Black tar heroin, also known as black dragon, is a form of heroin that is sticky like tar or hard like coal. Its dark color is the result of crude processing methods that leave behind impurities. Despite its name, black tar heroin can also be dark orange or dark brown in appearance.[1]
Black tar heroin is impure diacetylmorphine. Other forms of heroin require additional steps of purification post acetylation. With black tar, the product's processing stops immediately after acetylation. Its unique consistency however is due to acetylation without a reflux apparatus. As in homebake heroin in Australia and New Zealand the crude acetylation results in a gooey mass.
Black tar as a type holds a variable admixture of morphine derivatives—predominantly 6-MAM (6-monoacetylmorphine), which is another result of crude acetylation. The lack of proper reflux during acetylation fails to remove much of the moisture retained in the acetylating agent, acetic anhydride. The acetic anhydride reacts with the moisture to produce the milder acetylating agent glacial acetic acid which is unable to acetylate the 3 position of the morphine molecule.
Black tar heroin is often produced in Latin America,[2][3] and is most commonly found in the western and southern parts of the United States, while also being occasionally found in Western Africa. It has a varying consistency depending on manufacturing methods, cutting agents, and moisture levels, from tarry goo in the unrefined form to a uniform, light-brown powder when further processed and cut with a variety of agents. One of the more notable compounds added to heroin is lactose.[4]
- ^ "Types of Heroin". Indiana Prevention Resource Center. 2014.
- ^ "Mexican Drug Exports", retrieved 2015/04/04
- ^ "Heroin by Area of Origin", retrieved 2015/04/04
- ^ "What Is Heroin Cut With? - Sunshine Behavioral Health". Sunshine Behavioral Health. 2020-07-08. Retrieved 2023-07-01.