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From the English version of "Monar na Bajzlu",
Bulletin published by MONAR in Krakow.
January 2007.
"Kompot" - Polish heroin
The most widely available and used form of opiates in Poland is a substance called "kompot". The drug is obtained from a base of poppy straw and several chemical reagents. It contains heroin, morphine, codeine and many other opium alkaloids. The exact content of kompot is often unknown and one batch rarely has the same constitution as others. In the process of producing kompot, morphine is isolated, condensed and acidified, thereby converting it into a substance that is essentially heroin. The effects of this process are not always known. The heroin and other acetylene derivatives of morphine which are found in kompot are impermanent and gradually hydrolyze back into morphine. The speed of this process depends on the temperature and storage time of the kompot; the higher the temperature and the longer the storage time, the less like heroin it becomes.
Kompot is a liquid whose colour ranges from nearly transparent to dark brown, depending on the kinds of reagents used to produce it. It has a bitter taste and an often vinegary odour that results from the addition of anhydrous acetic acid during the last stage of production. Because it is a liquid, kompot is injected. In rare cases the drug is smoked like brown heroin. Because the muscles cannot easily absorb the high amount of oily liquids in kompot, injection is almost always done intravenously, rather than intramuscularly. Intramuscular injections often cause serious abscess complications.
The Institute of Forensic Research in Cracow researches illegal drugs and registers cases of kompot infected with HIV. With the methods ELISA and WESTERN BLOT, HIV-antibodies have been detected in kompot samples. Despite the fact that kompot's high pH co-efficient does not create a hostile environment for HIV, there is a chance for infection. At the same time, however, kompot is a good environment for various other infectious diseases, particularly Hepatitis B and C.
According to research conducted by the Institute of Forensic Research, kompot can also contain bacteria and fungi. However, it is possible to limit the amount of such microbes by boiling the kompot – the longer the boiling, the greater the efficacy. None of the intoxicating elements are lost in this process. Still, boiling kompot will not rid it of viruses. To some extent it is possible to reduce the risk of acquiring kompot which is infected by transmittable viruses by paying attention to the way kompot is distributed and sold.
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