Oh, I understand. I am very much aware of language, the language I use, how it can be perceived and how it can have long term effects on people. Firstly, I said I call myself a junkie, not that I define myself as such nor reduce myself to. My handle is hating this life bc I hate vacillating between being dope sick and well. It sucks and getting addicted to heroin was the worst, stupidest thing I ever did to myself. I have plenty of interests and skills outside of drugs and Im not "in the streets" either. I work hard everyday to support not just my addiction but my family as well. I'm a Quality Engineer in the Aerospace and Defense field and work on military, defense and space contracts for complex, fabricated metallic assemblies. My coworkers would never believe I'm a heroin addict. You are 100% correct when you say its all about perception, clearly your perception of the definition of a junkie and mine are completely different. When I use junkie as an adjective it is meant as the pure dictionary definition, a drug addict, a person with a compulsive habit or obsessive dependency on something. If you are involved in harm reduction, perhaps you can forward the idea that the word junkie does not have to have a negative connotation. Obviously Im not going to say a guy with an addiction to crack and heroin as described by the DSM hit my cousin over the head with a wrench.
As for gangbanger, I understand how it is used as a racist term. Racist people are constantly referring to every non-white person, especially those that live in poorer, urban areas, as gangbangers. In this situation I also meant the pure dictionary definition of the word, these are literal gang members who proudly represent that fact.
PCP is a hell of a drug and Camden can be a very very dangerous city if you are a person with an addiction as defined by the DSM and exhibiting drug seeking behavior. It can also be an extremely dangerous city if you are a gang member. I would not recommemd going to Camden to look for PCP!