[Carry me back]

Yep, it never ends pretty. Unless they get off the drug, it ends up killing them. Heroin the worst, because it slows your heart rate. So it’s just a matter of time before they re in the morgue.

[binreadin]

When I lived in a large city years ago I made the acquaintance of a lot of young drug addicts—may of them suburban kids with well-off parents, and I'm talking meth and heroin here. The sad thing is that most of them hated their lives and wanted to quit but couldn't afford rehab. Many of them ended up in prison, then went right back to drugs after they got out because they couldn't find a job or anywhere to live after a felony conviction. Many of them died of gunshot wounds or overdoses.

Methadone clinics can be a lifesaver, if you can get to them regularly and if you can afford the dose (about $11 a day). I'd like to see an option for mandatory in-patient treatment for a year for addicts that get caught and taken to court, without a felony conviction at the end of it for first time offenders. That would include the lower-level drug dealers, as many of them are addicts who sell in order to support their habits, rather than rob others.