Opiates do indeed numb mental pain, as well as physical agony. Unfortunately, that ability is one of the prime reasons they are so addictive, and almost always so highly destructive to any who gets hooked! Of course, here in the UK we had no 'Drug Problem' back in Victorian and Georgian times, even though huge amounts of opiates were consumed by large numbers of the population. That is because they were not only legal, but widely available in corner shops, and freely supplied by street vendors to anyone who had a few pence. They were a vital and important commodity too, to enable folks back then to cope with the crippling medical conditions, dismally unhappy, unsatisfying and/or crushingly boring lives they were obliged to lead, and allow them to endure poverty, hunger and widespread mental illness., and melancholia.
The notorious dangers of addiction, dependence and financial ruin only began to cause a 'problem' when ignorant, paranoid authorities and governments decided to make opiates illegal, and remove or restrict the supply. Quite obviously, people still desperately needed and wanted these drugs, as they have for many centuries and always will, so an inevitable load of ruthless, greedy, criminal 'entrepeneurs' jumped in to fill the need, forming gangs, using violence, stealing from each other and smuggling, with a disastrous increase in price overnight, which most could not afford. And so, whether they liked it or not, ordinary people who had always been honest and upright, were forced to resort to crime, or ruin themselves financially, in order to live a bearable, tolerably painless life.
With the usual supreme arrogance and fear of those they were supposed to protect, serve and support, a series of thoughtless, paranoid, ignorant and self-righteous government did what they have always done - chose to 'crack down' rather than treat the situation humanely and with common sense, and we continue to suffer the legacy of these bastards to this very day!
Needless to say, not everyone disapproved of this Draconian nonsense, organised criminals were delighted by this opportunity, thrived and made fortunes, then were soon fighting for control using gangster tactics, murder, kidnap and intimidation on a vast scale - and dealing not only in drugs, but guns and weapons, controlling prostitution, protection rackets, fencing stolen goods and running illegal gambling. The vast profits they have made also allow them to control corrupt policemen, politicians, councillors and unions, in a worldwide crimewave which became unstoppable years ago.
Sinister indications of what was likely to happen were stupidly overlooked or ignored, for the USA provided a terrible example when they introduced Prohibition of alcohol, which kick started the Mob (in its many forms), which now thrives out of control in every city, having switched from hooch and illegal speakeasy's to the more profitable enterprises mentioned above. The ominous, obvious lesson that "Prohibition Doesn't Work!" has now become the laughable, ridiculous and patently unwinnable "War On Drugs", a Sacred Cow to bullying, short-sighted, uncompromising idiots and cretins like Thatcher, Reagan and Bush, and noxious, hypocritical toadies like Blair, Straw, Cameron, Major and the idiotic little bald turd Haig!
Hmmmm.... that's my 'Drug Tsar' bit done for now. Note that hard drinking, mentally challenged piss-artists like Churchill, speed freaks like Hitler, and that well known junkie Hermann Goring, all known as active war-mongers, had the sense not to get involved in any such nonsense.... they knew they would lose.
Lastly, the destructive side of heroin. My ex-partner was a care worker, dedicated, responsible, hard working and honest to the point of making things quite uncomfy for me. Never before had I resorted to hiding cans of drink (to prevent nagging), and (a truly desperate move.... myghodd could she NAG!!!) not only promising to stop taking speed, but ACTUALLY doing it for real! Shooot herself in the foot there, after a month she began begging me to start again...
Her one and only 'vice' while I was with her was the odd, mild hash spliff, which I never complained about, for not only did I not care, it made MY life tolerable (I only v seldom indulged). When we split, she met a new guy, who I really liked - even though he was a junkie. I felt rather sorry for him actually, but he made a catastrophic, fatal mistake - was open with her, and told her never to touch the stuff.... "see the trouble its caused me?". And so - I expect many will guess the rest? - she found out where his dealer was, went round, and at the age of 43 or so, injected herself with smack for the first time.
She crumbled so fast, it was incredible! Begged borrowed, nagged and stole from friends until they were bled dry and alienated, drove round without MOT, tax, insurance or any tread (wheras before she nearly had a nervous breakdown when she got a parking ticket), and her character changed completely. She was always law-abiding to an irritating fault, would never, ever borrrow money, was never overdrawn, paid every bill before it was due, and tossed and turned all night without sleep if any friend was in trouble, or she forgot to pay a newspaper bill, or her poll tax was late! She had, when we met, a conscience that was worthy of any Pope, Saint or dedicated, saintly social worker - she worried about everything, however trivial, whether she was at fault or not. Entirely gone within a few weeks... and when I mentioned it, she just laughed, grinned smugly, banged her head and said... "look, no headfucks!"
I declined to comment, though I wanted to say... "oh yeah? You ain't seen nothing YET!". It was the smack - it almost completely anaethetised her conscience, decency, goodwill and sense of right and wrong, while seeming to act as a powerful fertiliser on the tiny seeds of her egocentricity, greed, ruthlessness, deviousness, selfishness, recklessness, laziness, self-righteousness and utter dishonesty - character traits neither I nor any of my family and friends had ever seen before, and couldn't believe for the most part.
It also made her horribly WEAK, morally and intellectually. The only interest she had, replacing her previous ones in painting, animals, psychology, work, friends and family, was a grubby exercise book, which she spent countless hours filling with biro drawings of spoons, candles, syringes, piles of powder and even piles of coins and notes. Plus the odd self-pitying, execrable 'poem'! Also horribly manipulative, using pathetic displays of unconvincing, blackmail fuelled emotion to try and get her way. Her love, which was once so strong, selfless and precious to everyone, was no longer present, only a cold, calculating interest in sex, which I have little doubt she was prepared to, or already was exchanging for small amounts of cash.
I had never experienced such a ghastly thing before, and it was very hard, heartbreaking even, in one I had loved, did love, and still do love, despite everything. I did my best, detoxed her three times (agony!), went to counsellors with her, sorted out some benefits, approached friends with excuses and explanations... all to no avail. The last time I witnessed any trace of genuine grief, regret and shame was after a patient at work had died under her care (really not her fault, she was actually 'clean' at the time, the guy drowned in a bath after a seizure, which noody knew he was liable to), and I went to her hearing and helped her get off with a written warning.... but my Rumpole stuff was in vain, she was back on the stuff in days, piteously whining "... but I killed him, I can't bear to live with it!". Every detox the same - her once Iron Will was forever dissolved in a few tepid teaspoons of brick dust, talc, citric acid and tap water.
A cautionary tale then - please, everyone, be very, very, very careful of this stuff, and the damage it can so quickly do to mind, body, spirit and everyone around you! Perhaps the ultimate hypocrisy of this stuff is that I have tried, enjoyed and rather liked the stuff.... far, far TOO nice! Never with her though, it was long after. The last time I saw her, was to help move a fridge, maybe 20 yeas ago? A sweet goodbye kiss and thanks.... "oh no, I don't touch the stuff any more!".... yeah, yeah... and my reward was a big bottle of methadone, how thoughtful! She is almost certainly dead now, and has been for well over a decade. The dealer she first approached died long before that meeting, new boyfriend vanished, and not a single friend has been in contact - several didn't even remember her at all!
Corny though it sounds, don't ever risk going down this route - it can truly be a miserable, living, lonely death! Whether you actually die or not, you will long for it in the end. Final sadness is, I have lost several friends because of heroin... whether alive or not. Last time I discovered their badly decomposed body shortly after a proud, joyous return from being detoxed. I was lucky perhaps, he'd spent all the gas money on smack, so the heating had been off...
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
