Here's the background:
Howard spoke to Homeless Mark first. Mark is only 21 years old and was kicked out of the house because of his heroin addiction. He said they took him back for a little while but then he was kicked out again. He said he's going to need another fix around 2 o'clock today since he just had one last night. He had some bad friends that got him into this stuff and he's not happy about it. He said he spends about $120 a day on the drugs. Yesterday he made about $180 just panhandling. Mark said that he lets guys blow him to make money as well and it's really disgusting. He claims he won't blow anyone himself though.
Howard told Mark that Artie is the one guy who is jealous of him right now. Artie told the guy he could get him some drugs that could help him get off the heroin but the guy said he had tried it but his insurance company cut him off. Mark said that the heroin is so good that he gave up his family for it. He also lost his girlfriend over it all. Gary wondered how much it would cost him to get on the drugs that would help him get off this stuff. He said it's like $600 per prescription.
And then Artie speaks when the crew starts asking why he had those pills (subutex):
Artie's Heroin Addiction Revealed. 09/21/06. 9:45am
During the break Howard said he was still trying to figure out why Artie had those heroin pills. Artie said that he has had trouble with a bunch of different things and he's sniffed heroin from time to time... Howard said he didn't know that. Artie then revealed that he fell into an old trap out on the road last year, started heroin and basically lived from fix to fix for 12 months, then quit and called in sick for four days. He said he was going from fix to fix out on the road doing stand-up and he had to get off of it. He came back from a gig in Chicago and figured he had to get off the stuff. He went to work that Monday and went home and had some trouble detoxing back then. That's why he was out of work for 4 days last year. That's when he got on the anti-heroin drug.
Artie said he was getting sick and having cold sweats and stuff like that back then. Artie said he probably shouldn't have said anything and he was ready to walk out of the studio. Howard told him to sit down and get over it. Artie said that this doctor who hooked him up with the drugs really saved his life. He sounded kind of bummed out that he had revealed it.
Howard and Robin told Artie not to be bummed out because no one is listening to the show according to the news. Artie said that some things just aren't for the air. Howard said he was going to reveal something that he's never revealed. He said that now that he's 52, when he pees, he dribbles a little bit. The other day Beth pointed out to him that he had pee stains on his pants... that wasn't cheering Artie up though. He realized that he had lost Artie at that point. Artie said he was fine now but he shouldn't have revealed that stuff on the air.
Artie said he carries those pills with him as a safety net. He didn't give that guy any of the pills because that would be illegal, he was just joking around. He said the drug is actually like a miracle pill because it helps people get back into life. He said he didn't know what to do back then because he was such a mess. He reached out to the doctor that Saturday and thought that he might have to check in somewhere. The doctor was willing to make a house call and check him out at home.
Artie said people were calling him about doing the movie at the time and they were afraid he was backing out of it. Artie said the doctor told him the drug would help him get back into life. The pill works within 20 minutes of putting it under your tongue. Artie said he knows how that 21 year old homeless kid felt because that's the way he felt while he was using the heroin. He said it takes your soul and you can't stop using it.
Artie said that coke is like a social drug while heroin is something you want to do in private. He used to use the coke years ago. Howard said he knew something was up with Artie last year and he was right. He said that's one of the things that led to him and Dana breaking up. Benjy came walking in and asked what was going on since he was out of the studio while this conversation was going on. Howard told him to be quiet and leave it alone.
Howard asked Artie if he wanted to take a break. Artie was silent. Howard told him he's happy he's feeling better. Artie didn't say a word. Howard had to read the rest of a commercial that he had started when they got into this discussion. Robin told Howard that the whole Bum thing was a really bad idea. Howard tried to finish the commercial but wrapped it up quickly so they could take a little bit of a break.
More On Artie's Addiction. 09/21/06. 10:00am
Howard came out of a Van Halen song that Fred was playing so he could finish up that commercial he had started for BetUS.com. He quickly went through that and then got back into the show. He apologized to Benjy for being so harsh with him and told him that Artie had admitted that he was gay so that's what he missed. Artie was talking again and said that it's been really tough finding places to blow guys.
Benjy still didn't know what the story was because no one was giving him any details. Artie said he never thought that he would reveal that stuff to them. He filled Benjy in on the heroin snorting and how his life was saved by this doctor who gave him those pills he was talking about. He said he's been clean since about June 4th of 2005.
Benjy asked Artie if he was gay at all. Howard told him he wasn't gay. Artie was saying that there are guys out on the road that can get him the great drugs and he would even tell them to take $1000 off of his pay to get him some of the good stuff.
Artie said that he's never used a needle in his life, he was just snorting the heroin when he was using it. He said he's heard that snorting it can be even more addictive than shooting up. He was told years ago not to do that stuff because he's got such an addictive personality.
Ralph called in and gave Artie a big 'Wah!' He said he thinks that Artie is actually a good guy for feeling so bad for that kid that was in there. Artie said he lost things in his life because of that addiction and he put his mother though hell over it. She actually set up camp in his apartment and made sure he didn't leave before he went through the detox.
Artie said he was going through the detox and throwing up and stuff for a long time. He said that booze would help him get a little bit of a fix but his mother wouldn't let him drink. Artie said he was feeling like nothing was working so he ended up calling this doctor. He said that if he didn't show up to work that Monday, they were going to pull the plug on the movie. That's when he realized that it was going to be a big nightmare. They were going to sue him over the whole thing if he didn't show up to work on the Stern show.
Howard said he remembers Artie nodding off a few times last year around that time. Artie said he still does that but he may have been a little bit out of it back then. Howard said he would have loved to have been invited to the intervention about this addiction.
Ralph asked Artie about what he would do while on the heroin. He said that you just isolate yourself and you don't do anything productive. He said he would just watch TV and listen to music. He said he likes doing that stuff. He said that the drug lasts about 6 or 7 hours before you start feeling like you need it again.
Artie said that weed makes him feel like he's on acid or something. He said his mother knew that something was going on when she wouldn't hear him on the show. Then he'd take the phone off the hook so he wouldn't have to hear from her.
Artie ended up calling this doctor from a rehab center he had gone to before. He left him a message and told him what was going on. The doctor came over and checked him out. Then he gave him this Subutex drug that helped him get off the stuff. He flipped right around after taking the pill on a Sunday. He was back to work the next day. Now he carries those pills along with him just in case as he feels the need for them. He said the stress of making Beer League last year was really bad. He was also talking about going out on the road and how tough that can be. He's starting to go out on the road again so everyone is worried he's going to fall back into that stuff.
Artie said that anyone who is on heroin should try to go out and get this Subutex stuff. He said it's very expensive but it can help people get back into their life. He said Howard knew something was going on back then and he'd love to hear the discussions from that day he returned to the show.
Artie didn't want to say where he was getting his drugs and how he was going about doing that stuff last year. Ralph was kind of curious but Artie didn't want to go there.
Howard also brought up his pee dribbling story again but Artie was still talking about his addiction and how much he loves his mother, sister and Dana for supporting him through all of that. Dana helped him get through it and he ended up losing her in the long run. Artie said that he ended the whole thing with Dana because he thinks he'll torture her for the rest of her life.
Artie said that he's at a point in his life that he doesn't want to torture anyone. He said that his mother and sister are attached to him no matter what but Dana doesn't have to be tortured. Howard heard that Steve Langford and Penny Crone were fighting for the story. He said he was just kidding though.
Joey Boots called in and said that this is great that he came out with this story. He told Artie that he should stay away from alcohol as well because that's not helping things. Artie said he was off all drugs for many years. Joey said that he's just replacing one drug with another and that's not good. Howard had to let Joey go so he could move on to Mike Walker.
