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  • TDS Moderators: AlphaMethylPhenyl | paranoid android

TDS Definitions of the term 'junkie'.

Couldn't someone be a junkie without using needles though? I don't really think it matters what the DOC or ROA is, it's more about them being willing to do absolutely anythign it takes to get high.
I mean obviously I kinda have trouble picturing a weed junkie, but you get the idea.
 
I'd go with pothead over weed addict personally. That's definitely the extreme end of the stoner spectrum. Everyone knows that guy who has to experience everything in his life stoned because it's "just not the same, man!" Never really know anyone to descend into junkiesque behaviors over weed, but I'm sure that guy is out there too. Always reminds me of the scene in Half Baked. "You in here for some marijuana? Marijuana?! Man this is some bull shit!"
 
Everyone has a different definition of the term "junkie". Sometimes it is used in a very derogatory sense, sometimes it is used to mean someone who is physically dependent on heroin, sometimes it is used merely as a neutral inoffensive term to describe anyone who regularly uses heroin, some people use it synonymously with "addict" of any kind, etc. So what would lead people to think of you/someone as a junkie depends entirely on their personal definition of "junkie". Some people might think a "junkie" is the stereotypical criminal heroin addict. Some people might just think if you do heroin you are a junkie. Some people might assume anyone who uses heroin must be the the stereotypical criminal heroin addict. I don't worry much about labels myself, although it does kinda bug me when the term is used in an insulting ignorant fashion.


Asking yourself if your drug use is a problem in your life is a better use of your time IMO.


As for the actual origins of the word, it's unclear. Different sources have very different explanations:
From Las Vegas Review Journal (page not working right now but still showing up in Google):
The prohibition of recreational drugs after 1914 quickly turned hundreds of thousands of solid citizens into criminals. Hundreds of physicians became jailbirds. Black-market merchants demanded piles of cash for what used to be a few pennies worth of powder from the friendly local apothecary. "The scope of this change," writes Courtwright, "can be described by the etymology of a single word, 'junkie.' During the early 1920s, a number of New York City addicts supported themselves by picking through industrial dumps for scraps of copper, lead, zinc and iron, which they collected in a wagon and then sold to a dealer. Junkie, in its original sense, literally meant junkman.
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From Online Etymology Dictionary:
junkie (n.)
"drug addict," 1923, from junk (n.1) in the narcotics sense + -y (3). Junker in the same sense is recorded from 1922. Junk for "narcotic" is older.
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Dictionary.com:
junkie  
noun Informal.
1. a drug addict, especially one addicted to heroin.
2. a person with an insatiable craving for something: a chocolate junkie.
3. an enthusiastic follower; fan; devotee: a baseball junkie.
Also, junky.

Origin: 1920–25; from the word junk, meaning: old cable or cordage used when untwisted for making gaskets, swabs, oakum, etc.
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Someone here on BL said:
"Junkie" comes from heroin being called "junk". Heroin is called "junk" because the users considered it to be junk/trash. However, they continued to use the "junk", so they became "junkies".
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Some random people online said:

I think a clue may be found here:
"The majority of illegal heroin smuggled into the U.S. comes from China and is refined in Shanghai and Tietsin. "
Remember, a Chinese ship is often called - a junk!
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This is just a gut feeling for me but I suspect there is a connection between the word Junky (meaning heroin addict) to the Junks of Hong Kong harbour. This particular group of workers, in this specific location, were one of the first to become associated with heroin use and a media fuelled moral panic no doubt ensued.
Maybe, at first, Junky was a slang term for one who worked on the Junks. Then, as this group became inseperable from the idea of heroin abusers, the term simply enlarged to encompass this idea also???
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The word "junkie" did come from the idea of opiate addicts who supported their habits by collecting and selling scrap metal (junk). I read in a book about the history of opiate addiction that this started at turn of century(1890-1900) and the word "junkman" was shortened to "junkie".
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Conclusion: no one has any evidence to support the etymology of the term junkie.
 
Is this really a thread?

Junkie: one who is addicted to junk (heroin)

Next, shall we define pot-head?
 
Junkie is a heroin addict in my book.
Tweaker- amps/methamp
crackheads/coke head- coke user
Hippie- psychedelic user
Etard- heavy ecstasy/mdma user
Stoner- heavy pot smoker
 
RedRum OG said:
Is this really a thread?

Junkie: one who is addicted to junk (heroin)

Next, shall we define pot-head?
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I think they were more trying to ask what impact on one's life/others is required to be labelled as a "junkie". Like in the derogatory sense. Maybe they are wondering what defines someone's drug use as being out of control or "junkie"-like? What would make their family/friends consider them a "junkie", etc.
 
Swimmingdancer said:
I think they were more trying to ask what impact on one's life/others is required to be labelled as a "junkie". Like in the derogatory sense. Maybe they are wondering what defines someone's drug use as being out of control or "junkie"-like? What would make their family/friends consider them a "junkie", etc.
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^Exact purpose of this thread.

I also would like to thank everyone who posted and shared their thoughts on this thread. It really helps for me to have a different opinion on this. Now at least I know what BLers think about this term. :D <3<3
 
deldone said:
This is probably something my family won't understand - for someone to be completely free from drugs; it is something that MUST come from within that person.
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This, x 1,000,000.

It doesn't only apply to drugs -- ANY significant lifestyle change has to come from within. As I've grown older, I've come to realize that this was one of the biggest flaws of my parents - that they seemed to think that they could pressure me into being a responsible and successful young adult. Doesn't work that way.

In fact, parental pressure almost seemed to have the exact opposite effect - for instance, when they pressured me not to use drugs, it made drugs even more appealing, because by getting high I would be exercising my freedom and independence.
 
Re-distributed said:
This is a very insulting thing to say to anyone who has been a prostitute.
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deldone said:
I totally disagree with what you have said, IF junkie is what my family/ others chose to term me as. The only thing I am willing to exchange in order to attain some 'perceived benefits' is only in monetary terms.
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I'm sorry for offending...

I went back and re-read my post and can see how it might have done so.

I'm just kind of down on drugs and felt a bit like I had taken them out of desperation,
and was getting to the point where I would be willing to trade valuable personal posessions,
(not my ass), in order to obtain them, which I, apparently incorrectly, extrapolated to being
similar to the case in the other situtation.

:(

There really is no such thing as a Junkie,
it's just a label that people use to make it easier
for them to think that they understand.

Either that or, "I know it when I see it." ;)
 
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TheAppleCore said:
In fact, parental pressure almost seemed to have the exact opposite effect - for instance, when they pressured me not to use drugs, it made drugs even more appealing, because by getting high I would be exercising my freedom and independence.
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^
What I really meant when I said I was scoring on the street not only because I want to get high. Abject, this is what I actually meant.
 
I did not know that the word junky had such negative connotations until I used it to describe someone.

The chit hit the fan. He schooled me pretty well by his reaction and response.

So I don't like to use it at all. I don't see how anyone who has an account on BL could use that word against someone. Trolls will be trolls.

Spork, I liked your post in this thread. I think you hit the nail on the head.
 
Think the term junkie comes from heroin addicts selling bits of scrap metal or junk in the early 60s or 70s to get their fix.
 
I consider junkie to be like the "n word" for black people. When used amongst other junkies its cool. Anyone else says it and they get an ear full. Or worse...
 
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