Ask a former IV heroin addict

[Mister Agenda]

I hit the rock for a bit, but due to having a pretty good life was able to walk away when I realized I was becoming addicted. That was about 15 years ago that I quit. I would try anything smokable in the late 90s/early oughts; a time when I was hanging out with some women who were having a rougher time than me. It was foolish and I regret it, but I suppose it was a good lesson to learn.

Or maybe I'm just too lazy to put in all that effort chasing a high. It's like a whole lifestyle. I'm sure I would have wound up living in a small trailer in a bad neighborhood if I had stuck with it.

I love you buddy, we agree most of the time, but I don't see "lifestyle" as appropriate to say. It is an addiction. And addictions affect all classes, even the middle class and rich. I think using that word allows people to be stigmatized, especially the poor.

Perhaps I didn't express myself well. There's a lot that goes into being an addict besides just taking drugs. There's getting the drugs, getting the money to get the drugs, having contacts with dealers, having addict friends, finding safe places to get high, evading the authorities, lying to people about your habit, and in extremity; stealing and hustling to support your habit. There's smoking your house, your car, maybe the kid's college fund. There's the risk of death (my cousin's daughter only got to experiment with heroin once). Possible jail time, possible rehab time. It's clearly an exhausting life. But once you're addicted, you're in that life until you manage to get free or you die. I was fortunate to quit before I really got hooked. Putting off going cold turkey another week might have resulted in my house getting smoked and raiding my 401K and losing my job, then I'd been up shit creek in my forties. My addict friend not supporting my choice (or wanting an excuse not to share) to quit might have had the same effect, there were a few times those first months when I was weak. Sorry for my poor choice of words.