I was they guy you all hate. I chipped pretty much every weekend for about 15 years. I then learned that it was the Fentanyl that was killing people so, of course, I switched to that. I got lucky in life and retired early and now I shoot all day and nod. Of course it now takes me about 200mcg worth of patches to make it through the day and still have my shoot and nod cycle going. I am addicted as all hell and don't mind at all. I force myself to detox a few times a year - the WD from fent are so bad... By day three of my detox I am eating pills again and by day five I am back to shooting.
Now, here is the important part...
I did this to myself and knew what the results would be. I can easily afford my habit -- I buy in bulk for example. I can afford my habit for the rest of my life. I am a little bit stiff about being safe. Enough to do my shoot and nod cycle and not one drop more. I will do three shots instead of one if I am not certain of something. I am patient. I am clean. I only extract from mylar. I have someone who is aware of this, is paid, checks on me daily, comes to cook and clean and shit like that.
Don't drive too screwed up.
Now, let me tell you about a story far worse. The tale of Alcohol and I... I am almost three years without alcohol. I am very good at drinking. I can even function until I get home. I do not drink any more. I am a bit of a car buff... Since before I retired I was always buying specific years and models and then rehabing them as needed. It took a completely rebuilt Volvo 262 from 82, a 78 911 - Targa trim, a new BMW, a 7xxi Turbo BMW from 96 (this one is a bit fuzzy) and not going to jail - but not having insurance cover ANY of the vehicles in about a week before I decided I had to stop drinking (after about 30 years of drinking) to make me realize that I had to stop drinking and driving. I could not give up driving so I gave up alcohol. There are still days I think I should have gone the other way. But when you put about 500k worth of rebuilt (as in factory or better in the case of the Volvo for example) into the tow truck driver's yard to just say screw it and scrap 'em then you really have to do a bit of introspection. Quitting alcohol was so hard but I did it in one (I've also tried to quit for most of those years of use but could not for some reason - took some motivation) and I used no program or rehab. I was physically fucked for months and thought I was going to die the first week. It turns out that WD from alcohol actually does kill. I should have gone to the ER multiple times or, you know, used a detox center.
Anyhow, the detox center wasn't going to let me shoot fent or the likes so, yeah, I did it and it sucked so bad I will never drink again so that I don't have to go through that again. Sure, I could chip but I was a functional drunk until I stopped being functional (or able to drive drunk any longer). Alcohol had to go. I can never replace the cars, I have come close though. The years and body styles are close but it was a rather expensive lesson and took like a week to accomplish and then a month or so to actually start the quitting.
