Speedball (drug)
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Speedball is a drug term for the mixing of heroin and cocaine. This is a potentially lethal concoction: the cocaine acts as a stimulant, raising the heartbeat, but its effects wear off more quickly than those of heroin, which in turn slows the heart. 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 heroin are felt in isolation. The term may be applied to the simultaneous use of any opiate drug with a stimulant, and methamphetamine has been used in place of cocaine.
The term "speedball" was by consensus almost always in reference to an injection unless otherwise stated, but the popularization of the concept in recent years has meant that many people who insufflate heroin and cocaine now combine the two drugs in order to achieve the purported effects. Some people who use heroin also combine it with smoked freebase cocaine (crack); in some circles this is considered a type of speedball, but is usually known as a moonrock.
Actors John Belushi, Chris Farley, and River Phoenix, comedian Mitch Hedberg, former Major League Baseball pitcher Eric Show, Keyboardist Brent Mydland of The Grateful Dead as well as Alice in Chains' singer, Layne Staley are all reported to have died after taking speedballs. Depeche Mode lead singer, Dave Gahan, suffered a heart attack from overdosing on a speedball in 1996. He survived the incident and later gave up the drug. Original Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler suffered a stroke after taking a particularly potent speedball. While he survived, he now lives with a speech impediment as a result. Megadeth members Dave Mustaine and David Ellefson also admitted using speedballs in the band's Behind The Music documentary. Ellefson was quoted saying "It was great, the heroin helped you come off the cocaine. Now I knew why everyone did speedballs at that time, but not that everyone DIED from it... I forgot that part...".
Dr. Ernst von Fleischl-Marxow, a friend of Sigmund Freud, may have been the first person to experience a speedball, as Freud advised he use cocaine to overcome his morphine addiction.
A variation of the speedball, known colloquially as Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, has recently come into vogue in circles of drug users across the Northeast of the United States and in parts of Canada. Requiring a larger syringe than is common, MMBT requires the addition of a shot of the powerful liquor Everclear as well as an increased amount of both heroin and cocaine. The presence of the potent alcohol apparently enhances the euphoric effects of the already volatile combination. It is unclear as to what, if any, connection this particular cocktail has to the Mel Gibson film of the same name.