We have all heard the word “speedball” and most of us are aware of what it is. In the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, rock stars, actors, actresses, and every day people were injecting or snorting a highly-addictive and deadly combination of cocaine and heroin. This deadly cocktail took the lives of Chris Farley, John Belushi, Ken Camenitti, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Pete Farndon, Zac Goddard, Trevor Foley, and Mitch Heidberg, just to name a few.
We know that cocaine stimulates the body by increasing the heart rate tremendously and increasing blood flow to the brain while heroin does the exact opposite. This greatly confuses the body and can cause sudden stroke, heart attack, and respiratory failure. But this was “yesterday’s speedball” while the speedball of today is much deadlier. Today people are substituting methamphetamine for cocaine and mixing that with heroin, to form an all new toxic speedball.
What is making this new combination so deadly is that the high from meth masks the affects of heroin twice as much as cocaine. In other words, once you consume the meth and are high on the stimulant you don’t feel all the effects of the heroin, therefore you have no idea how close you are to “overdose state”. You can easily consume way too much heroin and your body can shut down before you know it. One of these drugs is dangerous enough and mixing them is asking for trouble. We here at The Addictions Coach can help with anyone addicted to meth, heroin or any drug for that matter. Please call us 24/7 at 1-800-706-0318.