As a recovering Heroin addict with 7 years of active use, I have learned several valuable lessons that apply not only to addiction, but to life in general. Probably one of the most important things I learned is that no matter what you think your morals are, you WILL violate them in order to get what you think you need to survive. I saw this time and time again when I was in the streets. A girl would be new in the "Game" and talk about the next girl who was prostituting, saying how she would never do that, how could she, etc.. Then you see that same girl 6 months later and guess what she is doing?
Some of the arguments I just love to hear are "I would never allow myself to do that..." or "Drug addiction is just a choice". Tell that to the guy who gets put on morphine for a shoulder surgery and then realizes when they take him off that he has a monkey on his back. What does he do? He has never dealt with vomiting and shaking, or aching in his bones. All he knows is if he had another pill it would go away....Then his cousin says "Hey you know heroin is the same thing, and you don't have to shoot it up, you can just snort it..." Withing 6 months he's liable to be living under a bridge.
Yes, ladies and gentleman, that guy you see begging change on the corner could be you. That lady you see walking up and down the block waiting for her next John so she can stop feeling sick, could be you. With Heroin in this country being an epidemic the way it is, worse yet, those people could be your family members. If you think it is bad to think of this happening to you, imagine watching someone you love go through it. Maybe the time has come to stop arguing about whether it is a choice to be an addict, and start having honest discussion about how we can fix it. Think about that while you sit on your bar-stool this Friday, talking about those dumb crack heads or junkies.
