Francis Moraes

Who is Francis Moraes?

Francis Moraes, whose online pseudonym is Dr. H, is an American writer, author of three opiate-related non-fiction books and hundreds of articles.

Moraes trained as a research physicist and chemist and attained a PhD in physics. He became interested in the heroin subculture in Portland, Oregon – the number two most vibrant heroin city in the United States, at that time. After that, he expanded his perspective, spending numerous years studying the heroin subcultures in New York City, Seattle, and the San Francisco Bay area. Francis Moraes has been a notable part of the harm reduction movement, particularly as it relates to heroin and other opioids. He writes from this perspective with the stated intent of neither demonizing nor glorifying opioids, aiming only to provide drug users, scholars, and other curious readers alike an objective perspective on the issue. His work is generally considered neutral in content and calm in tone, but he has his detractors who point out biases and inconsistency.

Moraes differs from other authors in stressing the comparatively minor effects of opioid use and the profound pain associated with opioid withdrawal. Heroin in particular, is commonly considered an extremely potent euphoric; Moraes stresses that the euphoria of heroin is actually rather subtle and very often overwhelmed by the nausea that is also produced by the drug. Moraes also counters common descriptions of the withdrawal that opioid addicts experience when they stop using. Many authors compare opioid withdrawal to a bad flu; Moraes counters this idea—particularly in his later work where he stresses the importance of a dysfunctional endorphin system on the management of pain.