Before long, users were not only smoking crack but mixing it and heroin into speedballs, one part heroin and one part crack mixed with water and an acid—lemon juice or vinegar, usually—then cooked on a spoon until it all melted into a smooth, injectable liquid. A speedball, it was said, gave users a balanced high: a combination of a stimulant in cocaine and a depressant in heroin that offered the thrill of crack without the jitters and nerves that usually accompany the substance.
