There's also his quote about how a person would crawl through a mile long sewage pipe or whatever to get a hit - can't remember the exact quote. After looking at your chat with Bleaney I was reminded of a bit in Trainspotting (the book) in which Tommy get into gear. The Tommy in the film is two characters moulded into one but the point that's made is that some people really seem prone to heroin addiction and I truly believe that. Of course there is the trauma factor (certainly the case for me, started with alcohol at 14, horrible upbringing and area) but it does seem that some people just "take to" opioids. Same as zop bandit said, I've known junkies on the streets, sex workers, in hostels, user-dealers and most of their addiction was rooted in trauma, especially younger users (often passed down through families) and those who went into sex work. So many had been through the care system. And then there are old heads who came from the big towns and cities that were flooded with heroin after Thatcher destroyed industry and left so many young men unemployed - suddenly heroin comes along to fill that void, which I do not believe was a coincidence and in fact mirrors the neoliberal reforms and the globalisation of trade which destroyed these communities, whilst also making some working class people immensely wealthy and all of that money flowing through the banks.
But anyway, Burroughs made some good points but he was a trust fund kid and had he not written some books that were seen as culturally significant, notorious and brilliant (not by me in the latter case), would he really have been able to be that junkie or to keep up that persona? And back to the point about certain people "taking to" it, I really believe this. Tommy in the Trainspotting book splits with his girlfriend like in the film and gets right into his habit and Renton comments on how some people seem to. I've smoked heroin with aristocrats who love it and had trust funds and helped me with my habit for a bit (2grand a month in the bank from mummy plus rent paid etc. Burroughs style even tho Burroughs claimed that he didn't or that it wasn't substantial/enough anyway) as well as the lowest on the socioeconomic ladder but also just people I grew il with who also had hard lives and I remember a close friend going to try it and literally gagging from the smell and saying that he didn't wanna know. Massive coke head and alky tho. We were brought up to hate junkies but once I tried it, I found a new love and I knew it. You do gain some kind of incredible strengths and if you survive heroin addiction and come out the other side, you can be a rock because you've put your body and soul through hell.
Dunno about stoicism as I haven't studied much of it but it does or can certainly give you a certain hardened outlook and strengths that a lot of people don't posses. People who have never lived that way seem very soft and doughy to me, even if they are ripped. Soft and doughy in the heart. And these people probably don't need heroin and would never come into contact with it.
