| Abstract | 'T's and B's' started to become widely used in Chicago in the early 1970s. Users reported an interaction between the two drugs which was expressed in slang terms such as 'Toms and Bettys', 'T'shirts and Blue Jeans.' By the late 1970s, T's and B's users occupied 10% of the treatment census in Chicago. Soft tissue damage was more pronounced with 'T's and B's' than with heroin and a number of serious medical complications were observed, e.g. pulmonary hypertension. The introduction of Talwin NX appears to have decreased greatly the use of T's and B's as demand for treatment for primary abuse of this combination is close to zero in 1983-84. |
