What do drug addicts actually do all day?

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steak-chicken@reddit

I use to get high and work on roofs until I would pass out without fall protection equipped then sell dope all night and go back to the roof at sunrise before I got sober. Spent 500-1000 a day on our habit and ended up living in a vehicle and shitting in buckets because I was too high to bother replacing the broken toilet in the camper or replacing the two Missing walls with something besides roof wrap. Mostly your just aimlessly lost doing whatever.

Yeah honestly it is - it's a horrible way to live and so much of society likes to take the piss out of people in addiction.

There is so much stigma about people who face addiction, and we have our preconceived ideas about 'what or who an addict is', but so much of that stigma isn't true.

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Sadmoon8294@reddit

why are we suppose to feel sorry for you?? my roommates dad is one, and she had him living with us because he was getting goverment checks, all he did was beg and manipulate, literally destroyed the girls entire life. why shouldi feel sorry for you?

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Beneficial-Metal-666@reddit

It's messed up.

We don't take the piss out of people if they get the flu or if they have a serious illness.

Thank you, the language we use is so important.

Lots of people are addicted to lots of things (drugs, alcohol, coffee, social media, exercise, porn, gambling, food, work etc etc), so to try and slowly change the language we use is important.

They aren't 'addicts' they are people with addictions.

The aren't a recovering drug addict, they are a person on a recovery journey.

Changing peoples preconceptions around addiction is absolutely key to eradicating this.

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MrStilton@reddit

They aren't 'addicts' they are people with addictions.

That's the same thing though?

If I want someone to paint my front room I hire a painter not "a person who paints".

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Maester_Bates@reddit

Hobby linguist here. The English language has been very self reflective, both academically and socially, in the last 30 or so years about how we used language to refer to groups of people.

The general consensus is that it is demeaning at best and dehumanising at worst to refer to people using bare adjectives. Think of how it sounds to say 'she's a black' or 'he's a gay' we can use the adjective but we must pair it with a noun. 'she's a black woman' 'he's a gay man' sound fine.

There is a little more care given to marginalised groups.

Not referring to people as addicts is a part of this. The Idea is to be careful not to insult.

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Goodvintage65@reddit

He's a drug addict. How's that?

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pysgod-wibbly_wobbly@reddit

Excellent analysis from both of you..

The line I always hated was when people with down syndrome would just get called "A Downs"

erbstar@reddit

I'm an addict, I just chose not to use social or drugs for the past 19 years and put work every day into not picking up drugs or alcohol that day. I don't find it dehumanising. It's part of who I am but I don't let it define me. I work with addicts every day and I've never met anyone that had an issue with being called an addict.

People need to be educated about what addiction is, both inside and outside recovery. Many people in Fellowships call it a disease. It certainly is not.

There's nothing positive about being an addict, the people whose loved ones are/were addicts will attest to that. They've been hurt, stolen from, lied to and had their lives ruined.

If people went to look down on addicts, that's their choice. They don't define us either.

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0xSnib@reddit

I’ve never said there’s a positive to being an addict

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erbstar@reddit

How about you trying to understand my point, I've met tons of people like you and while I understand where you're coming from (using PIE techniques) it's just textbook bs and belittles people. It had no idea in the tell works and creates a patronising environment for people looking at recovery and getting support for their addictions.

It's not about offending the person being referred to. It's about reframing how they're viewed.

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0xSnib@reddit

I think it’s more people are more likely to treat someone like shit if we’re all just calling them addicts, so this affects the help and support they get

99percentstudios@reddit

Well some painters do like to paint over cables!

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SpiffingAfternoonTea@reddit

I think deliberately avoiding calling a spade a spade is more disrespectful - because you're making the assumption that being called such is an insult / negative thing.

If someone is an addict and them being identified as such expedites the conversation then there is no point beating around the bush.

I don't know if I'm making sense (maybe not lol), but I think of it similar to this. Do you have it, or does it have you?

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Laylelo@reddit

The difference is no one is stigmatised for being a painter. No painter thinks “I’m a painter, I’ll always be a painter, there’s no way I can not be a painter.” No one says “these painters should X, Y, Z”. There’s no downside to being labelled a painter.

It actually makes a great deal of difference to some people and if it doesn’t make much difference to you then it seems like a good idea to try and use terminology that might help.

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Exact_Umpire_4277@reddit

That type of language policing does nothing to change perceptions, you're just tweaking grammar slightly.

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Real_Ad_4173@reddit

Roadman2k@reddit

I'm in recovery and we all describe ourselves as addicts for a number of reasons

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mo_tag@reddit

I'm not in recovery yet but same here.. I don't think changing the language really does much for removing stigma tbh, if anything it just changes how that stigma is projected.. stigma can only be counteracted effectively with education and exposure.. I feel that changing language around a subject tends to just make it more polarising and as the new language becomes the norm we get to a situation where anyone partaking in the discussion is immediately dismissed for using the wrong words and where addiction becomes yet another vehicle for virtue signalling and yet another face of the culture war.. I really don't think that person first language is the issue here, for example I've never heard of a diabetic having a strong preference to be referred to as a "person with diabetes".. it seems like a red herring to me but maybe there are good arguments or stats to support this sort of thing in which case I'd like to be enlightened

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Real_Ad_4173@reddit

That's fair! I can't tell you not to use that language at all! I know a lot of organisations that do use the language so it's not all unhelpful!

Glad you are in recovery my friend! Wishing you every success :)

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Kooky-Boysenberry-82@reddit

The language others use to describe them is inconsequential. It is shifting blame from the addict to people who aren’t addicts, and apportioning blame to them for minor quirks of language.

The issue is the addict, not the non-addict. Therefore policing the speech and attitudes of others does nothing other than disempower the addict of making correct choices. “It’s not my fault, society hates me, it’s societies fault”

I have enough experience to recognise this pathetic mindset and a lot of the support functions seem to like keeping addicts disempowered with narratives of “it’s a disease” probably to keep them in work.

I saw my best mate who is a severe alcoholic go from being almost sober on his own back, only to take up drinking on the advice of a support group and come out believing he was a victim and there was nothing he could do as he has a lifelong disease. This enabled him to start drinking again.

AA for example is about the weirdest cult I’ve come across and despite the protestations, it IS a religious cult which seeks to isolate its members from family and friends.

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Roadman2k@reddit

Thanks 😊 I totally understand why someone may not like the term.

I think its important to the "doctrine" of 12 step programs but probably not as much in other forms of recovery.

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EmilyDickinsonFanboy@reddit

Is it because it’s your term to choose to use and not for others?

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Roadman2k@reddit

I'm not sure I understand your question .

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EmilyDickinsonFanboy@reddit

Lots of groups have words they use themselves that people outside the group can’t. Or at least those outside develop more sensitive terms.

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Roadman2k@reddit

Oh I see what you mean - like "reclaiming".

In my experience an addict in recovery wouldn't mind if you called them an addict, as long as it wasn't done judgementally.

That being said that's my own experience so I would take it with a pinch of salt.

It mostly stems from an "once and addict, always an addict" and people in recovery will remind themselves they are addicts as a form of self warning about they're actions.

For example I've never had an issue with gambling, but I know I'm an addict, so I am careful about getting involved with gambling.

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Real_Ad_4173@reddit

Yeah absolutely! Defo important in the 12 step program!

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PlasteeqDNA@reddit

Agreed, addict in recovery here too. I don't pussyfoot around terminology because the reality is lethal.

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Jassida@reddit

Well yes you are addicted to food and calories

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Roadman2k@reddit

Not necessarily.

It would only be an addiction if it was a) causing you negative consequences and b) you had the uncontrollable urge or obsession to do it, despite knowing about those negative consequences.

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Jassida@reddit

I meant water and air too!

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Roadman2k@reddit

If you were drinking so much water it was making you sick, but you carried on doing it anyway, then yes I'd say you were addicted.

Though it's probably more likely you're addictes to some feeling of "purging" or over consumption.

queenofdesertrock@reddit

Whoa, sorry for not being a social superhero.

In the absence of being able to help more concretely (i.e. cost of living crisis meaning I have literally NO disposable income) I think this is still a positive thing to keep in the discussion.

Negging on other people’s small ways of positive social change isn’t the best look

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howley90@reddit

Couldn’t agree more

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RacyFireEngine@reddit

I used to volunteer with a homeless charity and I was genuinely disturbed when I was faced with the consequences of addiction meeting our service users. I had to change roles because I was getting upset listening to people talk very openly about their addictions like how they started and the reasons for them. Life is so cruel sometimes.

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Gullible-Lie2494@reddit

I found it challenging being lied to constantly. The need for ready cash - constantly, day in day, out made the clients hustlers every moment if the day. It seemed really hard work, involved a lot of leg work, mixing with dangerous types and utterly miserable during winter.

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Real_Ad_4173@reddit

Oh absolutely, many of the people who struggle with addictions have had traumatic/abusive childhoods, or have had traumatic experiences to lead to the addictions.

One thing that is certainly true about these people however is they don't put up a front, they are incredibly honest (sometimes to a fault), but you're right, it can definitely be difficult to hear.

As someone who knows there all also be a lot of addicts working all day/doing the family things between highs/whatever their addiction is ……a lot of people’s ideas of what an ‘addict’ look likes are way off the mark

Especially after lockdowns, I have some acquaintances with issues that are extremely high up in the corporate/business world

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boofing_evangelist@reddit

Exactly this - I have met Doctors, nurses, academics - as well as taxi drivers, programmers and police. They all manage to hold onto a job while using (largely due to the sustained income), but it does negatively impact their lives.

In a lot of these professions, you cannot ask for help, as you would immediately and irreversibly be struck off - that needs to change. People should be able to seek help without the fear of losing their livelihoods. If their addiction causes a danger to the public, they should be offered treatment and a pathway back to work. If someone has a mental health crisis, the company will often adjust the workload, provide support and a back to work plan; however, if another employee asks for help with a drinking problem, they are out the door.

Is it better in other countries?

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Real_Ad_4173@reddit

Exactly! The more people that understand this the better!

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Geschak@reddit

"so much of society likes to take the piss out of people in addiction."

That's because addiction is incredibly (self-)destructive. A lot of addicts resort to theft and violence in order to get money for their drugs. They are also incredibly resistant to help, so even if they psychiatric care it takes years of attempts to get them sober, if they get sober at all. That's why they are so stigmatized, they are incredibly destructive and it's hard to help them.

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Issemir@reddit

I'd recommend the movie "Beautiful Boy", which is about a family's struggle with addiction. I think the movie highlights just how difficult the recovery journey is, and that addiction is the negative thing, not the person.

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roesenthaller@reddit

yeah, and also insane that people still assume they're up to no good or even worse just being lazy.

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tewnsbytheled@reddit

Being an in active addiction can turn so dark and very quickly

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stretchandspoon@reddit

People have a very one-dimensional image of what an “addict” looks like, usually someone homeless, chaotic, or visibly unwell. But that picture only represents a small part of the reality.

There are plenty of functional addicts, people who manage their use in a way that allows them to live stable, responsible, and meaningful lives. Some work full time, study, care for others, look after animals, create art, or volunteer. They might be introspective, thoughtful, even philosophical people who’ve just found a chemical balance that keeps them level enough to function.

What most people don’t realise is that the chaotic lifestyle often associated with addiction isn’t caused by the drug itself, it’s caused by prohibition. When someone has to spend every day trying to fund and find a banned substance of unpredictable purity, it turns life into survival. That’s not the drug, that’s policy and subsequently unsustainable illicit market.

Many people who are dependent on drugs, like opiates/opioids, live quietly, take care of their responsibilities, and never fit the stereotype. But because they’re stable, they go unseen. The people you do see, desperate, unwell, criminalised, are casualties of a system that treats addiction as a crime rather than a health issue.

Yes I agree, sort of. I was a functioning alcoholic for most of my life. I was also a functional heroin user for many years.

The point I was making wwas drug addiction is not a flat line. It's a steady, sometimes rapid, downward fall. At some point they can no longer function in normal society and devolve into what I discribed, alcoholics included, weed addicts ls included, prescription pill addicts, all drug addicts, not just smack heads as you say, included.

I think it’s pretty rare of people to get addicted from a place of recreation, although it can happen.

I guess there are two forms of recreation, perhaps? The first one, the majority of people, is genuine recreation. Most of us consume alcohol in this way, drinks with friends and while out for dinner. There’s many people who use drugs in the same way.

The second one is probably introduced to them as recreation but they use substances to escape from something darker in their lives, and I think it’s why a lot of people who struggle come from horrible upbringings/abusive relationships/mental health problems etc.

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gogginsbulldog1979@reddit

I was a heroin addict for over a decade and 95% of addicts are actually pretty decent people. I mean, you wouldn't trust them with your wallet, but that's part of serious addiction. You'll often find that addicts will look after other addicts, particularly with heroin and its withdrawal.

Heroin addicts tend to be better than crack addicts, who can be violent and unpredictable. If you've ever bought crack in the street at 6am, there's nothing worse than queuing with a wild-eyed crack fiend armed with a screwdriver.

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sobrique@reddit

Yeah. I think the rat park experiment gave us some considerable basis to see that a lot of 'habitual users' started off self medicating for something that was hurting them.

And then they had an extra problem, and lacked the mental reserves to deal with that as well.

I suspect even the really nasty pieces of work you allude to, have got there because they've spiralled out of control in various ways, rather than actually being bad from the start.

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Sweaty_Leg_3646@reddit

Rat Park had serious experimental flaws and has been discredited for some time.

https://theoutline.com/post/2205/this-38-year-old-study-is-still-spreading-bad-ideas-about-addiction

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Ravnak@reddit

I think the issue is that when the public deal with addicts, they're not working with them, they're being inconvenienced by them.

If an addict is behaving well, you probably won't even notice them.

If they're causing a scene, you will.

I work in property rental and the people who's addictions become apparent are those who are trashing a building, not paying rent etc. Plenty of other people will be using drugs, but you don't suspect them of it because they're not causing a problem. (They're also normally not pleasant to deal with - ie. Aggressive, rude etc.)

It's easy to then assume that all addicts behave like this. Not that you're just noticing the badly behaved people.

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Slothjitzu@reddit

I'd argue that phenomenon works in both directions.

All the people saying that most addicts are lovely people tend to work in services that the addicts are grateful for (dispensing methadone) or services that will naturally appeal to those looking for a way to kick the habit.

The dickheads mugging people and pimping out their teenage girlfriends aren't actively doing that when they pick up methadone, and they are probably not the ones seeking help for the addiction either.

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countrymouse73@reddit

Yes once you get talking to people in recovery you see lots of them never really had a chance. The story of their childhoods/lives can be horrifying. Lots of trauma. You realise they have become manipulative people due to their circumstances. Many of them have severe mental health issues too. You become really attached to them seeing them every day for their doses. Some are dickheads but most are just doing their best to recover.

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NotSlippingAway@reddit

Absolutely, I've recently gone down a bit of a rabbit hole In regards to ADHD. Long story short, something was always off for me since childhood. Always behind, always clumsy, massive sleep issues, forgetfulness, inability to stay on task. Eventually it turns into self loathing and turning to substances in order to attempt to function better, to get the dopamine the brain lacks.

Turns out this is common, it's also genetic, which makes sense if I look back through my family members. Alcoholism, the gambling addictions, impulse buying, dependency on sugar etc.

If I remember correctly people with ADHD account for around 20% of addictions.

Yet people who can't relate say that it doesn't exist. I worked for a company many years ago where a few people were diagnosed and there were a few people who showed a lot of the signs, in those cases many of them were addicts in some form or another. Be it caffeine, cannabis, cocaine, crack, pills, alcohol etc.

The sad part is to start with (like me) they were just trying to reach homeostasis.

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No_Camp_7@reddit

Agree. I was in the Sloane Square John Lewis recently looking for a notebook. There were all of these journals and notebooks and planner with MAKE IT HAPPEN and ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES and THINK POSITIVE on the cover. I’ve think we lost sight of the reality that is people with a lot of problems have often had early life experiences that have left them with very little chance of escaping to a normal life. The science is there now to demonstrate that. The number of adverse experiences a person has in early life is directly correlated to chronic health issues, addiction and early death. Some of the scariest statistics you’ll ever read are ones related to the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) test. Even our experiences of having or not having our basic needs met as babies strongly determines adult mental health. And here I am with my high ACE score in Sloane Square’s John Lewis telling myself “BE NORMAL BE NORMAL BE NORMAL PLEASE TRY TO BE NORMAL” lol.

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azcaliro@reddit

As someone also with a high ace score I totally get this. It’s a battle of feeling terrible about where you’ve come from and where you are but also trying to show self compassion and be proud of where you got yourself to in spite of childhood adversity faced. I’m only a semi functional adult with a lot of emotional struggles but I know I’m surprisingly well adjusted and self aware (I’d like to think)

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No_Camp_7@reddit

I could have written this about myself.

My ambition is for nobody to be able to tell what my history is from outward appearances, and I think I already do a good job at that provided you don’t look tooooo closely!

Honestly seeing the way that people treat people who are in addiction is what really makes me lose faith. And to be honest the fact that addicts get incarcerated for being on drugs makes me feel that I am in a living hell.

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amboandy@reddit

society very much tries to avoid these people

When I was a frontline paramedic I used to get a lot of my colleagues label them as "druggies" which indeed they were. However, the level of care these guys would get was laughable. The rationale was that they've done it to themselves and I'd have to counter "given exactly the same upbringing and life events that this person had, you'd be doing exactly the same and to think otherwise is retarded"

Thank god for small mercies.

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Slothjitzu@reddit

I'd have to counter "given exactly the same upbringing and life events that this person had, you'd be doing exactly the same and to think otherwise is retarded"

I don't disagree that more sympathy is needed, but I don't think you're quite right here.

There are plenty of addicts who had perfectly acceptable childhoods, even good upbringings in some cases. There are also plenty of people with the worst upbringings imaginable, who are not addicts.

Many years back I had a good friend (sadly no longer with us) who'd had a brain tumour removed, consequently he occasionally suffered from fairly severe epileptic fits.

In spite of this he undersandably wanted to have a fairly normal life, the guy was only 20 and wanted to go out, have fun.

He never drank alcohol or used drugs (though he certainly drank a shit tonne of redbulll).

We're out in a club one night, and he starts fitting, we knew what to do generally as we'd been around this before, but this one was particularly bad so we called 999 for an ambulance after we moved him to a quiet back room.

50 minutes later paramedics turn up and first thing the guy says to me, with a sigh, is "Alright, so what has he taken then?".

(We'd explained the situation on the phone but evidently this hadn't filtered through).

When I told him what was actually happening they were suddenly in "Oh shit!!" mode and hopped to it QUICKLY. (Thankfully on that particular occasion he was okay in the end).

And... I do kinda get the attitude, but it did make me think "Well, even if he had taken something and 'did it to himself' you'd still kinda hope the emergency services would treat it seriously rather than roll their eyes and be so blasé about it.

(I'm not criticising anyone, I appreciate it's a very challenging job, just saying the experience was a little bit eye opening).

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GreenCandle10@reddit

And especially as many people get drugged against their will too. Paramedics should not be talking with any opinion like this.

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OperationSignal504@reddit

Easy to say. But when you've been to call after call where it's drug use. And the reaction from those using is often violent and aggressive you generally become a bit numb to it. And that filters through as indifference. They'll always receive the best treatment but that indifference about the drug use is there.

amboandy@reddit

It was ironic cz quite a lot of the most judgemental people had issues themselves, obese, excessive drinkers (pretty much all of the NHS) or gym bunnys, we all have our addictions, it just happens that mine are positive for my body rather than negative.

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Real_Ad_4173@reddit

Yeah absolutely! There is so much irony around this topic.

Many people will look down on a person who uses drugs, but I've had colleagues who needed to drink every night to get through the week, and I know young people who get the jitters when they can't use their phone.

We all have different vices I guess but like you said, shouldn't judge those who are different.

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Usual_Cryptographer3@reddit

Also some people just manage to hold things together better. The person I knew but had to distance myself from because their recreational drug taking got too much was an anaesthetist.

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Justastonednerd@reddit

Read my comment again. I'm saying it's not all circumstance. Which people like us who have experienced trauma and didn't turn to addiction prove.

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Relative_Tone61@reddit

thats right

free will is an illusion

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SmileDonkey@reddit

🤘the stigma is terrible, I even see this with my friends unintentionally. They just don’t understand and don’t realise that it doesn’t take much for anyone to fall into a situation where addiction takes control. I help numerous people also and those addicted to substances are complex, much more complex than the stigma would suggest and they should be supported!

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Ok-Negotiation1530@reddit

Long and PC way to say: "Fuck all"

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Real_Ad_4173@reddit

Not all the time - some people in addiction do nothing all day, but so do so many people who aren't in addiction, I've had neighbours who can't work for whatever reason and claim benefits, and sit around all day doing nothing also (so it's not just people in addiction) also, lot's of people in addiction have jobs and families and lives, but are better at hiding it or are more high functioning. Lots of people in high stress high pay jobs take drugs regularly, but aren't looked down on in the same way.

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Ok-Negotiation1530@reddit

People also look down on benefits parasites who live off tax payers money yes. And the people who take drugs in high stress jobs are in fact paying their taxes so they are contributing to the nation. Besides that, I wasn't comparing or talking down to any group. I was just summarizing that other guys wall of text.

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Same_Grouness@reddit

lots of the people I know are very similar to you and me

Ding ding ding.

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Napalmdeathfromabove@reddit

Sadly the isolation is why housing addicts seldom works as you'd hope.

Imagine removing someone from all the people they know and plonking them in some anonymous flat then giving them minimal support.

It happened to a young lady my team in Sen knew well, she died of hypothermia alone in a churchyard metres away from a city centre that generates millions every day but had nothing for her.

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They definitely have real friends but a lot of their friends are just through convenience and shared use.

If we are both addicts and I get money on s Monday and you get money on a Friday then we might create a friendship around that.

Or we could create a friendship around the fact I have some money and you have a flat.

Or that we are both in a similar place in our addiction, maybe a few rungs of the ladder above above the street addicts etc.

Also sometimes even if you have a real friend as an addict, when you get clean you have to part ways.

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Real_Ad_4173@reddit

I think it really does depend on the person and situation.

I've met people who have been investment bankers in London who have been addicted to cocaine, who were more high-functioning people in addiction, so they were able to and still do maintain friendships despite their struggles with addiction.

And I've also met people who due to their upbringing are now struggling with alcohol, and have people close to them, but due to volatile emotions and an inability to regulate these properly, aren't able to maintain these close relationships.

Absolutely! This is 100% the solution, however, lots of taxpayers don't love the idea of their tax money helping people with these issues (Same for homelessness), and would take a big government initiative to support this.....one day maybe!!

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PartTimeMancunian@reddit

I'd much rather someone addicted to hard drugs be seen regularly to administer safe doses of clean stuff and avoid them having to beg or steal or burgle your gaff when you're on holiday, and at the same time work to get to the root of why they are in that situation and how to get them out of it.

Anything is better than them slowly killing themselves doing dirty drugs in dirty places and making bad people more money.

It's just common sense really isn't it?! Lol it happens in Europe and where it does crime linked to drug use is lowered quite dramatically.

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Smiley_Dub@reddit

I felt the OPs question kind of offensive tbh. I didn't feel the question came for any sort of authentic place.

You have answered the question with such clarity and empathy

No one wants to wind up addicted.

People with addiction issues need love and respect.

I'd wager that it's the absence of these things in many cases, which has led many to abuse drugs in the first place

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redmagor@reddit

Their position is that "drug addicts" are different. The original poster does not consider "drug addicts" to be normal members of society, let alone work. It is likely that the original poster is also a regular alcohol drinker.

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Matthew94@reddit

Ironically, it is also likely that the original poster is also a regular alcohol drinker.

I had a few female clients who didn't sell their bodies. (half did, half didn't). They enjoyed our art club and would spend lots of time invested in colouring in, puzzles and other projects to distract themselves from wanting to use. They like listening to music. DnB is popular.

If you're taking any drug/pharmaceutical product recreationally, you're misusing it

You do realise 90% of humans take caffeine recreationally? So is 90% of the world abusing caffeine? Because you used caffeine pills in your example, which is actually one of the healthiest ways to take caffeine, much healthier than energy drinks especially.

Plus, I didn't say that she was

You said "people abuse drugs" and then in the very next sentence started talking about her?

People become desensitised to drugs and actually do become dependent on painkillers etc.

I know they do and it's a huge problem, but taking caffeine pills daily and occasionally taking codeine (when you're experiencing pain) isn't drug abuse.

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Lopsided_Rush3935@reddit

1). People drink coffee for the taste, and it's a dark lower dosage of coffee than you'll find in energy drinks or caffeine pills. They do not drink it simply for the hit of caffeine and, if they do, then they're beginning to develop a chemical dependency and should distance themselves from it to reset.

2). Energy drinks are a big health problem across developed nations. Long term consumption is common because the high amounts of caffeine are addictive. Circulatory conditions, as well as other issues such as dental decay, are massive issues related to them and the energy drink industry is viewed frequently as a pretty scummy/exploitative one.

3). I segued into an example about her. Calm down.

4). Taking caffeine pills daily is abusing a substance, even if it's far from the most dangerous. They will fuck up your heart and result in diminished cognitive performance in the long run.

5). The whole point of my example was to say that the desensitisation towards drugs had even rubbed off onto her daughter. That's... alarming. There are many people out there for whom is starts off as ocassional codeine, and then it gets more frequent... And more frequent... And more frequent... And that's how addictions form.

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spik0rwill@reddit

People drink coffee for the taste, and it's a dark lower dosage of coffee than you'll find in energy drinks or caffeine pills. They do not drink it simply for the hit of caffeine and, if they do, then they're beginning to develop a chemical dependency and should distance themselves from it to reset.

I drank it for the caffeine hit, but i have always limited myself a single coffee per day. Usually in the morning of course. No chemical dependency here.

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HDK1989@reddit

They do not drink it simply for the hit of caffeine and, if they do, then they're beginning to develop a chemical dependency and should distance themselves from it to reset.

Yes they do, most of the world is addicted to caffeine, but they aren't "abusing drugs" because of that.

and it's a dark lower dosage of coffee than you'll find in energy drinks or caffeine pills

Incorrect about pills. Brands like pro plus are 50mg of caffeine. You can get super strength pills that are 100 to 200mg but there's drinks at Starbucks that contain 450mg of caffeine.

Energy drinks are a big health problem across developed nations

I agree. I even said they were bad in my earlier comment?

Taking caffeine pills daily is abusing a substance, even if it's far from the most dangerous. They will fuck up your heart and result in diminished cognitive performance in the long run.

See. This is where your bias lies. You assume because it's a pill format it's more like a drug and more dangerous.

If I take 200mg of caffeine a day in pill format there is zero difference between someone who does the same via coffee. You have a negative opinion on "pills" and you're projecting that onto consuming caffeine.

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Lopsided_Rush3935@reddit

1). The dangers of caffeine are far less. It depends entirely on the dosage and the frequency of taking them as to whether it not i'd apply the term 'abuse' specifically in application to it. I'm not sure what war you're fighting here, but it's not one that I am...

2). Starbucks isn't a good reference. Starbucks is coffee on steroids for people who have no or little regard for their caffeine intake. Still an exploitative business.

I have no bias against pills. That's a very strange assumption to form.

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Robotica_Daily@reddit

I think the connection is between drugs use and unbearable mental, emotional, and physically exhausting jobs.

Care work, tradesmen, kitchen staff, and sex workers seem to be the biggest cohorts in addiction in my experience.

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BobMonroeFanClub@reddit

Lots of alcoholic teachers.

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lizardld@reddit

Lots of people in the entertainment industry too, including all the crew, roadies etc who work behind the scenes.

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skelly890@reddit

I wonder if theres a link between a career in care industry and drug use.

Doubt it. People like drugs. And if they have a job where they're not tested, they'll take them.

Warehousing used to be pretty mental. Wickes blanket tested one place without warning and had to close it because 90% failed. So they introduced a "you have to have an accident first" policy. Doubt that makes much difference. Some, but not much.

Testing - at work and roadside - has made a difference to lorry drivers. At least those working for the big firms. Basically stop or get a different job.

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Competitive_Art_4480@reddit

One Christmas i worked for an online clothes retailer in their warehouse and they would drug test people who looked battered. But this was when spice was everywhere. There was one lad who without fail every single day who get off his head, completely fucked but because the drugs test was clean he was kept on. Mental situation.

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A friend of mine died of a heroin overdose. He was a senior IT manager at ASOS. He was absolutely loaded, but he felt like he had no direction or purpose in life and he was deeply depressed. He was my friend, though, so I did all that I could to try to help him.

I remember taking him to A&E because his arm was covered in necrotic abscesses, which I noticed because they smelled horrible. He was afraid that he was going to lose his arm, but he was even more afraid of getting into trouble if the hospital were to tell the police or ASOS about his addiction. It took a lot of convincing, but he eventually let me take him to get it sorted. He didn't end up losing his arm, but he didn't live long after that.

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Slow_Fix8188@reddit

Js You can still have a full time job and be an addict i work 40+ hrs on mdma and addys daily and stay away from hard drugs like m h or fet. Asides from Work my time is spent staying up 2-3 days to make money so I can afford to pay bills plus my addiction and taking trips driving to new places for fun

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RacyFireEngine@reddit

Your hearing must be spot on because I can hear feck all on the bloody tube

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derpyfloofus@reddit

I don’t drive on the tube :) I can hear everything in the front half of the carriage behind me.

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RacyFireEngine@reddit

Ah. That makes more sense

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Vinegarinmyeye@reddit

they are not homeless, as they claim to be.

This bit really annoys me. I am actually homeless at the moment in a popular touristy town. I know most of the professional beggars around here that are funding a habit and by and large they have a roof over their head.

I have a tent stashed away somewhere relatively quiet where I'm not disturbed, able to mostly keep warm and dry. There's a place I can go every morning during the week to have a shower, bite to eat, and wash some clothes so most of I don't look TOO scruffy.

I'm determined I'm not going to start asking for money, shoplifting anything, or touching any drugs.

The guilt by association bit is kinda disheartening. I completely understand it of course but people giving me the side eye expecting me to do something dodgy, or even outright just chucking abuse at me.

I'm meticulously tidy with my camping area but there's another fella on the other side of the park who just throws rubbish everywhere, so I've had one of the groundskeeper fellas come and shout at me about "You and all your homeless mates wrecking the place!!" I'm like 'My friend, I have never spoken to the guy, I don't want to associate with him, all I want is to be able to put my head down in this tent for a couple of hours every night and I PROMISE I always clean up after myself. In fact if you like I'll do a litter-pick around the park every morning if you leave me be tucked away in the bushes over here'.

Anyway, as you say in my experience most of the guys you see about asking for money to "get into a hostel" or whatever are not actually homeless. I NEVER see them in the day centre, or out and about in the early hours of the morning sleeping out. Once town gets quiet they head home because there's no tourists to harangue for money.

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GreenCandle10@reddit

Only if you are happy to answer could I ask how you became homeless?

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Vinegarinmyeye@reddit

I was evicted for rent arrears.

I moved into a place with a partner about 4 years ago that was relatively expensive, but I was working a good job and while she was a full time student she had a side hustle so basically I paid the rent and 75% of the bills, and she did the other 25% and bought the groceries.

When we split up about a year ago (relatively amicably, we're both sensible adults) I looked for something a bit smaller and cheaper but I had a good deal in the place relatively, so even downsizing would only be £100 - £150 a month difference in rent and about the same with the bills. I reasoned I could manage it all on my own and cut back on a couple of luxuries.

Worked fine for about 6 months, I'd occasionally have to juggle the bills a little bit but for the most part there were no problems.

Then I was laid off from my job (made redundant along with thousands of others, but that's a story for another day).

I've long had a complicated relationship with alcohol and anxiety / depression so I fell off the deep end. I'd still be trying to find work, but while I'm highly qualified and experienced in what I do - I fucking HATE it, so my heart wasn't really in it.

After I'd chewed through my savings I signed up for universal credit, the housing benefit portion is capped - so what I was getting covered about 75% of the rent.

I paid this to the landlord every month, but understandably he wanted me to move on. He'd gone from having a professional couple paying the rent every month to a functional alcoholic job seeker paying 75% of it.

Couldn't make myself voluntarily homeless or I'd get no help whatsoever so it went through the courts, all the good stuff.

Stupidly, the whole time this was happening I was telling myself "I can sort this out, I'll get on with it tomorrow...".

And then yeah, next thing I'm at the front door handing keys to the bailiffs with a camping backpack full of clothes and a tent strapped to it.

I'd been in touch with the council for months saying I was going to be evicted, and was told 'Your case is being assessed' right up until that morning, when they said 'Come in for an assessment...'.

5 hours later they told me I'm not eligible for emergency housing (which is kinda fair enough, I have my issues but I'm not particularly "vulnerable", no children, not pregnant, etc).

I booked into a hostel that night, shared a room with one fella who I figure was having some kind of psychotic break, kept talking about how he was "going to die tomorrow", and another fella who was shooting up heroin there in the room.. Decided I didn't fancy another night of that.

Bit of trial and error figuring out a good spot to camp that's out of the way enough to (hopefully) not be disturbed, but also not SO remote that I can't get at water / food / etc.

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TheWhiteRabbitsHole@reddit

Drugs

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bee-sting@reddit

All of Canary Wharf right now: am I a joke to you

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sobrique@reddit

I have a theory actually that there's a lot of neurospicy types there using the stuff as a form of self medication. Whilst I won't call the usage 'responsible' I think there's a reason why some addicts are functional addicts.

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Robotica_Daily@reddit

I feel this isn't talked about enough. Life and work for most people is unbearable without supporting substances to fuel energy, and mask the pain. Drugs are the (temporary) solution to our problems, not the cause!

Caffeine to make-up for everyone's sleep deprivation. Nicotine to calm your nerves in a high stress environment. Cocaine to keep you going during a 14 hour shift. Opiates to sooth the pain and body ache of manual labour. Cannabis to bring some joy to a joyless existence. MDMA to celebrate love, and reconnect with the humans around you. Psychedelics to re-set your rigid world view and reconnect with nature.

And the king of all drugs: Alcohol to quiet the neo-liberal voice in your head saying you are not working hard enough.

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I'm affected by ADHD and it's not that stimulants calm me down, it's that they bring up to speed an aspect of my mind that's just not keeping up with the speed that life is going on around me. When there's no equilibrium then I'm suffering, it's like my mind trips over and if I race to catch up mentally I can appear either a bit manic, or I'll just give up and recede into myself.

Taking a stimulant does make me feel stimulated, but often, in comparison to being without it, it feels much more comfortable and easy to live with. It's a balancing act though, too much stimulant and then I'm too stimulated.

Currently on 30mg of methylphenidate a day and it's the sweet spot....I'd rather not have to take it though, but without it work was so difficult and upsetting that it just didn't seem like life was worth living.... It's still hard though!

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sobrique@reddit

I work in a financial company. I was diagnosed with ADHD in my 40s.

But I am pretty sure I am not the only person in the office with ADHD.

Indeed I think the stereotypical "trader" archetype lends itself well to ADHD traits. I know a few of those too.

But the volatile chaos and risk taking of market trading absolutely seems like a place where both ADHD type traits and ASD type traits can really flourish.

Look up quant researcher as a job description and tell me you don't think that's a good fit!

And by the same token, I think cocaine probably functions as a partial/poor quality self medication for people with low key/undiagnosed cognitive variance.

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Err. Cocaine is a stimulant.

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Matthew94@reddit

And lasts for about 30 minutes. You think people will be doing it for 14 hours?

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sobrique@reddit

No. But no one needs a stimulant at the start of their shift. A typical amphetamine dose also doesn't last 14 hours.

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Matthew94@reddit

But no one needs a stimulant at the start of their shift.

It certainly helps.

A typical amphetamine dose also doesn't last 14 hours either.

Drugs like Vyanse last about 12 as do long-activation doses of things like ritalin which is considerably longer than coke.

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MalRkid@reddit

He didn’t say doing coke for 14 hours, just that people use it to help them get through those gruesomely long shifts

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Consistent-Yam-789@reddit

Man has clearly never met a chef.

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sobrique@reddit

Or looked up what cocaine does, because it's definitely a stimulant.

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TowJamnEarl@reddit

Hang on, my lifes pretty damn good and certainly not joyless.

I have struggled with addiction (no longer, although still an addict in the way many "normal" people are) there are two clear states when your an addict. When you have the drug and when you don't. When you do, your basically doing what everyone else does and are somewhat content, albeit knowing your situation. When you don't have your drug, your sole focus is finding it and are almost is a manic depressed state scheming for solutions to get them.

Drug addicts are actually very rescourfull when they need to get there drug, there's no letting up and no breaks. They won't stop untill they get it. They have a temporary rush of happiness when they "unwrap" the bag and almost feel like everything's okay. Then, when they have been high for a couple of hours or whatever. A deep sadness takes hold knowing that the cycle is about to start again.

It's a hard life and maintaining it is a full time job. We really need a different mindset in society for tackling this issue. I don't think drugs should be controlled by criminal gangs and addicts should be able to get their drugs from chemists and doctors that will offer them help in way of reducing their consumption until it becomes easier to stop all together. The fact that we just leave these people in the hands of criminals that only want their money and don't care about their health is crazy and inhuman. These are people from all walks of life that have a serious health condition. The only reason they commit criminal acts is to maintain their homeostasis and stay "sane", They can't get jobs unless they are very good at hiding their condition so how are they supposed to survive? We need a revised system for all of this.

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Maleficent_Laugh_125@reddit

They either be high, sleep or scheme in how to afford their next high.

Maybe a sprinkling of video games or fapping.

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Purple_Plus@reddit

Depends on the addict.

You'd be surprised at how many addicts hold steady jobs for a while. I know someone who's been using coke for 15 years most days and he earns more than me lol.

Most perceptions come from what we can see, which is (often) homeless people who have nothing else to live for. You see them wandering the streets and boom, that's what an "addict" is in the public mindset.

So some addicts will be like most people, just with drugs added in. They'll get up (usually take their drug of choice), go to work, get home, take drugs. Rinse and repeat. How sustainable this is depends on the person and the drug.

Whereas someone who lives on the street is usually either seeking money for drugs or using drugs. And it's not a lazy life. These people hustle because they have nothing else in their life except their next fix. Which I get when you are homeless (housing first is the way to go imo).

So it's a huge spectrum. From living basically a normal life, to living on the streets doing whatever you can for cash.

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Acceptable_Beyond262@reddit

I'm interested to know how people can getaway with being high at work for so long without being found out? If I turned up to work drunk I'm sure people would know, if you were on spice people would know, so what's the difference are some highs only very slight and unnoticeable to other people?

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Purple_Plus@reddit

Tolerance is the name of the game. That would be because you, I assume, don't drink loads daily. Once you build up enough of a tolerance you aren't getting high/drunk anymore unless you really push it.

It's a different thing but I'm a full on caffeine fiend. If my colleagues had the same amount of coffee/tea as me, they'd be getting the shakes and feeling overly stimulated. Whereas I can have 4 coffees and 2 cups of tea by lunch and just feel normal, because my tolerance is much higher.

An alcoholic can drink in the morning and just feel normal. Not drunk, just starving off the alcohol withdrawals. You'd be able to tell by the smell etc. but if they are a "functioning alcoholic" then they wouldn't seem drunk per se. Because you need a lot more to get drunk than a non-alcoholic would. So if they are keeping on top of washing their clothes, having mouthwash/gum etc. then you'd be surprised at how many people wouldn't be able to tell.

And the same applies to other drugs. If you take coke once, you'll be bouncing off the walls. If you take it everyday working in the City or houses of parliament (lol) then it won't have the same effect.

Even opiates can work like this. First times you take it you are nodding off and in another world. Take it enough and a hit just makes you feel "normal".

PowerApp101@reddit

He will almost certainly have serious health issues soon, post-50 is when all the shit you've done catches up with you.

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TheWooders@reddit

I would be bed ridden the whole next day if I drunk 5 pints of beer, let alone did class A drugs.

I'm assuming you've never touched Class A's before. A lot of them are stimulants and don't affect you in the same way alcohol does.

Also, alcohol is one of the worst (if not, the worst) drug you can buy. It's readily available and somewhat normalised especially in a social setting. But as a drug in itself, alcohol addiction really brings out the worst in people and in most cases it makes people really violent and unpredictable.

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-Blue_Bull-@reddit

I have, I'm a 90's kid so lots of people did drugs in clubs and raves. However, it was a phase that only really lasted a few years. Most of us grew out of it and we definitely noticed side effects.

Coke is highly addictive and MDMA gives you the mid week blues. It's just not a sustainable lifestyle.

What do they do to pass the time... Says someone on Reddit.

Maybe they go on Reddit?

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Acceptable_Beyond262@reddit

By the sheer amount of comments it's clear they all must be in here I'm genuinely shocked by how many drug addicts there are

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sobrique@reddit

Can I introduce you to the Rat Park experiment?

https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/what-does-rat-park-teach-us-about-addiction

It's an interesting insight into the causes of - and continuance of - addiction.

But the summary is that drug use often starts as a result of self medication for 'things being difficult in their lives'.

Exactly what that is varies hugely, but something's hurting enough for them to want to make the pain go away with recreational substance use, and then do it enough to have a real problem.

Most of us do this low key a few times in their life. E.g. a stiff drink after a hard day. No harm done right? But that's true. And it's also the same thing on a different scale.

If you've a stiff drink after a hard day, and then you've a load more hard days, and a few more drinks, then you have a problem. And now maybe the alcohol consumption is adding to your days being hard. In various ways - but 'being drunk' won't help in most situations, nor will being hungover and dehydrated, and neither will spending quite a lot of money on the stuff comparatively.

So people spiral.

And ongoing drug addiction isn't much different in all honestly - people start for a whole bunch of reasons, but they keep doing it because they think they're in control, and it's just a bit of harmless fun, until one day they find out they were wrong, and they weren't in control at all.

But now the same thing that prompted them to start 'self medicating their pain' hasn't gone away, and now they've got another problem. Addiction isn't too hard to fix when someone's in good physical and mental health. People can just ignore the cravings, or moderate their dose, or whatever.

But most addicts aren't in that position, and indeed they may very well be considerably worse off than they were before they started, and so... the drugs are a relief from that. Making the cravings go away, yes, but also it doing what it always did to let you relax/forget/be someone else for a while is still a thing you kinda need/desire.

Check out this if you want a wild ride through the cycle and experience of it: https://www.reddit.com/user/SpontaneousH/ (reverse order, to see how it starts)

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Acceptable_Beyond262@reddit

The difference is attitude. I remember the first time I smoked when I was drunk I spent a week after that night craving another, but I had the right attitude and didn't make excuses for myself

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Apidium@reddit

Most do have jobs. How do you think they afford the drugs?

I'm disabled and on benifits and let me tell you the meager offerings of benifits are barely enough to buy basics. You aren't funding a drug addiction, esp for the more expensive drugs with that alone. Even if you buy nothing else ever and sleep rough - you would still struggle to actually fuel buying any sizable regular quantities of street drugs.

What work they do will depend on their skills and the nature of their addiction.

A friend of a friend is badly addicted to cocaine and lays carpets. He has a lot of unhappy clients because he will just fuck off or will go nuts on site. As a result he doesn't do work in homes that folks live in and instead works on empty houses. Folks who have to work with him can't stand him but he lays the carpets well enough and only goes over estimates sometimes. Meaning he is actually about as reliable as other carpet laying folks. He's just cheaper.

The area I live is awful for drugs and most drug addicts are working in manual labour style jobs. Turns out being doped up, and want to be paid to continue to buy, can mean you just get the fucking job done.

The downside is that they have a double combo of wrecking their bodies. Pushing (and drugging themselves) through the pain and just getting whatever done isn't uncommon. Sex work is also not uncommon. Nor are illigal jobs such as thievery where the stolen items are sold on to buy drugs.

When not procuring funds for drugs or using said drugs - their lives tend to be pretty grim. Many are at the poverty line before spending most of their money on drugs so their housing tends to be basically intolerable. Many will visit with other addicts they are friends with and disagreements and issues aren't uncommon. Many churn through friends and have disagreements that stem from drugs. Usually nicking stuff is the biggest issue. Few get much support from anyone, any support they do get can have a shelf life on it because ultimately it can be difficult to be friends with someone who's priorities are not similar to your own.

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Acceptable_Beyond262@reddit

A lot of stuff addicts though are thieves etc

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Gold_Pay647@reddit

Unfortunately many drug users are homeless or just let out of jail or prison or on probation and many have lost hope

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Apidium@reddit

Many are sure. Most aren't.

They be on drugs

Alcoholic here. When I was drinking I'd basically just sit in my room watching TV all day getting shitfaced, fall asleep, wake up, check my bank balance/find more stuff to sell to CEX/buy more stuff on my Argos card to sell to CEX, get shitfaced, fall asleep, repeat.
I suspect it's much the same for most addicts. Sometimes they'll do it in groups, I preferred solitary alcoholism.

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heliskinki@reddit

Obviously they don't have full-time jobs to go to.

Why not? I used to know a heck of a lot of drug addicts that (somehow) managed to hold down a full time job. Not crack addicts, but plenty of coke heads, and a lot of people who'd smoke weed on their lunch break.

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Last-Experience9805@reddit

Can confirm, have been a habitual weed smoker for nearly 20 years…. Always had a job and now earn 6 figures in the UK. The drug doesn’t make the man, the man does.

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heliskinki@reddit

I gave up recently after a slip back in to vaping it regularly over lockdown (I was smoking a half ounce a month in my 20s - 30s). Have been running my own business throughout.

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Remarkable-Ad155@reddit

Also a higher rare taxpayer and daily weed user, never been unemployed and also have a wife and two children.

All this is telling us though is cannabis is not in the sane category as alcohol, cocaine or heroine when it comes to substance abuse.

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asdfghjkluke@reddit

least addicted weed user.

seriously though, as people have said, there are also a serious number of functional alcoholics, sniff heads, heroin users, even now functional ket heads is a thing.

why do bud addicts (yes, addicts, because thats what you are if you smoke daily for years, maybe not physically addicted like opiates or alcohol but mentally all the same) always feel the need to qualify their addiction is different.

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Remarkable-Ad155@reddit

It clearly is different.

Try and come off alcohol or heroine cold turkey. The withdrawal might kill you. Same can't really be said for cannabis, worst that will happen is you will crave and won't be able to sleep for a few days.

I've quit cannabis and come back to it multiple times. I now tend to have 1 or 2 week t breaks fairly frequently now. An alcoholic, heroine or crack addict is just not going to be able to do that, regardless of how functional they are.

Cannabis won't make you wake up feeling like shit and fiending for some more just to feel normal again.

That's not to say people can't develop an unhealthy psychological relationship with cannabis. It's a very common "crutch" and a lot of people convince themselves they do need it to live. Same could be said about a whole range of substances (chocolate, tea and coffee are very common examples) or even other things like tv/media, video games their phones, exercise, generally anything which gives them that "safe" feeling they're craving.

I think it's a massive stretch to put those in the same category as hugely high impact addictions though, however woke and reasonable you're trying to sound.

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Thee13thstep@reddit

My sister helped me clean up when I was 19 with some really hard boundaries and care. Nobody smokes a substance multiple times a day every day strictly " for fun. " That guise is just not sustainable for anything. Weed is incredibly good for suppressing emotional/mental issues, and coming out on the other side of that, you realize how much personal development you rob yourself by just flooding your brain with happy chemicals all the time.

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Sweaty_Leg_3646@reddit

Weed is incredibly good for suppressing emotional/mental issues, and coming out on the other side of that, you realize how much personal development you rob yourself of by just flooding your brain with happy chemicals all the time.

I completely agree there’s no way it should be illegal, I think all drugs should be legal and people should be able to make there own choices wether they’re bad choices or not

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Purple_Plus@reddit

They never realise they can be quite difficult people to be around

In what way, other than the smell? Just curious!

Just because I smoke, most of my friends drink (only a couple of others smoke too). And no-one has ever said I'm difficult to be around when I'm high. I don't, and my other friends don't, really do anything that I'd class as being "difficult" when high.

I can help with the cooking if we are having a meal, I can have a normal conversation with drunk or sober people.

coming off of smoking weed habitually like that causes massive mood swings and often anxiety/depression.

I agree with this. People do underestimate everyday use for sure.

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chilledentertainer@reddit

I’m not talking about someone smoking weed at a party or social event and you haven’t to be around them for a few hours, I’m more talking about when that person is a constant in your life, I.e. a best friend or partner. Especially a partner tbh.

I would honestly say almost anyone who has a partner that smokes weed every day, given a choice whether they could take that away for their partner, they absolutely would.

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Remarkable-Ad155@reddit

I don't smoke any weed, much less use a ton of it. I might very occasionally have a few tokes on a spliff at a gig or party or something but I haven't been a regular smoker for more than a decade.

Personally I make my own extracts and oils and add to drinks and food. Daily I'll infused oil with somewhere between 5 and 10mg of thc in it. Generally about 9pm, so it's a mild hit on time for bed which helps me sleep. Almost nobody ever sees me high, certainly not my kids.

I don't personally have a problem with mood swings tbh, I find the fact I can sleep actually helps to avoid that.

I know I’m addicted to it, and I like it enough to not want to stop. What I think he’s getting at, is that you won’t find a stoner go start a fight or be on the streets. It’s one of the least violent drugs, and it’s very common to be addicted but still live a normal life.

However, others say it to persuade themselves they aren’t addicted (as it doesn’t feel physically addictive in the slightest, but it is mentally). Not many are comfortable admitting they’re addicted to a drug

However, saying that, I think the worse is Alcohol. My mum was a bad alcoholic, and eventually caused her death. Do you know how many people I see who are so clearly addicted, but don’t think they are? Whether it’s needing to go pub everyday, or need a drink after work etc. I actually think more people deny an alcohol addiction rather than bud - though I’m not trying to undermine your point, because you are also correct in what you’re saying

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KaiKamakasi@reddit

you won’t find a stoner go start a fight or be on the streets.

I have the PTSD to prove this false.

Few years ago a rather sizable group would smoke on the stairs outside my door, they then learned a neighbour was growing and so started an 18 month long campaign of terrorising, they kicked in doors, smashed up flats, tvs etc threatened to stab me because I'd installed a camera to protect my own shit, they kicked THROUGH my wall (plasterboard) and various other shit. It's been two years since and I still can't go outside if it's a certain time of day.

Meanwhile I'm a regular drinker, I live in a building that was, until a few years ago, full of alcoholics. I can count the amount of alcohol related fights myself and these people started here on one hand, maybe even one finger.

Basically the point I'm getting at is that there is shit and roses on both sides of the fence, but to claim there isn't shit on one side is ridiculous and untrue.

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flowerpuffgirl@reddit

you won’t find a stoner go start a fight or be on the streets

Also not trying to undermine your point, but to add to this: my ex was (is?) the exception to prove the rule. He was hot-headed, would start a fight with anyone who looked at him the wrong way, was violent with people, furniture, walls, but he smoked multiple times a day, and for a glorious 30mins he was the most funny, upbeat, calm, loving, gentle giant. Then he was anxious, and then he was mean until his next smoke. He "quit" to get a better job that needed clean drug tests. It was a rough week, he faced a lot of demons, and after that he was a better person, but I couldn't get past who he had been (was?) and with hindsight, I should have left him way earlier.

Anyway, I agree that being actively stoned is the least violent drug, being a stoner however, some of them just be suppressing something dark.

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ConsciousDisaster768@reddit

Completely agree with you. I was generalising from personal experience with myself and friends, but I have heard people suffering from it. At the end of the day, it’s a drug, and one people need to be careful around.

heroine

AdBubbly3609@reddit

But your literally comparing yourself to junkies(what the post is about) and it is not even close to the same thing

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heliskinki@reddit

No I fucking wasn't comparing myself to junkies. I was responding to this:

"Can confirm, have been a habitual weed smoker for nearly 20 years…. Always had a job and now earn 6 figures in the UK. The drug doesn’t make the man, the man does."

(I was smoking a half ounce a month in my 20s - 30s).

I was the same, then had to knock it on the head for 2 years because of a contract job I was doing that would do regular drug tests. Soon as the job finished I bought a quarter and made a joint like I used to - gave myself my first full blown panic attack.

Someone told me the equivalent would be going t-total for 2 years and then glugging a bottle of whiskey. (I PACKED my joints).

I very occasionally (maybe once or twice a month) make up a little single skinner and sprinkle a little bit in.

Looking back it's kinda crazy to think about how I got away with what I was doing. I'd wake and bake, go on a lunch break have a spliff, get home and have at least 3 or 4 (usually more).

I can smell the stuff from miles away now, and yeah I would seal it up and use cologne, ALL the chewing gum, but there's no way in hell my colleagues / bosses didn't clock what was going on. Must've figured I was doing the job okay so left it alone but in hindsight I was definitely nowhere near as subtle about it as I thought I was.

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QC420_@reddit

Hey, what do you do for work??? sounds like you’ve found a very well paying job that (am assuming) doesn’t do drug tests?? I also smoke up habitually and fear having to get a job that’ll do drug tests😅

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Last-Experience9805@reddit

Life Critical Lighting Systems Designer / (Controls & Central Battery SystemsZ

Bertistan@reddit

People who smoke weed in the evening or do coke the weekend are not the same as heroin and meth addicts.

I think OP means the latter.

I'm addicted to caffine, but I also doubt he was meaning me.

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heliskinki@reddit

I'm not talking about coke at the weekend. I'm talking at getting up and having a line, a sharpener at lunch, then a few lines in the evening.

But I've already explained this time and time again, so ducking out of this conversation now.

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Bertistan@reddit

Well, your first comment didn't imply that. That's why so many people are replying as if it meant something else because it did.

So, I had an chemically influenced life when younger, it is also worth understanding what stimulants can do for ADHD brains, i actually have an ADD diagnosis because I'm old, but a cheeky bomb of speed gave me hyperfocus in the kitchen, coke would help when I was writing documents or planning finances, stimulants induced hyperfocus is a fucking zone, but not good for long term mental stability.

Once I had me head sorted properly, I cut everything but the pre-bed joint out of my life.

Never injected, but I can rank the rest for my difficulty stopping it.

Alcohol - no issues, don't miss it.

MDMA - still partake at a festival or outside gig, never really took it on the regular.

Coke (powder) - depends on quality but i don't miss it and cut it almost as easily as the drink, can see it in lines and think, "nah fuck that shit" very easily.

Crack - immediately more-ish, but i never felt like i wanted some the next day. I say I (personally for me) could smoke some again now and not want any tomorrow, but I'd rather not as it fucks your lung up.

Speed - oh fuck me i love that stuff, ADD child of the 90s and speed/bass was my thing. I still get the urge 20years later, if i get a terminal diagnosis I'll he straight back on it, once an addiction it there you never get rid of it, you just stop it temporarily though willpower.

Weed - I'm a regular smoker, but I stop for a month 2-3 times a year just to reset, I have given up for years and theb in my post 40s zero stimulants era I like a pre-sleep joint. It just reduces the number of internal monologues as I'm trying to sleep.

Nicotine - I mean, I've given everything else up, but I always find a pack of ciggies. Nicotine is fucking hard to kick.

Caffeine - understanding the irony considering the rest of my list, but I've always limited my Caffeine intake harshly. At first even i thought I was being stupid and hypocritical, but now I see colleagues doing 3 cans of monster a day and 3 coffees and think, that's a bag of speed they spent there.

Everyone is different but my biggest regret is the ciggies, spent the most on it, wanted to quit it loads, always known it was the addiction I allowed myself so I didn't allow speed back into my life.

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BobMonroeFanClub@reddit

Check out recigar/tabex. £20 for a month's course. I got mine from Amazon. Absolute game changer in giving up nicotine. I never thought I could at all but this stuff is great.

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d0288@reddit

Out of interest, what do you think of prescribed ADHD meds such as adderal?

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Beneficial_Noise_691@reddit

I don't know, I wasn't prescribed them when I was a little and had "coping" mechanisms by the time they were more commonly prescribed.

I know adderal is NOT speed, but i believe it has similar effects that have been actually tested for the outcome with ADHD. So I can only say i suspect it would work like speed but without the terrible life choices, self-loathing, and filthy sex, that speed brought to me life.

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skelly890@reddit

Adderral is most definitely speed. It’s a mixture of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine. Sounds rather nice, actually. You’re probably thinking of Ritalin, which is methylphenidate. That’s speedy, but not as euphoric.

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Beneficial_Noise_691@reddit

Adderral is most definitely speed.

Yes, and in terms of what i meant, No, adderal is most definitely amph and dex-amph, but what i was calling speed was speedbass, £20 a bag sold by someone who looked like a strong wind would push them over.

Speed in this context is the shit you can buy on the street, Adderall is a Medication.

You were correct, the most annoying version of being correct, technically!

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skelly890@reddit

I added a bit. Base was badly made meth, that they couldn’t be arsed to purify. Strong as fuck, but harsh compared to the dexies I’m old enough to remember.

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Beneficial_Noise_691@reddit

Just seen your addition, yep, and fuck me, moody Tuesday was unreal with bass.

Also, why does my autocorrect not recognise base? It's a fucking word.

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skelly890@reddit

I read your list. Broadly aligned, except K got me off the gear. Stopped the anhedonia and kind of reset my brain. But it stopped being interesting - as in didn't work as a hallucinogen - so I stopped taking it. What is it these days? I mean, it's been years so it'd probably work again, and I wouldn't mind a go if I had a couple of weeks off work. But not that fussed. Too much effort involved in finding some tbh.

If you want to give up the fags, you could always try what I did:

Get a really nice vape and some strong juice, but don't use it.
Stop smoking.
You can probably manage two or three days before climbing the walls, but when it all gets too much, then use the vape.

Over ten years since I smoked. I did try one about five years ago, but it made my clothes stink something rotten, so aren't tempted. I'm still a slavering nicotine addict, but my doctor says "I'd rather you didn't, but it's nowhere near as bad", so...

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Beneficial_Noise_691@reddit

Fucked my lungs badly taking too many items nasally, partial collapse, slight recovery, caught pneumonia, woke up in high dependency a few days later.

It was the kick to stop the bass.

Now the hangover effect is that I can't stand any form of vape, it makes me cough like my first bucket if i have a tiny bit.

According to my GP, the dry smoke is worse longterm, but I'll always cough like a choking dog when I have a vape.

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spik0rwill@reddit

I quit smoking 28 days ago after having been a smoker for around 25 years. I went cold turkey with sleeping pills. I found out the hard way that insomnia is a withdrawal symptom of nicotine. I had a total of 1 hour sleep over the 2nd and 3rd night.

I recommend the cold turkey method. It's the only one that has worked for me (so far!). I tried to vape instead, but those disposable vapes are too easy to use and i ended up having a lot more nicotine per day than i had smoking. The others are a pain in the arse to clean, refill, charge, etc.. Patches worked a bit, but they're expensive. What ruined it for me was the crave for a morning fag, it's always there until you put the patch on and wait for it to take effect.

Good luck if you decide to quit! It's definitely worth it, my lungs already feel clearer than ever :D

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I have ADHD and acid works as well for me as anyone else I've tripped with.

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Beneficial_Noise_691@reddit

You lucky git!

When there is music I get tracers but nothing spectacular, but the moment it stops my brain is just goes into overdrive, trying to suppress anything fucking with my vision.

It always fascinated me how the same dose works different for people, an old clubbing mate of mine was a 2 pint drunk, but needed double the mandy I took before he even started to notice it.

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somekidfromtheuk@reddit

thoughts on using tiny (eg. around 0.02g doses measured in capsules) amounts of amphetamine for combined adhd? thinking of giving the whole bit to my parents and just taking a week dose home to try out so i don't get the temptation to take more. i've been thinking about this as one of my options but i'm worried it might go wrong. i am really not looking to get high or develop an addiction, i just want to treat my condition so i can reach my potential in life and stop my condition affecting others close to me.

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Beneficial_Noise_691@reddit

Because of my own issues with speed, i would advise against every touching it.

Self medicating is not the way, do you want to know what they gave my ADD brain to help with my GCSEs?

A mandatory 45minute extension!

basically I was told to sit still longer. Treatment, drugs and coping methods have improved massively, i would recommend trying to get prescribed and treated properly before ever self medicating.

I survived it and have it under control now, but i also didn't do it easy, and wouldn't advise trying it that way now the world is better about ADHD than in the 90s.

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rokstedy83@reddit

Odd the one you have the trouble quitting is the legal one lol

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Beneficial_Noise_691@reddit

Yep, but also I think it being legal and in practically every shop is also a strong reason.

If i could buy speed at the local Co-Op (well, from the ship, not the workers) I think i would have had a much harder time dropping that habit.

I also allow 1 addiction im not happy about, as I am back smoking weed now i don't feel the push to quit nicotine, when I'm on a weed break my smoking ciggies does drop to under 10 a day. But it never goes away.

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rokstedy83@reddit

If i could buy speed at the local Co-Op (well, from the ship, not the workers) I think i would have had a much harder time dropping that habit.

Good point

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Beneficial_Noise_691@reddit

Im still unreasonably angry that when our fucking idiotic government of useless cunts decided to get rid of some pack sizes of cigarettes they banned fucking 10decks.

Cunts, I smoke the pack in my pocket, when it was a 10pack I smoked 10, once they banned them my smoking amounts instantly increased.

But I do believe the legality and availability is a huge issue to quitting.

And I know there are many methods to give up, but they aren't just methods to give up, they are ways of feeding an addiction in hiding, I dont want to move my addiction to the patches, or the gum, or fucking vapes.

PowerApp101@reddit

Is he a partner at the famous firm of "Stoner, Crackhead, and Tweaker"?

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Beneficial_Noise_691@reddit

Lol, I don't reckon I'm going to say his name or where he works on a public forum discussing his addiction, but;

heliskinki@reddit

Addiction is addiction in the end. Some people's tolerance is such they can be pissed at work, and the only give away will be the stink.

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devils-lettuce23@reddit

Well you can be addicted to pretty much anything but the post is surely related to hard drugs.

You don’t see many people out begging on the street because they’re addicted to nasal sprays or caffeine.

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redmagor@reddit

What are "hard drugs"? There is no univocal definition.

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devils-lettuce23@reddit

it’s a common term.

mainly crack and heroin, possible a few others less common.

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redmagor@reddit

it’s a common term.

It is a misused term that conveys little to anyone with a basic understanding of how psychoactive substances work. In fact, given its risk profile, alcohol would also be classified as a "hard drug".

Please refrain from using this term, as it is unhelpful and creates a misleading perception of certain substances. The issue lies not with the substance itself, but with the individual.

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devils-lettuce23@reddit

I’ll carry on using the term because it’s commonly used and people associate it with the drugs I’ve listed.

If I walked up to someone in the street and asked them what a hard drug was, chances are they would tell me heroin or crack - they wouldn’t tell me alcohol.

So please refrain from trying to influence common perceptions with your own ideology,

And there’s no need to put the blame on individuals - I’m sure they already carry that burden - perhaps try to help them instead.

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ThugginHardInTheTrap@reddit

😂😂 true

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redmagor@reddit

I know at least an academic (lecturer), a scientist, and a lawyer addicted to opium. Their life is not at the margins of society.

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twinnedwithjim@reddit

Just added a similar comment. I know heroin addicts who have held down jobs.

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Are you in a very high paying industry? Even buying by the kilo at current prices it works out to be about £32 quid a gram and I doubt many coke heads have 30+ grand laying about.

A gram is enough for a decent night out for someone who doesn't really take it often but for anyone with a tolerance they can smash through way more than that.

If you somehow got brick price and went through 2g per day you'd be spending £1920 per month. With a more realistic markup more like £3k per month. With a basic lifestyle on top you're looking at least a £100k salary to afford that.

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mata_dan@reddit

The folk I've known who where heavy into it also dealt it to fund the habbit.

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heliskinki@reddit

I'm not in a particularly high paying industry personally, but the people I know / knew who were using it regularly were - that's how they afforded it!

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spanksmitten@reddit

Weed isn't debilitating to long term users

Automatic-Movie8724@reddit

Drugs they just do drugs. You answered your own question. People drink, do heroin or whatever until they go into oblivion to blockout real life and they cope through their life with that. Then they do it again.

With stuff like heroin they are out of it for at least 10 hours at a time. Then it's trying to survive and trying to get more drugs or drink. And er that's it. Unless they die during which isn't uncommon.

People who's life is so crap they would rather be in oblivion than face real life, usually they've been through terrible trauma or situations. Before you judge thank god that isn't your life.

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KelvinandClydeshuman@reddit

Look for drugs.

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EchidnaWeird7311@reddit

Better question, what do people with no money do all day.

Some of them take drugs to deal with the boredom, then go find more money to buy more drugs, keeps them occupied all day.

Drug addicts with money... They're all around you and you don't notice

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Ok-Concentrate-9928@reddit

I was once a high functioning heroin addict I used to use a little bit just to feel normal in the morning and then go do a days work labouring and then use when I got home after work and then went to gym. Did that for 5 years during my early 20s. I have a strong will though a lot of people I knew that used ended up broke and in prison.

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TrevorEdwards@reddit

Either asleep or passed out, high or looking for ways to get high. Simple as that.

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KaiKamakasi@reddit

My redident crackhead neighbours seem to just scream their orders to one another starting around 8am every morning, then by around 8pm they are screaming about who's taken this that or the other.

Or even some days they'll be screaming about needing drugs, fighting and other arguments aren't out of the question either.

Bulky_Parsnip8@reddit

They spend a lot of time working out how to get money to pay for their next lot of drugs… typically they don’t work and won’t work to get the money so they sit around on their phones badgering relatives for money.

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HDK1989@reddit

typically they don’t work and won’t work to get the money so they sit around on their phones badgering relatives for money.

Most drug addicts have jobs

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Bulky_Parsnip8@reddit

Well the drug addicts in and around my family certainly don’t work.

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mo_tag@reddit

Obviously they don't have full-time jobs to go to.

My experience is that many of them do have jobs, families and everything else you don't expect. My husband is a recovering drug addict and alcoholic. We own a business, have kids etc etc. He has been in CA for years now and the majority of them were in the same situation.

The perception that all addicts live under bridges shooting up everyday is something we have to leave behind.

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Willow_B_@reddit

Im at that level, the enjoyment is in your brain

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No-Sample1677@reddit

To all the people saying.... Doesn't matter whether you call someone an addict, or not. People underestimate the power of our natural senses !!! Sound/hearing... INSTANTLY converts to picturing/sight/visualisation, whatever you want to call it, therefore it depends on each societies view on that particular drug !!! Catching on here ?? In the Amazon smoking or ingesting DMT or in some Hispanic cultures... Peyote cactus, Jamaican Rastafarians....weed/ganja/herb those drugs are commonly ingested in those particular places, here in America those (normal) people are often considered to be cracked out or stoned outta their minds, or waaayyy outta the ordinary "norm". If you go to Jamaica and call a Rastafarian a stoner, first if they understood you, they would laugh, secondly they would embrace the fact that they smoke weed for religious purposes. Your talking to your buddy and say.... This stoner dude this n that, BOOM ... your friend is picturing someone with bloodshot eyes, mumbling and drooling on themselves !!! Which ANYONE whom knows a handful of people who partake in smoking herb..... Knows damn well that there's PLENTY of weed smoker's that function just the same as everyone else (if not better) !!! So bottom line is the hearing/visual-sight conversion, senses wise matters a hell of a lot more than people give credit. ❤️💛💚11,1

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Happy_Mexexpat@reddit

Think about doing drugs, and where are they gonna get the cash

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Affectionate_Set2561@reddit

My son is a kind, smart, funny young man and his loneliness is palpable.

They may not have conventional jobs but ALOT of time goes into raising money.

Getting Scoring , cooking up, being high will take up the day and night.

Why don't sleep much , don't eat much, they will just hang out with their friend circle and be high.

I have worked in the industry of support people with addiction.

Sad thing is they all have excellent skills in logistics, out the box thinking, networking , organisation, business.

Their skills could adapt to the work place, I Sweden they experimented with giving free clean heroin to users.

Most of them managed to change their lives , hold down jobs , get an education, run holes and function in society.

Im trying to go part time and find work that I'm qualified for or some IT position which when it comes to computers I'm a god, lol.

Breakwaterbot@reddit

You'd be surprised how many drug addicts hold down full time jobs. The people you see on the streets are extreme cases. Honestly, if you went along to an NA meeting (or something similar) you wouldn't believe the range of people you see there.

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turingthecat@reddit

We have recently got a tiny little nana in her 90’s, (45kgs wringing wet) admitted, her family decided she couldn’t live alone, as she got at ‘driving under the influence’ chucked at her, and lost her license.
30 years ago her GP started whacking her on opioids for slight niggles, and ‘mummy’s little helpers’ (diazepam, etc) for sleep and calming, then her husband died (they put up the dose), then she built up a tolerance (upped the dose).
At this point it’s not even worth tapering her off, as it could kill her.
Breaks my heart, but she is exactly the opposite of what people think of as an ‘addict’, though she is horribly physically, and mentally, addicted

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RiceeeChrispies@reddit

It's mad how willing they were to dish out benzos back then. Weaning off them is a nightmare, as they are really effective at suppressing symptoms - until you start building up a tolerance.

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EmmaInFrance@reddit

I was overprescribed both benzos and z-meds for about 7 years, I think, not in the UK, but here in France.

I was misdiagnosed with Bipolar 2 in 2010, when I was hospitalised following a breakdown, after being severely depressed since the age of 11 or so.

Back in tne UK, before this, I had tried anti-depressants, minimum dose, unsuccessfully. When I came to France, I also tried different anti-depressants, including Effexor, at a higher dose, with very little success but awful side effects.

I ended up trying well over a dozen anti-depressants but nothing worked.

I was also put on Depamide, a mood leveller. At one point, I was on injections of Risperdal, an anti-psychotic, for 6 months - it didn't help.

I had 12 completely unnecessary and ineffective sessions of ECT and now I remember very little of the first two years of my youngest kid's life.

I tried Abilify for a few months - that gave me akithisia. Abilify isn't safe for people like me though but we didn't know that then.

I was on alprazolam at one point, lorazepam at another point, and tried both zoplicone and zolpidem (separately) to help with sleep, plus there was another benzo specifically at night, for sleep.

I was like a bloody zombie for years.

Eventually, in 2016, I had a new psych who switched my anti-depressant to Valdoxan (agomelatin), it's not very well known and a bit of a last resort as it can affect kidney and liver function, so you need regular blood yests at the start, but it's known to work well for treatment resistant depression.

It started working for me, at the minimum dose, within days! It's been my miracle cure, seriously, and it's kept my severe depression stable ever since.

But that new psych left in 2017. At first, there was a locum and he decided that I also needed Effexor again. Why I don't know but within a few months, I was back up to 3 a day!

Fortunately, he didn't last long and his replacement - who is still my psych today - was an expert in adult ADHD and autism, rare at that time in France, and dtillntoday, to be honest.

He soon diagnosed me with ADHD and prescribed sliw release Ritalin. I came off the Depamide and discovered that I could actually function!

In 2018, I was finally diagnosed as autistic - I'd been on the waiting list for three years, having gone via my GP, but my psych had also done initial testing that helped speed up the process at the regional centre.

In 2019, with both diagnoses sorted, and a good dialogue established with my psych, I first worked with him on a planned taper down/withdrawal from the Effexor, starting in January.

Then finally, in late Spring 2019, again with my psych's supervision, although I did all the research and came up with the plan, I did the same with the benzos and sleep meds.

For a couple of years, I'd become so dependent on benzos that I was experiencing withdrawal symptoms between doses.

I was feeling more anxious and feeling tightness in my chest - which can, of course, be caused by anxiety.

When I'd reported this to the previous psych, he'd just upped the dosage, or told me to take them 4 times a day, instead of three - it's a long time ago! - making tne problem even worse!

It took 3 or 4 months, and I had to buy a pill chomper to cut the pills into quarters at the end, even when they were the lowest dose possible.

I can never take a benzo, nor a Z med again.

They should only ever be used sparingly, in the short term. They work well in the right situation but all too often, they're used to zombify people and to mask the real problem, as a lazy solution.

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boofing_evangelist@reddit

I had almost the exact same experience in the UK, with the same timeline. Finally got off pregabalin two years ago, but was also prescribed huge amounts of Z drugs and benzos. Diagnosed as autistic a month ago and everything makes so much more sense.

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KatelynRose1021@reddit

Im addicted to pregabalin and speed nowadays and I’m diagnosed autistic and ADHD, it makes perfect sense lol

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merryman1@reddit

Its always the same history with this stuff - They developed benzos as a "safe" alternative to barbiturates which have a similar sort of therapeutic index to strong opiates, there's not a lot of difference between a dose that helps you sleep and a dose that puts you to sleep permanently. With benzos if you don't mix with other depressants (like alcohol) its actually extremely difficult to overdose.

plaguerpete@reddit

Why hull? Way more people live in London so likely far more crack addicts there than in hull. Question didn't even need you to state a location so why be a prick about a northern city for no reason?

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Cesssmith@reddit

In my partner's Dr's case, they perform lasik eye surgery on Harley Street.

Dude was coked up, talking a mile a minute, eyes wide as shit!

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George9816@reddit

As someone who has recently kicked a cocaine habit I would work

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quiet_daddy@reddit

Do to work.

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Top_Doubt6249@reddit

I’m sick of seeing them around town. Always the same faces being loud and abrasive, always begging for money despite having very healthy-looking pitbull dogs by their side and always looking like microwaved shit. People walk by them with their kids and the addicts don’t give af about the disgusting example they set.

I was addicted to cannabis and alcohol and because that was an everyday need for me I used to take Ketamin, Bass, Pills or MDMA on weekends or at parties etc.

I did have a job but I was young and lived with my parents. I hid it from my family which meant I was out 24/7 and barely went home or attended family get togethers. Thing is I needed my family more than I needed the drugs but the more I stayed away from them the more I took and the harder it was mentally to go back to them and fess up or just ‘be normal’

I worked random hours but it was normally a 12-20:00 shift which meant I got high in the morning and also didn’t worry about getting up for work. Finish work then straight to the pub to drink and put shit up my nose or smoke something.

Eventually I realised that I was struggling mentally and it needed to stop. At first I quit weed but that meant I took way more MDMA and still drank but eventually I kept a distance from certain friends and managed to clean myself up.

I met my Wife just over a year of being clean and now we have two kids and live in a loving home. I couldn’t be happier and I’m glad I got clean. People don’t see weed as a serious addiction but it really is. I haven’t smoked any for 10 years now and I still have dreams about it!

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YouNeedAnne@reddit

Walk up and down Bev Road shouting at things.

Shoplift.

Fence stuff in Rampant Horse.

They acquire money through crime for more drugs, occasionally spend time in cells, the hostpital and wandering around being a blight and menace.

work on building sites

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Dx_Suss@reddit

It's very likely you work with a drug addict. You've probably been served food by one, given a speeding ticket by one. You've certainly had your food prepared by one.

Drug addiction has complex impacts on people's lives.

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sailingmagpie@reddit

Many of them do have full time jobs though - banker, MP etc

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Great_Tradition996@reddit

Some of the strongest people I’ve met are people who had addictions.

I remember having training with reps from The Well. One of the lead counsellors/ workers (not sure of exact role/title) was a recovering alcoholic (his words). I was appalled (for him, not by him, if that makes sense) when he told us that at his worst stage, he would wake up and eat his own vomit so as to not waste the alcohol in it. To have gone through that, and recovered to the extent he could then help others in the same situation was awe-inspiring.

Another woman I met through work (I’m a police officer) used to be addicted to heroin and various other drugs. She’d had an awful life (abused by stepdad, then partner), had her kids taken off her, etc. She managed to get off the gear, chucked partner out, got children back. Her eldest daughter is now a vet, the younger is training to be a hairdresser and she herself works with other victims of domestic abuse. She’s genuinely one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met because I know how hard she must have had to fight.

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Responsible-Walrus-5@reddit

Mainly spend time acquiring money, using money to acquire drugs, taking drugs.

It’s a pretty full time occupation, they cycle of acquiring cash and using.

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Go stealing, get drugs, take drugs, piss oneself, repeat.

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ConversationMore8863@reddit

A lot of people don’t realise the amount of work that goes into finding enough money, scoring and using and then repeating the cycle. It’s like a full time job in and of itself. It’s exhausting being addicted to a drug that consumes every part of you and when you’re doing it while in withdrawal it’s even worse.

Withdrawing~>find money if you don’t have it, begging and borrowing and selling possessions you love (a lot of people steal things to sell)~>find a dealer~>wait around for said dealer (this could be 2+hours by itself)~> hopefully you can wait long enough to get home or somewhere safe before using~> hopefully catch a nod for a few hours before it all starts again but usually there’s no nod you just stop feeling like you will die for a while. Doing the first part of this cycle while projectile vomiting bile every 20 seconds is the most horrendous thing in the world.

Speaking as an ex-junkie.

Time is usually spent with friends (other users whom you have things in common with) either using or finding or buying drugs.

After that, depending on the drug, going out and partying, spending time keeled over wherever feels most suitable at the time - friends house, fiend's house, dealers house, outdoors somewhere safe, at a 'party' etc.

The rest of the time, finding money to fund the habit - stealing & selling things, running errands for cash, maybe even holding down a little easy job somewhere to help fund the habit (although these are few and far between and rarely last long).

In downtime - i.e., the short time between waking up and getting to the grind, maybe sitting outside with a coffee, contemplating life and how you got to that, being continually amazed you haven't been sent to prison yet for the shit you get up to, finding people you wanna have sex with or do drugs with and, depending on the calibre of person, failing to get anywhere or risking STD's and worse.

The highs are very high, the lows are the bottom of the world, the friends may or may not last forever, you may fight, you or they may die from an accidental OD or whatever other malady affects people in that position (whether it could be traffic accidents, fights that go too far, failing organs etc.) it is risky, it does not fulfill any purpose or potential you may have.

I used to look down on 'friends' I had who had kids, their children were not cared for, barely ever had toys or bedding or clean clothes...I always felt sorry for the kids raised in those environments

But fuck me, while the times last, if you are single and have a way to get regular easy money, it is the best fun you could ever have. The buzz of the chase, the finding of money, getting hyped to go and score, the friend who had a safe and reliable home to use in, the constant party, fucking the system, the blissful release of that first hit of the day (and all subsequent hits).

Of course, I managed to turn my life around - I ducked out of that situation with a one-way ticket and a lucky windfall - enough to get out of dodge and go and do something cool somewhere cheap for a couple of years, to open my eyes and learn something new. Years later I have a stable career and the only people that ever get any kind of vibe that I used to get up to that kind of stuff, used to do it themselves, thankfully I did not catch any permanent STD's (nothkng that couldn't be gotten rid of with antibiotics, anyway).

These days, I drink faster at parties, I go out with the intention of just having a few but can easily get a party going. Hell, I can go for a night out by myself anywhere in the world and gather a group of people along my way, people who have never met each other before, have a great night out, only to never meet again - The Junkie Magic is still strong in me, but I make damn sure to stick to nothing other than alcohol and definitely not every day.

Sometimes, I do think of packing it all in, escaping my current situation, wandering off to places where drugs are cheap, women are easy, the weather is good; somewhere work or hustles are easy to come by and just while my days away in that half-cut state between sobriety and living the dream; not taking it too far, but just far enough. To be able to stand on a beach somewhere, joint in one hand, opium in my cigarette packet, a beer in my other hand, cheeks warmed by a perforce grin and eyes slightly hazy, and just not have to give a fuck about anyone or anything ever again. I won't do it, I won't give it all up and walk away, right now I simply can't, I have people that depend on me, but the call of the wild is sometimes hard to resist.

I was quite 'successful' in my day job tbh. I went to interviews tipsy and was always offered the job, proactively given pay rises and promotions.

Depends on the person. Might do the same as someone unemployed and look for jobs/chill out bored at home until you get high or go to work as normal taking small hits throughout the day or go home at the end of the day and get high.

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ChocolateLeibniz@reddit

I was a Judges clerk in my early 20’s, they were mostly making life changing decisions for people.

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PureHugeJobbie@reddit

Take drugs probably

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Express_Junket_5396@reddit

Drug addicts often spend their days searching for their next fix, which includes a lot of time spent hanging out with other users. They may engage in activities like panhandling, stealing, or selling items to fund their addiction. Many also struggle with feelings of isolation, leading them to spend time in abandoned places or on the streets. Overall, their daily lives can revolve around their addiction and the chaos it brings.

Dude thats crazy, literally only took me a month to have a bit of a breakdown, thank god i have family, friends and a partner who were there to support me.

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FancyJalapeno@reddit

Funny enough, I've thought about this very same thing. When I managed to go out running before 6am (summer only), there seem to be 3 kinds of people about: dog walkers, fitness nuts (willing of reluctant) and junkies. I would not be out there if the OH wouldn't push me to go for a run, but they all seem to be up and awake for hours.

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Saintee_00@reddit

From my experience they seem to just wander about the town centres, have a loud argument with someone every so often and maybe have a fight as well. I used to drive taxis and our main taxi rank was where they all used to congregate. There was a bus terminus there as well and it was the meeting point for them all.

Some of them were really nice and friendly, a couple even used to chat away to you. I think as long as you didn’t tarnish them all with the same brush and actually made a effort with them they appreciated it, however I seen and had some absolutely awful abuse off them. I’ve been threatened, sworn at, spat at, had them leg out the taxi without paying. Difficult thing is what can you do though.

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nehnehhaidou@reddit

Martipar@reddit

With addiction people don't do drugs, drugs do them, they go from being high to making money to get drugs to get high day in day out. They might sell their body, beg, steal or whatever to make money.

Once drugs grab them they die, whoever they were is gone, they become someone else, they will steal from their family, they will do things they would never even consider before the drugs, they will do what they can for the drugs, all that matters is the drugs. Drugs like cocaine and heroin kill you twice, they kill who you are then kill the body.

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jgbollard@reddit

Nick Cave spent the first 20+ years of his successful musical career as a functioning addict. In an interview, he said after scoring he would go to church for a few hours, then do some writing, practice, etc. Repeat.

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possumcounty@reddit

When I was using it was a pretty simple routine, sleep in as late as possibly to avoid sentience, get high to avoid sentience, go to work or wfh, go grab a bottle, drink and get high and pass out asap. Maybe spend a couple of hours going to a meeting if I was pretending to try to get better.

"obviously they don't have full time jobs to go to"

Your perception of drug addiction is arse over tit for that statement alone lol

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Safe_Virus_4480@reddit

I used to beg if not I was doing drugs or reading books I basically stole from the church’s book sale bit

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viper648723@reddit

I can see you’re vying to become the next Home Secretary?

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BigGingerYeti@reddit

It's like he says in Trainspotting: "It looks easy this, but it's not. Looks like a doss, like a soft option. But living like this, it's a full-time business." Cuts to him committing crimes, stealing shit to get money for drugs.

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Plus_Dance_931@reddit

I’m in recovery for a brutal cocaine habit. I was taking cocaine as a form of extreme procrastination. I had become overwhelmed with my work and life and was struggling with my business. I was probably classed as a high functioning addict. But I was using drugs to distract myself from the daily grind. I used to do a lot of walking. Again, procrastinating. As soon as the drugs ran out then I would become overwhelmed with anxiety and stress - I used to think that doing the drugs relieved this but actually just compound this. No one had any idea I was an addict as to the outside I was just going about my daily day. And quite often that’s what most addicts do. Just crack on, a normal day. There are more people who suffer from addiction problems than people realise, they just hide it. It’s just a normal day, supplemented by some addiction or other.

ApokWow@reddit

The term drug addict is over used

It's especially overused as some kind of moral judgement, especially when plenty of those making judgements are drug addicts themselves.

Just aren't labeled as such because funding capitalism is all important

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ForsakenChance330@reddit

They’ve got life figured out. Their ‘to do’ list consists of 1 item.

•Sort out next fix

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TheKnightsTippler@reddit

My mum was a heroin addict. She would do all the normal mum stuff, but when she took drugs she'd doss out for an hour or so.

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cankennykencan@reddit

I don't know but they seem happy all the time.

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CarpeCyprinidae@reddit

I'd imagine its actually quite a busy day. Wake up, deal with whatever lingering health complaint is playing up at the moment and sort out breakfast etc while on a come-down, then go out and do whatever you usually do to obtain funds for your next fix, find dealer who has supplies, obtain same, lather rinse repeat...

you're talking about recovering addicts trying to stay clean. OP asked about addicts.

I remember a friend who was recovering. "I don't remember what I used to enjoy in life."

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Basic-Pangolin553@reddit

My thoughts on most Northern towns are that they are so grim they lend themselves to drug addiction.

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Realistic_Ad_9751@reddit

Not sure how I feel about the generalisation that addicts don't have jobs. I know people who take various drugs and have various jobs, some voluntary, some part-time, and even some full-time. Drug addicts are everywhere. You can't just tell the functional ones by eye, or the prescription painkiller abuser from the coke head.

Drugs don't discriminate, and the mental health crisis that the pandemic surely exacerbated means now more than ever, functional addicts are a very common feature of society. What do you actually do all day?

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pencilrain99@reddit

Depends on the drug

Cannabis you can just get stoned all day

Smack once you've had some you can get on with the day

Crack very moreish and hard to overdose on so is a full time job getting more

Meth lasts ages

The most common group you see are those who aren't picky and just like getting high who spend the day taking whatever they can get hold of.

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dbltax@reddit

One word sums them up

"Obviously they don't have a full time job"

Majestic_Visual8046@reddit

Drugs. Hang around with other drug addicts or rob/ beg for money for drugs

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Wide-Competition4494@reddit

A lot actually do work, a surprising amount of them have some super intense hobbies, some are artists... a lot are just junkies of course. Most, probably. But honestly all tweakers and drug addicts i've ever known, and i've known a few, have had some quite esoteric and deep interests that they pursue...

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