Opiate Addicts, part one
Created | Updated Mar 16, 2006
Opiates refer to a class of drugs derived from the poppy plant. There are many varieties, such as legal prescription painkillers like vicodin, percocet, oxycontin, lorecet, duladid, morphine, and Demerol. There are two groups of prescription opiates: hydrocodone (vicodin, lorecet), and oxycodone (percocet, tylox, oxycontin). Oxycodone is the strongest and therefore the most easily abused.
Most pill poppers have what other addicts call an amateur addiction, because it's relatively easy for them to stop using the drug w/out becoming severely physically ill from withdrawal. The addicts that graduate from simple pill popping to snorting or smoking the drugs are termed intermediates because they are on a slightly more intense regimen of drug use. They become much more severely ill when they cease taking the drug after an extended period of usage. Also, these addicts devote half or more of their day to obtain & use drugs. They will pretty much use only certain pills exclusively, such as oxycontin, morphine, duladid and tylox. They use these particular ones because they are easiest to crush and snort/smoke (not to mention potent). Another factor that makes an intermediate what he/she is would be the strong likelihood that they’ve tried or are using heroin along w/ their pills.
Last are the professionals. Professionals are at the pinnacle of the opiate addict pyramid of self-destruction. There is nowhere for professionals to go but down. These are the addicts to whom using drugs is a lifestyle choice, indeed, a matter of life or death. They spend every hour of every day chasing, using, selling and buying drugs. These are the true believers, the real soldiers in the real war on drugs (unlike the imaginary soldiers in the USA’s imaginary war on drugs). They will do whatever it takes to get the drugs they need to get through the day.
What is the most glaring difference between professionals and amateurs or intermediates? A professional will exclusively use a needle for administering his/her drugs. No other route will suffice. And the professional’s withdrawal sickness is the most severe of the three because of the preferred method of administration; the pro will begin withdrawal w/ uncomfortable cold sweats, watering eyes, runny nose, extreme tiredness, slight body aches. As he/she progresses to the second day of withdrawal, they will experience vomiting, diarrhea, severe abdominal cramping, severe muscle aches, muscle cramping, and each addict has a symptom exclusive to him/herself. The third day is either the worst of the sickness or the addict begins feeling slightly better but with a price. As soon as the addict begins to feel “well” his/her mind will begin as assault upon his/her willpower (which is at its lowest ebb) by coming up with any and all excuses why the addict should go out and procure drugs. The irony of it all is that if the addict does obtain drugs then the cycle of withdrawal begins anew and the previous three days of illness were wasted because they’ll have to go through another three days if they want to quit.
The pro has another moniker that they are much more commonly known by: “junky.” A junky will do whatever it takes to get the drugs. They will lie, steal, rob, prostitute, whatever it takes. Drug taking is no longer fun, hence the term professional. Their drug taking becomes a full time job but with no paychecks or benefits. On the contrary, the user ends up losing everything he/she once valued. The junky does not perceive people as living breathing entities that have feelings. Instead, people, including family and friends, are seen through cold calculating eyes as objects with varying degrees of use in the drug game.
Most pill poppers have what other addicts call an amateur addiction, because it's relatively easy for them to stop using the drug w/out becoming severely physically ill from withdrawal. The addicts that graduate from simple pill popping to snorting or smoking the drugs are termed intermediates because they are on a slightly more intense regimen of drug use. They become much more severely ill when they cease taking the drug after an extended period of usage. Also, these addicts devote half or more of their day to obtain & use drugs. They will pretty much use only certain pills exclusively, such as oxycontin, morphine, duladid and tylox. They use these particular ones because they are easiest to crush and snort/smoke (not to mention potent). Another factor that makes an intermediate what he/she is would be the strong likelihood that they’ve tried or are using heroin along w/ their pills.
Last are the professionals. Professionals are at the pinnacle of the opiate addict pyramid of self-destruction. There is nowhere for professionals to go but down. These are the addicts to whom using drugs is a lifestyle choice, indeed, a matter of life or death. They spend every hour of every day chasing, using, selling and buying drugs. These are the true believers, the real soldiers in the real war on drugs (unlike the imaginary soldiers in the USA’s imaginary war on drugs). They will do whatever it takes to get the drugs they need to get through the day.
What is the most glaring difference between professionals and amateurs or intermediates? A professional will exclusively use a needle for administering his/her drugs. No other route will suffice. And the professional’s withdrawal sickness is the most severe of the three because of the preferred method of administration; the pro will begin withdrawal w/ uncomfortable cold sweats, watering eyes, runny nose, extreme tiredness, slight body aches. As he/she progresses to the second day of withdrawal, they will experience vomiting, diarrhea, severe abdominal cramping, severe muscle aches, muscle cramping, and each addict has a symptom exclusive to him/herself. The third day is either the worst of the sickness or the addict begins feeling slightly better but with a price. As soon as the addict begins to feel “well” his/her mind will begin as assault upon his/her willpower (which is at its lowest ebb) by coming up with any and all excuses why the addict should go out and procure drugs. The irony of it all is that if the addict does obtain drugs then the cycle of withdrawal begins anew and the previous three days of illness were wasted because they’ll have to go through another three days if they want to quit.
The pro has another moniker that they are much more commonly known by: “junky.” A junky will do whatever it takes to get the drugs. They will lie, steal, rob, prostitute, whatever it takes. Drug taking is no longer fun, hence the term professional. Their drug taking becomes a full time job but with no paychecks or benefits. On the contrary, the user ends up losing everything he/she once valued. The junky does not perceive people as living breathing entities that have feelings. Instead, people, including family and friends, are seen through cold calculating eyes as objects with varying degrees of use in the drug game.
