Heroin Cutting Agents: What Is Heroin Commonly Cut With?

Heroin is an illegal street drug derived from morphine. People who buy heroin are rarely getting pure heroin. The drug is sold and cut with several different substances and drugs to either enhance the effects of the high, or sell higher quantities of the drug to make better profits.

Individuals who purchase heroin have no way of knowing how the drug was produced and what additional substances may be mixed with their batch of drug.

What Are Heroin Cutting Agents?

Heroin cutting agents are substances used to combine with heroin in order to fill and create more bulk products.

The purpose of adding cutting agents is to produce an end product that is cheaper than pure heroin and increases profit for the drug dealer.

What Can Be Used As A Heroin Cutting Agent?

Many toxic and non-toxic substances are used to cut heroin. Each substance, including heroin itself, comes with risk of harming the individual who ingests them by snorting, smoking, or injecting.

Side Effects Of Taking Heroin That Is Mixed With Other Substances

Because there is no way for the individual to know what heroin has been cut with, side effects may vary and lead to greater risks of experiencing adverse effects.

Heroin That Is Cut With Stimulant Drugs

When heroin is mixed with a stimulant, such as methamphetamine, it may be difficult for the individual to recognize signs of a heroin overdose.

Heroin That Is Cut With Depressant Drugs

If heroin is mixed with other illicit drugs, such as opioid painkillers, narcotics, or CNS depressants, a person may experience a greater high and more sedative effects than expected.

Heroin That Is Mixed With Non-Toxic Cutting Agents

Even non-toxic cutting agents cause harm to the body when consumed. Some substances may increase the risks of developing health conditions when mixed with heroin.

Non-toxic substances that drug manufacturers may use to cut heroin include:

• sucrose (sugar)
• lactose
• cornstarch
• baking soda
• powdered milk
• flour

Law enforcement agents frequently report that the drug market commonly sells black tar heroin that contains various fillers, impurities, diluents, adulterants, and contaminants.

Dangerous Substances Commonly Used To Cut Heroin

People who purchase illegal drugs like heroin have no way of knowing the heroin purity level, its toxicity level, or contents of their batch of drug.

Heroin is frequently cut with everyday substances such as:

• laundry detergent
• rat poison
• synthetic opioids

It may be the case that the product an individual believes is heroin is less than a fraction of the drug and almost entirely produced by other narcotics and cutting agents.

Other substances used to cut heroin include:

Paracetamol

This analgesic pain-reliever is commonly added to heroin to reduce side effects and lead a person to believe that the batch contains less heroin impurities.

Caffeine

Caffeine is used to cut heroin which causes the drug to vaporize at low temperatures and enables the user to get a faster “rush.”

Laundry Detergent

This substance is used mainly to increase bulk product.

Cocaine

This illegal substance has been commonly used for many years to increase both stimulating and euphoric effects of heroin.

Fentanyl

Fentanyl is a prescription painkiller that is several times more potent than morphine.

This drug increases the potency of heroin and is used mainly to increase the effects of opiates for habitual users who may have developed tolerance to the drug.

Carfentanil

This drug is an animal tranquilizer that is significantly more potent than fentanyl. Very small amounts of this opiate is required to cause death in a human being.

Levamisole

This substance is a veterinary pharmaceutical used to deworm livestock. It’s used as a bulking agent and to prolong the effects of heroin.

Lidocaine

Lidocaine is used to reduce the melting point of heroin so it can be smoked easily.

Diphenhydramine

Used as a bulking agent, to increase the effects of heroin, and to hook users into heroin addiction faster.

Dangers Of Heroin Impurities

Many cutting agents are reported to come into the United States through Mexico and China. They’re used to create bulk products and increase the addictive potential and effects of heroin. A person who uses heroin cannot know what is in the drugs they buy on the street. It’s impossible to determine if the drug has been cut with other toxic substances.

Cutting heroin with dangerous substances has been done for decades. It is well-known that drug dealers will bulk their products for profit, regardless of the risks it poses to a user.

How To Recognize Heroin That Has Been Cut

Identifying whether heroin has been cut with other substances is difficult, as most cutting agents look similar to heroin itself. However, certain physical characteristics may provide clues about what’s been added. Pure heroin is typically a fine white powder, but street heroin ranges in color from white to brown to black depending on impurities and additives. If heroin has an unusual smell, texture, or doesn’t dissolve properly when mixed with water for injection, it may contain cutting agents.

The way heroin affects you can also indicate it’s been cut with other drugs. If the high feels different than usual, lasts longer or shorter than expected, or causes unexpected side effects, the batch may contain additional substances. Heroin cut with stimulants like cocaine or meth may make you feel more energized and jittery rather than sedated. Heroin cut with fentanyl or carfentanil is extremely dangerous and can cause rapid overdose even in small amounts.

There’s no reliable way to know what’s in street heroin without laboratory testing. Some harm reduction programs offer fentanyl test strips that can detect the presence of fentanyl in drugs, but these don’t identify other cutting agents. The safest option is to avoid using street heroin entirely and seek professional addiction treatment.

Getting Help For Heroin Addiction

Heroin leads to many overdose deaths per year. It is a highly addictive drug that often requires aggressive substance abuse treatment to avert medical crises and to achieve recovery. Heroin is typically sold in white powder, brown powder, liquid, and black tar form. It is commonly cut with other toxic substances, putting individuals at risk for dangerous side effects. There is no way for an individual to be sure of the purity of the drugs they buy on the street.

If you or a loved one has a heroin addiction, or if you have questions about rehab programs for heroin abuse, browse our directory or reach out to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for more information.

Written by the Addiction Resource Editorial Staff