Speedball (drug)

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Speedballing (alternatively known as snowballing or powerballing) is a term commonly referring to the intravenous use of heroin or morphine and cocaine together in the same syringe. The combination is also known as moonrocks when smoked. This is a potentially lethal concoction: the cocaine acts as a stimulant, raising the pulse, but its effects wear off more quickly than those of either heroin or morphine, which in turn slow the heart down. As a result, it is possible to experience a delayed "overdose" (technically, severe respiratory depression) when the stimulant wears off and the full effects of the morphine are felt in isolation.^{[citation needed]}

The invention of the speedball is variously attributed to Harry K. Thaw circa 1900, followers of Sigmund Freud in the late 19th Century, Beatniks in the 1950s, an obscure and long-forgotten pharmacist or battlefield medic as long as 150 years ago, or American soldiers returning from the Vietnam War.^{[citation needed]}

Stimulants are used clinically to combat somnolence created by large and/or rapidly increasing doses of opioid analgesics and/or potentiate the effect of the opioid, with methylphenidate being the most commonly used. In the past, pharmaceuticals containing both cocaine and morphine or heroin were on the market, such as Trivalin, specifically the product distributed under that name up until the 1930s or shortly thereafter which contained the valerate salts of morphine, cocaine, and caffeine.^{[citation needed]}

Sometimes, other combinations of stimulants and depressants are referred to as speedballs, such as the use of amphetamines in conjunction with other opiates like hydromorphone, dihydrocodeine, oxycodone and others, benzodiazepines or barbiturates. Methylphenidate and hydrocodone is known as "kiddy speedball". Vodka Red Bull is sometimes referred to as a "speedball cocktail" since it contains the depressant alcohol and the stimulant caffeine. Marijuana and coffee is called a "hippies speedball", or a "Seattle speedball". Combining the drug oxycodone and cocaine is known as a "California Heart-Stopper" and is usually insufflated or injected. An oral or insufflated combination of depressants or opiates and stimulants is more properly called a "set up."^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Deaths attributed to speedball use

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Speedball use was a contributor to the cause of many high-profile deaths, including:

• Jean-Michel Basquiat
• Lowell George
• John Belushi
• Kevin Dubrow
• Chris Farley
• Zac Foley
• Mitch Hedberg
• Brent Mydland
• Gram Parsons
• River Phoenix
• Eric Show
• Hillel Slovak
• Layne Staley

[edit] See also

• Drug abuse
• Poly drug use
• Combined drug intoxication

[edit] External links

• U.S. Office of National Drug Policy, National Trends in Drug Abuse Summer 1998, Special Section: Speedballing