Heroin as Evil: ecstasy users’ perceptions about heroin

Information gleaned from several studies suggests that non-opiate drug users view heroin and heroin users in negative terms. The present study examines this issue in greater detail through analysis of Ecstasy users’ perceptions about heroin, heroin users and injectors. The data were collected through in-depth interviews with 98 current or former users of Ecstasy who were recruited through various methods in 1997-98. The findings confirm earlier reports and suggest that Ecstasy users tend to distance themselves from heroin users. The data also show that several Ecstasy users tend to believe that bad experiences with Ecstasy can be attributed to tablets laced with heroin. Explanations for these findings are offered. Prestige Hierarchy of Drugs Among Users Scholars, policy makers and laypersons often categorize illicit drugs in terms of `soft’ versus `hard’, `recreational’ versus `addictive’ [1]. Drug users also have been known to use these terms and some evidence has suggested that drug users tend to view drugs differently, depending in part on the drug in question. Specifically, information gleaned from several studies has shown that non-opiate drug users view heroin in negative terms (see, e.g. Klee, 1998; Parker et al. 1998; Solowij et al. 1992; Wibberley & Price, 1998; Wright et al. 1999). Non-opiate drug users have been known to describe heroin users in stereotypical terms and with scorn. For example, studies of amphetamine users in the North-West of England have shown that those respondents viewed heroin users as `dirty’ (Klee, 1998, p. 46), a finding that was replicated in a London study of recent users of Ecstasy, LSD or amphetamine sulphate (Power et al., 1996). Additionally, some amphetamine users have avoided treatment because they did not wish to be associated with heroin users (Wright et al., 1999, p. 75). In a New York study, researchers found that cocaine users `felt superior’ to heroin users and injectors (Dunlap et al., 1990) . Similarly, a cocaine dealer interviewed by Coomber voiced a similar view in his description of heroin and heroin users as being `dirty’ (1997, p. 300). Other studies have shown that users of legal drugs (i.e. tobacco smokers and problem drinkers) tend to perceive `heroin addicts’ as dangerous (Finnigin, 1996) . Drug users have been found to assess the addictive nature of specific drugs based in part on the individual traits of the person who consumes the drug rather than to its pharmacological properties (McKeganey & Barnard, 1992). Relative to this finding, one report found that Ecstasy users (primarily from middleclass backgrounds) tended to believe that heroin is used primarily among persons in `high unemployment areas’ (Fraser et al., 1992, p. 13), a group that was geographically and culturally distinguishable from the interviewees. Background Until recently, much of the discussion regarding illicit drug use in Northern Ireland has been characterized by reference to the low prevalence levels. Drug use in Northern Ireland has been framed as minimal, and inevitably compared favourably to the `more serious’ drug problems of close regional neighbours such as the Republic of Ireland (namely Dublin) and Britain (McEvoy et al., 1998).