Nice honest post u wrote, and of course ur not gonna offend anyone here talking like that...just in answer to ur original querie really;
I got into H 6 years ago having had a best mate who started using at the same time-I stupidly thought I could 'help' him by using with him as I wanted to relate and see where he was coming from as he was goin thru some shit. Alas, it wasnt long before I was using every day, thanks to the break up of a 5 year relationship and some other factors...u dont get physically addicted to H for quite a long time, sometimes months, and some people say 'if ur addicted to heroin its because you wanted to be.
So as for me, I lost my job-voluntarily left one weekend to do a cold turket, then never managed to get clean. A couple of years went by, me using a gram a day at my lowest point, and many many attempts to quit, initially cold turkey (no medication) then wiv Subutex (an opiate substitue/blocker in pill form). Then one day I tried methadone, which basically enabled me to start working again, meet another girl whi I'm with now, and happy, and generally get me life back on track. But I still use H, but I work full time, in a skilled and physical job I love, and can support my habit financially as well as pay rent, bills etc, and live a fairly normal life (barring the constant constipation, dodgy stomach, ability to sleep literally whenever I want for as long as I want (which is quite cool!), sleep apnea, addiction to sugar, hassle of daily pharmacy visits, hassle when travelling abroad, needing to lie to employers and associates etc..
IMO most of the problems with being a heroin addict come from its legal status; if it were legalised/prescribed to addicts, it would:
Take money out of the hands of illegal gangs and organisation
Stop funding the Taliban in Afghanistan
Stop the spread of diseases like Hepatitis C and HIV through sharing needles
Hugely reduce the number of fatal deaths due to overdose (users could know purity)
Reduce the number of women forced into prostitution to fund theyre habit
Massively reduce crime, such as burglary, theft, motor theft, muggings etc
Generate a LOT of money through tax
Save A LOT of police time and money, and allow them to focus more on real crims like rapists
Free up prison space, therfore more money saved
Greatly reduce the number of new addicts taking the drug up, including children (if it was only available on prescription there wouldnt be many people selling illegally, therfore it would be a lot harder to buy)
Free up prison space
Greatly improve the lives of Britain's 300,000 addicts, many of whom simply made a mistake and must spend the rest of their lives paying for it, and many of whom are totally normal, decent honest people who could be leading valuable lives and giving as much to society as any other member.
Im sure theres more. Sorry for the long answer but I thought it was a good question and Im glad to change someone's view of H addicts. Up until I found this thread I too didnt know how many sound, wicked, honest normal people there were who were heroin users, we aint all granny robbing nutters who'd kill their own mum for a bag!!
BUT heroin, largely due to the legislation, is definitely NOT a good lifestyle choice! If I thought it would be easy to dabble and not have a chance of gettin hooked I might recommend it, but to be honest there arent that many recreational users that I know of, maybe Im wrong