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How do you guys afford your habits?

my big brother had a huge reel of copper wire. made close to 500 bucks. it was one of those huge ass reel you see on trucks.
 
I'm not really addicted to anything, but I have done some shady things in the past just to get high. I've stolen pills from peoples prescriptions, stole money from my father. Stole money from his ex, about $300, but she had over $4000 in that envelope, not that it's okay what I did, but I didn't leave her dead broke with bills to pay. I've also stolen the rest of my dead mothers medicine a few months after she passed away. Ends up my father gave the rest to his ex, and when I moved into her house I found the box and all her medicine. I rationalized it by telling myself they shouldn't have this stuff, but I should? Pathetic.

I feel shitty when I think of these things. I don't want to hurt people, or bring harm to anyone, but sometimes I think selfishly and all I care about is getting high.

I'm kind of a scumbag sometimes...
 
I've always heard of "drug addicts" and "thieves" that would collect/steal scrap metal like copper and shit to get cash for their dope... What i don't understand is where the hell are these people getting this "scrap" metal??
 
Drug addicts steal from me.

Then get super upset when they're not high anymore and they realized stealing wasn't a good idea.
 
I've always heard of "drug addicts" and "thieves" that would collect/steal scrap metal like copper and shit to get cash for their dope... What i don't understand is where the hell are these people getting this "scrap" metal??

I used to hit up the take-it-or-leave-it piles at local dumps. I wasn't using it to support a drug habit or anything, but it was good money. Made a few grand off aluminum cook pots, brass crap, etc. Aluminum lawn chairs aren't worth the work, I discovered, even if you're real fast at tearing the non-aluminum stuff off them, because the tubes are so thin. I once went for a walk on trash night... found an aluminum chair out for the trash. Picked it up, and started breaking it up as I walked home, stuffing the seat and other crap into trash-cans along the way.
 
I work for it and so does my partner in crime, but uh, sometimes you're broke and need to hussle...

In that case, I've sold jewelry, dvds and a clarinet one time. I've scrapped copper, car batteries, and computer parts. You know, the usual...

EDIT: Oh, and recently, my girl has been writing checks to take a sort of cash-advance at the supermarket. If we crinkle the check badly enough so that the machine rejects it or whatever, then the check will clear days later after her direct deposit from work goes through. In other words, no overdraft fee... ;)
 
Getting in with the younger crowd and the older crowd and middlemanning for them is the way to go, but it really is a full time job. You just have to make sure that you're very well connected and as reliable as possible and a lot of people will come to you an pay the markup if it means getting their shit quickly with no risks rather than going through a dealer they don't know very well. Back in my days of using I had quite a few older customers that would buy in bulk every couple weeks that would put some decent gas in my tank, cash for dinner, and a couple days supply cut from what I was giving them, which was really sweet and I would always make sure these customers were taken care of excellently. With the younger folks I would give them the option of waiting until I got a decent amount of people together along with a bit of a markup so I could take care of myself, or tell them they could simply buy me something and I would take care of them right away. In times of desperation I would pick out one or two of them that I felt uncomfortable helping out, people who begged and cried calling my phone every 30 seconds, asking for me to go way out of my way for small quantities at a loss to myself, and I would simply take their money. It's an asshole thing to do, but I honestly really don't feel too terrible about it because sometimes it was the only way to get these people off my ass.

At the time I was living in a rural area about 40 miles outside of Milwaukee hustling heroin was much more lucrative. Dope is all phone connects in MKE and you average sweater vest wearing pill head supporting his habit with mommy and daddys $350 a week allowance being far too scared to encounter anything other than acre lots and short haired white folks I was able to get a ton of people to throw in when I made runs a few times a day at double the price for rocks and/or blows. I was competing with people who would buy a ton of bags and cut them in half or less and cut them down with dormin and then charge double the price I was the goto guy seeing as my shit was huge and flame as fuck compared to the shit they could buy in our town. For the few people who started shooting I was able to charge a giant markup on boxes of pins bought at the pharmacy right in our town simply because the folks were too scared or didn't know they could.

Other than that I worked a decent full time third shift job making around $500 a week, which was more than enough to keep stocked with illicit methadone, benzos, herb, alcohol, and the odd stash of pharm opiates while living quite comfortable, maintaining my vehicle and paying rent along with a few clean roomates. I most definitely wasn't starving, and I could be more than comfortable on my wages using methadone and a couple good fixes throughout the week without having to do any hustling if I didn't want to. Unfortunatly the draw of the heroin was far too much, so that didn't work out that well. My strategy for a few years was to cash advance around $5000 from various credit cards and go on a decent binge for a month or so banging a ton of dope and smokin rocks, then once that ran dry I would go on suboxone and hustle as hard as I could and send the credit cards as much of my wages as possible to get the bills paid as quick as I could while occasionally dipping in to my personal stashes for the rare few days of pleasure here and there while I waited to go on my next big ass binge.

Even with all of the lucrative hustles I had going I still had to resort to scrapping shit, pawning personal possessions, and stealing from time to time. Especially towards the end of binges of extremely heavy use where I still had to cover my rent and other needs, but I didn't want to stop quite yet despite my funds being depleted. I lived with a couple mechanics who owned their own shop, and they would bring me all kinds of alternators and parts and shit that I would either separate and scrap or resell. I could have ran my own fucking Autozone there for awhile with the stock I'd have on hand. Every few months or so I'd have caches of copper and other metals I could scrap to fund a couple week long mega binge. I also had a terrible habit of selling every possession I owned that was worth more than $10 and then rebuying the same shit and reselling it for a quarter of it's value a month later. Another good hustle I had was with all my roommates and their friends being in to fucking with their cars and shit, I would find parts they needed and steal them off cars in parking lots and shit and sell them to them at a fair price. I cringe to think of what a brazen piece of shit I was back in those days, breaking hood latches and stealing headlights, and bombing down back roads if the owner happen to come chasing after me. I really deserve to have been put in the hospital via assbeating many more times than I had back then.

Sorry for the tl;dr post, but for those who are interested, I really wanted to show how much goes in to supporting a large habit. I don't really mind sharing the information as it's all a few years in the past, and I'm a far different person these days, so I can't really spend all of my days moping around in shame. It just really amazes me that during some of my heaviest years using I probably grossed well over $100,000 a year, but now that I am relativley sober and stable on suboxone I stuggle to pay for the perscripting and doctors appointment that costs less than a couple days worth of drugs in my using days. As I struggle my hardest trying to be free from the opiate ball and chain once and for all, I hope that someday I can apply myself and have the drive to improve my life with the same zeal that an addict chases his fix. It's really amazing how strong the pull is, that something as basic as food can't even compete. Many days I've gone without eating, or gathered up a few dollars worth of change to get a box of instant ramen noodles, but you can be damn sure there never was a day where I said shit, I think I'm just going to skip using today so I can have a good meal, or "I'm a little short on cash, so I'll just buy a few vicodins and be happy with those for today". Yeah fucking right! That's how people get rich, they have that same drive to stack green, and even then I bet it isn't even half as strong a force.
 
^ The middlemanning thing sucks, but it is a good way to get a free bag or two each day. Back in the day, I used to get a couple free bags every day of the week just for picking up a friend's dope. But it is a full-time job for sure, which sucks when you're trying to work two legit jobs and people are calling you all the time.
 
Yo whats up brother, my buddy justin used to do the same thing with some guy up in northern MD. They would haul scrap metal and stuff up to a scrap yard to get cash for dope. They used to make like 100$ a day if they moved enough stuff.

I heard about ppl in baltmore city cutting down the light posts and selling them for scrap metal. Aluminum gets good $ as does copper. The only thing is you need a lot to make decent money. Back when i used to work for a demo company, we would do abatement work in school. We would have to take apart the chalk boards, and those metal rails that frame them and hold the chalk would pile up. We loaded a small box truck full of them and took it to the recycling place and got about 1200$ for all of it. I mean it was probably over a few tonnes of metal and aluminum, but if you have some way to haul the shit, you can make some decent cash.

About 10 years ago, for a whole summer, I scrapped metal and made 600+ a week. Sometimes as much as 800. That was just for a summer though. Not the worst teenage summer job, though.

Anyhow, I afford it myself, now, with my expensive as hell insurance and my job. Editing film. I also bartend as well 2x a week.
 
I've always heard of "drug addicts" and "thieves" that would collect/steal scrap metal like copper and shit to get cash for their dope... What i don't understand is where the hell are these people getting this "scrap" metal??

I never stole my scrap. I always targeted street curbs and houses getting work done. I'd go to the foreman and just ask. The smaller "mom and pop" construction guys seemed to be willing to give it up more often than not. I also lived in a rich area which meant there was a TON of home remodeling/construction going on.
 
my roomate and i would always share, we both went to a super generous doctor. he got his a week before i got mine, which took 2 weeks of the month out of the equation(our combined scripts lasted 2 weeks of HEAVY use) and then the other 2 weeks was a little bit of thievery mixed with all day middleman work. our duplex housed about a dozen iv users, and we were the only ones with wheels u dont have to pedal.
 
I work and my boyfriend works and between the two of us, we're able to score a few times a week. We always split everything evenly and in the end, it usually works out that we've spent about the same amount. It works out for us.

We also have a friend without a car and if he asks us to pick up for him and we are able to, and if we have to make a special trip for him, he throws us something and usually gas money as well.
 
my roomate and i would always share, we both went to a super generous doctor. he got his a week before i got mine, which took 2 weeks of the month out of the equation(our combined scripts lasted 2 weeks of HEAVY use) and then the other 2 weeks was a little bit of thievery mixed with all day middleman work. our duplex housed about a dozen iv users, and we were the only ones with wheels u dont have to pedal.

Haha that sounds like a great system you got going their.

I myself am still living with my parents and my drug use is not to heavy so with the money my job brings in im able to pay for pretty much anything i want and then some.

I dont understand why some people are so quick to want to move out and support themselves. You have all your life to do that. My plan is to have my parents support me until im out of college, have a steady job and a steady income. Pluss i enjoy their company anyways. Whatevaaa though i would think most people would think like me.
 
im on buprenorphine maintance and get scripted benzo's from my doc

else i wouldt be able to do it either or atleast not as much, witch maybe would ne a good thing, ohh well atm its going ok im on a low dose happy in life(somewhat)...
 
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