I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
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Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#2> One of the major reasons people can’t overcome it is because we’re not very good at treating addiction in this country.
I am often wondering about how addiction "feels". I don't consider myself being addicted to anything, and always wonder how an addiction actually manifests itself. Is it a pain? Is it comparable to being extremely hungry or thirsty?
Slightly related: a few years ago, I overheard a conversation between a fairly large woman and a child. The child said that it was hungry. The woman said: "Oh yes, that hurts". That struck me as odd, because even after eating nothing for 1-2 days, I never actually felt pain when I was hungry. It was surprising to me that some people seem to do, and it would have certainly explained why the woman was so heavy: I, too, would of course eat much more if being hungry was painful.
Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#3:|
> Hart presents himself as a model drug user. “I am now entering my fifth year as a regular heroin user,” he writes. “I do not have a drug-use problem. Never have. Each day, I meet my parental, personal, and professional responsibilities. I pay my taxes, serve as a volunteer in my community on a regular basis, and contribute to the global community as an informed and engaged citizen. I am better for my drug use.”
Anyone who has plumbed the depths of addiction either with a family member or personally has spoken this exact paragraph, potentially word for word. It's a rationalization for addiction, and honestly the most common and basic one.
Good luck to him as he descends through addiction. He's extremely educated and very assured of his self-perception so for him to hit Step 1: Realize you have a Problem, is going to be a lot harder than the average person.
Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#4> One of the major reasons people can’t overcome it is because we’re not very good at treating addiction in this country. I am often wondering about how addiction "feels". I don't consider myself being addicted to anything, and always wonder how an addiction actually manifests itself. Is it a pain? Is it comparable to being extremely hungry or thirsty? Slightly related: a few years ago, I overheard a conversation bet…
do you drink coffee or soft drinks? Try not to drink them for 2 weeks.
Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#5Man, I read this as someone who tried to use opioids and I just couldn't chip. It spiraled into full blown physical dependence. I guess i'm the type with an underlying psychiatric illness which drove my usage and denial.
That there exists people like this person who can chip (controlled use of opiates) always intrigues me -- as this drug was the ultimate pathway to euphoria and thus I became the mouse hitting the button for more more more. If you're on the chipping path I hope you can find peace just for today.
I am pro-legalization of all drugs with some FDA oversight on quality.
Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#6I remember the early days of the Silk Road market. The members posted thoughtful reviews of their orders, sometimes containing lab-tests results of the drugs they'd ordered.
It was a small community whose members looked more like the Hacker News crowds than the meth heads you'd see in the news.
Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#7:| > Hart presents himself as a model drug user. “I am now entering my fifth year as a regular heroin user,” he writes. “I do not have a drug-use problem. Never have. Each day, I meet my parental, personal, and professional responsibilities. I pay my taxes, serve as a volunteer in my community on a regular basis, and contribute to the global community as an informed and engaged citizen. I am better for my drug use.”…
If he can afford it, a problem may not exist. Heroin use has few if any negative physical effects in the long term.
Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#8Drug addiction is a continuum not a binary state of being (addict or not an addict). Addiction can run from someone who uses every night after work because that’s how they relax (and they feel like something is missing if they don’t) to a person who compulsively uses to the exclusion of sleep and eating. And it can vary over an addicts life time.
The one drug that has interestingly been demonized is meth. It’s used as a prescription drug and was commonly used recreationally in the 70’s. Now it’s viewed as a one way road to destitution and death.
Drugs are illegal so the media covers the train wrecks. The users who aren’t train wrecks don’t make the news.
Can you imagine if alcohol was illegal and the only stories you heard about users were the people who drank themselves to death? You’d assume nobody could use alcohol in moderation, which isn’t true.
Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#9> One of the major reasons people can’t overcome it is because we’re not very good at treating addiction in this country. I am often wondering about how addiction "feels". I don't consider myself being addicted to anything, and always wonder how an addiction actually manifests itself. Is it a pain? Is it comparable to being extremely hungry or thirsty? Slightly related: a few years ago, I overheard a conversation bet…
I was a smoker for several decades. I would describe being away from a cigarette as "an acute feeling of thirst, but in your chest."
And when you decide to quit, it takes quite a while before you stop feeling that strange thirst.
Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#10> One of the major reasons people can’t overcome it is because we’re not very good at treating addiction in this country. I am often wondering about how addiction "feels". I don't consider myself being addicted to anything, and always wonder how an addiction actually manifests itself. Is it a pain? Is it comparable to being extremely hungry or thirsty? Slightly related: a few years ago, I overheard a conversation bet…
Addiction is rooted in truama. It's almost impossible to become an addicted if you didn't have to endure (childhood) trauma. So addiction is often an attempt of escaping, or soothing that pain.