I should probably use a throwaway, but I won't.

I'm an addict. I was a functional addict, for many years. When I retired, I no longer needed to be functional. Things went downhill quickly. Today, I am on Suboxone. It reduces the harmful behavior.

I tell you that as a way to share that I have some experience.

Anyhow, it was in the early-to-mid 70s when I first started. My first exposure was to codeine and morphine. Those were relatively easy to get. There just weren't a lot of people trying to get them.

Later, I'd relocate and heroin became easier to get. I'd sobered up in the Marines, mostly. But I'd still 'chip' and sometimes get morphine from legitimate sources. Off-base, heroin was pretty easy to get. It was, at that point, largely a drug used in the black communities.

To pay to survive through grad school, I'd return to the military. Again, I'd sober up a bit and sometimes chip, but drug testing was becoming more popular.

I'd get out, finish grad school, and continually using. I was the very definition of functional addict and did quite well for myself. I was always able to provide for my family and never had to beg, borrow, or steal my fix.

Then, the 90s came. Oh, we addicts were in heaven. They were throwing oxy out like candy, to anyone who asked. The prices were so cheap. The street price for an oxy 80 was $5. It was less if you bought in bulk.

It stayed like this for a while. It was like manna from heaven. Nobody used that wasn't already using, and the patients too which they were prescribed. It was not all that bad.

Sometime in the mid-2000s is when it all changed. You could tell that it changed, because the prices for that oxy 80 went from $5 to $80. You can expect to pay $120 for it, today.

I'm not going to speculate about what prompted the change. I'm simply giving a timeline of events.

Now, these prices coincided with the start of them really cracking down on prescriptions being diverted. It is also when I noticed the color of the heroin users skin changing. It was being consumed in the white communities, more and more.

The prescription drugs were, if nothing else, usually not counterfeit and consistent dosages. But, heroin was cheaper and, compared to some opiates, stronger. So, people did the natural thing and switched to heroin.

I'd also notice a lot more folks buying insulin needles. People were junking out all over the place. These people were probably popping pills or snorting pills, just a few years before.

Me? I'd move to fentanyl. I found a reliable source, learned to extract the drug, and would IV it. I can't complain, I had a good time.

Anyhow, part of the trouble comes from the crackdown on consistent quality and dosaged drugs. It's comfortable to place the blame on the pharmaceutical companies, but I think a larger discussion should be had about the right to ingest drugs of your choosing. People are going to do drugs. It seems better to minimize the harm than it does to push the uses into engaging in riskier activities.

Prohibition is woefully ineffective. We have a drug problem because it's not difficult to get drugs. It never will be difficult to get drugs.

Anyhow, there's some timeline and info. If you want to understand addiction, try this: I switched to fentanyl, straight, because I learned that was what was in the dope and was killing people. My thought was that I had to get some of that. And, to be honest, it's pretty damned powerful stuff. It will knock your dick in the dirt and make you feel like you're being embraced in a loving hug.

I'm not really sure what my point is. I mostly wanted to share a bit of the timeline, as I experienced it. I don't mind posting this attached to my username.