Heroin

Smoking 7: From the heart to the brain

Part of the blood containing heroin molecules that leaves the heart through the aorta is carried to the brain. It diffuses there through the branches of the blood vessels.

When you take heroin by chasing the dragon, you feel the effects 7 to 10 seconds later. In smoking or chasing, the heroin molecules arrive in the brain more gradually than when the drug is injected. This gives a less powerful buzz.