how it is made, what it is cut with, and the dangers involved with its use.
What Is the Process for Making Heroin?
Heroin is a drug synthesized from morphine, a natural compound derived from the seed pods of specific types of poppy plants cultivated in various regions around the world.1
To make heroin, morphine is treated with various chemicals and heated and drained to solidify the solution. The heroin is then filtered out of the carbonate solution with activated charcoal and purified with alcohol. This mixture is then heated once again, so the alcohol evaporates. Finally, it is purified with hydrochloric acid, with the finished product a fluffy, white powder.1
As heroin makes its way through the supply chain, it may be cut with substances that either enhance the effects of the drug or dilute it to bulk up a batch and help the dealer make a larger profit.
What Is Heroin Cut With?
As heroin makes its way from the source of production, through dealers, to users, it is cut with adulterants and diluents.
Substances used to cut heroin include:
- Procaine (local anesthetic).
- Fentanyl (powerful opioid).
- Acetaminophen (pain reliever).
- Tramadol (pain reliever).
- Sucrose, lactose, dextrose (sugars).
- Quinine (antimalarial drug).
- Mannitol (diuretic, can also reduce pressure in the eyes and the brain).
- Inositol (used to treat mental health conditions and diabetes).
- Lidocaine (used to treat irregular heartbeat and relieve pain).
- Diacetamide.
- Lead.5,6
Dealers use these substances for different reasons. Caffeine, for example, helps heroin to vaporize at a lower temperature to aid smoking. Tramadol shares many similar effects with heroin.
Sugar and lead are used to add bulk and dilute the heroin. And quinine has a bitter taste that can disguise poor quality heroin while also giving users a similar “rush.”6
Other diluents are chalk, brick dust, powdered milk, and starch, which do not cause any noticeable effects in users but can cause health problems.6
Like tramadol, fentanyl shares similar effects to heroin. But it is much more powerful. Fentanyl can be substituted for heroin or added to it, but this is extremely dangerous and often leads to overdose.
What Is the Difference Between Adulterants and Diluents?
The terms adulterants and diluents are often confused.
- An adulterant is an ingredient that has pharmacological effects and is added to either increase or decrease the effects or side effects of heroin.
- A diluent is a substance without any pharmacological effect that is added to bulk up the drug and stretch the amount of heroin in the batch.
- A contaminant is a byproduct of the heroin manufacturing process.8
Some sources refer to both adulterants and diluents as adulterants. Even though they serve different purposes, they are both added to heroin on purpose or as a result of the production/distribution process.8
Weighing the Risks
It is very difficult to tell pure heroin from heroin that is contaminated with fentanyl or another harmful substance.
Dealers rarely disclose what they have put into their drugs during the production process. Test kits claim to be able to determine the purity of heroin, but even these are not 100% accurate.
Getting Help for Heroin Addiction
Heroin is dangerous regardless of whether it is pure or contaminated, and taking a step toward recovery from heroin use can feel overwhelming. But we are here to help.
Desert Hope Treatment Center—an inpatient rehab facility in Las Vegas, NV—offers a full continuum of care for drug and alcohol addiction including:
If you or someone you know is struggling with heroin addiction, please call to speak to one of our admissions navigators and start the rehab admissions process.
Our admissions navigators will walk you through the process and help you verify your insurance coverage. If using insurance to pay for rehab isn’t the best option for you, there are other ways to cover the cost of treatment.
Check your insurance coverage at Desert Hope by using the confidential .
We make starting treatment at Desert Hope easy.