How can 1ml be equal to 1,000mg (1g)?

I know a lot of people get surprised when I tell them that 1ml is equal to 1,000mg or 1g. Some people even think that I am crazy and that either I am mistaken or just making stuff up. I am not making it up. It is true that 1ml is equal to 1,000mg. Well, more or less. A 1ml syringe can hold up to 1,000mg or 1g of heroin dose. Depending on the density of the liquid, the purity of the black tar heroin and whether water was used to make the dose or not, a 1ml syringe can contain heroin within the range of 30mg to 990mg. 

If you have observed your surroundings then you will find examples which proves that 1ml = 1,000mg or 1g. I guess some people will rather believe in their surroundings rather than someone they suspect is working for Courtney (I don't work for her. Nor is she paying me for anything. I am doing all of this out of my own free will.).

One example is the tablespoon. 

Do not worry. That is salt not heroin.

I believe this example is readily available in every household. One tablespoon is equal to 15g (1,500mg) if measuring solid ingredients like flour, sugar, salt, etc. and if measuring liquid ingredients like oil, milk, water, etc. then one tablespoon is equal to 15ml.

Another example I can give is a face cream.

This may not apply to all face creams. You will have to check the container to see how it measured its content weight. In this example, I bought a face cream which has a net content of 50ml/49g. Why does it have two different measurements? Creams are somewhere between being a solid and a liquid. That's why.

If these examples doesn't work then I suggest you to buy a bottle of any liquids and measure its weight with a kitchen scale like how I did here. 

I am using a digital scale and measuring the weight of a Pepsi bottle which has a content of 750ml. Note that the plastic bottle has a weight of its own and its weight gets added along with the bottle's contents. The digital scale measured the weight to be 813g.

Now comes the question why isn't 1ml = 1mg? The answer is that solids and liquids are different types of matter. Liquids have less density than solids and do not have a definitive shape. We have to use a container to measure liquids. We can't just pour the liquid on the scale to measure its weight. Milliliter and liter are measurements of the volume of a liquid. When we measure the weight or mass of a liquid, we use measurements of milligrams, grams and kilograms. If a 100ml liquid is shown to weigh 100g on a weighing scale then it is concluded that 100ml = 100g. 

This is why 1ml is equal to 1,000mg or 1g. More or less. Different liquids have different levels of density and therefore have different weights but most of the time 1ml of a liquid has a weigh of 1,000mg. 

Another thing that I would like to discuss are the different states of matter. A matter can change into solid or liquid or gas when it is heated or frozen. When a matter in solid state is heated it turns into liquid state. In its liquid state it increases in volume due to the change in its molecular structure but the mass is the same. In its solid state, the matter would have less volume due to its compact molecular structure and has equal mass in comparison to its liquid state (which has more volume and equal mass). This explains how matter in its liquid state have low density than its solid state. Density is basically how close the molecules are structured together which gives the matter its shape and volume. Density measures the mass per volume of a matter.

The image below may help you understand.

Image Source

The main thing I want to explain is that the weight of a liquid is based on the level of its density. Also, every unique matter has a different density in its liquid state. Not all liquids have the same density.

What is volume?

Volume is the amount of a space that a substance or object occupies, or that is enclosed in a container. 

What is density?

Density is the quantity of mass per unit volume of a substance.

What is mass? 

A quantity of a matter which a body contains, as measured by its acceleration under a given force or by the force exerted on it by a gravitational field.

Volume of a solid is measured in meters.

Volume of a liquid is measured in liters.

Mass and weight are measured in grams. Mass and weight are not the same thing. They only share the same measurement. A mass is a quantity or number of same or different matter(s) that forms a body or a substance. Weight defines how heavy or light a body is.

Density is measured with mass per volume such as kg/m³.

Now to the Cobain Case.

Heroin comes in two forms:

1. In a form of a white powder.
2. In a form of a dark sticky substance. This form is generally known as black tar heroin.

It's said that Cobain was using the black tar heroin variety and that two syringes with 1ml capacity were found in his drug kit. It is claimed he took two shots of heroin before he killed himself. To make a dose of heroin from a black tar variety, the black tar heroin is melted, usually on a spoon with a lighter. As it melts, it turns into a liquid state. Water can be added to make the dose smoother. Adding water may lower the amount of heroin in the dose resulting in less mass of heroin/morphine to be found in the body. 

The main argument I get is the disbelief that 1ml of a syringe can contain 1g of heroin. Can a 1ml dose of heroin be equal to 1g of heroin? That would depend on the density of the liquid state of heroin. I do not know what the density of heroin in its liquid state is. I couldn't find any online source with the information. Heroin is a chemical made of molecules. If the liquid state has a high density then it would contain a lot of heroin chemicals. Therefore, a 1ml dose of heroin can contain up to 1,000mg or 1g of heroin provided that the density is high. However, factors like purity of the black tar heroin and adding water to make the dose should be considered when estimating how much heroin the dose contains. That being said if a 1ml dose of pure heroin is measured to weigh 1,000mg or 1g then it will be concluded that 1ml of a heroin dose is equal to 1,000mg or 1g. 

I cannot say how much heroin Cobain took before his death. I can only estimate he took between 60mg to 1980mg of heroin before he died. And as I have explained in my previous post, 1.52mg/L of morphine in blood does not indicate that Cobain took around 225mg of heroin. It only indicates that Cobain had taken heroin prior to his death. We do not know the exact amount of heroin he took. We can only estimate how much he took.

Conclusion:

The volume of a liquid is measured in liters. The weight and mass of a liquid is measured in grams. Density is the mass per volume of a substance. If a weighing scale measures a 1ml liquid to be 1,000mg then it will be said that 1ml of the liquid is 1,000mg. A 1ml dose of heroin may contain up to 1,000mg of heroin depending on the density of heroin in its liquid state, the purity of the heroin and whether or not water was added to the dose.

-Indya

Recommended Online Videos and Articles:

Arrangement Of Molecules In The Three States Of Matter.

State Of Matter.

Density Of Water. 

Is 1ml Equal To 1g For All Cases?

Which Has A Bigger Volume, Solid, Liquid or Gas?

The Toxicology Report.