Coffee was found in almost all seized heroin in recent years as traffickers and dealers look for ways to boost profits, according to a drug expert.
Godwin Sammut, a chemist at the University of Malta’s Chemistry Department, told Times of Malta that coffee was the most common extra ingredient found in heroin seized in Malta and was done mostly to add bulk.
“Caffeine is the most common adulterant in heroin. All the samples I test contain it,” Mr Sammut, who has been conducting drug tests for the police for the past 17 years, said.
Weight, however, may not be the only reason coffee is added to the drug.
According to the EU’s drug monitoring agency, when caffeine is added to heroin it can facilitate the burning process, making it easier for drug users to get their fix.
“When heroin vaporises easier, it is seen as a practical benefit to those who smoke it rather than inject it,” Mr Sammut said.
A substance derived from poppy plants and used to treat spasms and even erectile dysfunction, was also making its way into heroin
A lower burning temperature can also be misconstrued by users as a sign of higher quality or purity of the drugs. The EU agency insists this is not the case.
Apart from coffee, Mr Sammut said traffickers also regularly added paracetamol – the active ingredient in popular painkiller Panadol. The over-the-counter tablets are added as traffickers believe their effect to be complementary to the heroin experience.
Papverine, a substance derived from poppy plants and used to treat spasms and even erectile dysfunction, was also making its way into heroin, he said.
Mr Sammut noted that most of the adulterants added to the illegal drug, which include lactose and sucrose powder, were relatively safe but some of the ‘fillers’ were of concern to the authorities.
He flagged a worrying trend: the addition of diazepam, known by its popular brand name Valium, to heroin.
“This can be a deadly combination,” he warned.
According to a regular user who spoke to this newspaper on condition of anonymity, the combination of the two was commonplace among heroin users. The effects of drugs like Valium, he said, enhanced the heroin high.
He said that although this was not ‘his thing’, he had heard of other users adding Valium or one of its substitutes in the spoons used to cook the drug.
Mr Sammut said such practice could have devastating effects, increasing the chance of overdose “exponentially”. Of even more concern to the authorities, he said, was the use of a substance known as Fentanyl, an opioid copycat drug similar to morphine but 50 to 100 times more potent.
“Fentanyl is being produced in clandestine laboratories and sold as heroin or mixed in with it,” he said.
Mr Sammut said the substance was already potentially lethal if used alone and in small doses.
“Luckily”, the authorities were yet to detect this on the island, he added. However, he continued, EU policing agencies issued instructions to be on the lookout after a number of such cases were discovered across Europe.
The heroin user said he was unaware what the illegal powder he was ‘cooking up’ in his apartment consisted of.
“Heroin is what’s in my heroin, I guess, isn’t it?” he remarks.
When informed about Mr Sammut’s discoveries, he was quick to denounce the drug, adding it would be extremely difficult to give up using it.
Anyone needing help or more information can contact Sedqa via www.sedqa.gov.mt or on 2388 5110.