Crossword Genius

Die by essentially persisting with heroin (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

perish

'die' is the definition.
('perish' can be a synonym of 'die')

'by essentially persisting with heroin' is the wordplay.
'by' becomes 'per' (**).
'essentially' says to take the centre.
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'heroin' becomes 'h' ('H' can be a synonym of 'heroin').
The middle of 'persisting' is 'is'.
'per'+'is'+'h'='PERISH'

(Other definitions for perish that I've seen before include "Expire" , "Die; decay" , "Suffer complete ruin or destruction" , "Lose one's life" , "Waste away" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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