Eli5 Why do people “cook” heroin before injecting?

Question

I’ve seen people heat up heroin on spoons in movies and stories about drugs but I don’t know what that actually does.

In: 6

Answer 1

It does several things. It dissolves it in water. Any insoluble rubbish it has been cut with wont dissolve and can be filtered out with the cotton wool used at the end of the needle. It also sterilises it lessening the chance of infection.