Heroin User's Handbook, Paperback

Heroin is a fascinating drug to most people. It is often referred to as the hardest drug. By this logic, people might start with alcohol, work up to marijuana and maybe LSD. Then they reach to cocaine or methamphetamine. And finally, at the end of the journey is heroin. But like most things about heroin, this is more myth than reality.

Dr. Francis Moraes trained as a research physicist and chemist and attained a PhD in physics. While living in Portland, Oregon, he became interested in the heroin subculture there. Afterwards, he spent several years studying it in New York City, Seattle, and the San Francisco Bay area. Francis Moraes has been part of the harm reduction movement, particularly as it relates to heroin and other opioids. He writes from this perspective with the intent of neither demonizing nor glorifying opioids, aiming only to provide drug users and other curious readers with an objective perspective on the issue.