John Thornton wrote:
>
>
> Getting away from other addicts is usually necessary for success in kicking
> but I don't get the other reference. Addicts talk of mostly drugs? There
> are millions of socially functional addicts worldwide who rarely, if ever,
> discuss their addictions. We aren't talking shooting gallery folks but just
> regular run of the mill addicts. Did Rush mention his addiction constantly
> to the ESPN crew? I doubt it. His OxyContin addiction is, in all
> probability, just like most peoples opiate addictions.
If one merely does the simple arithmetic in one's head, it becomes so obvious that an overwhelming proportion of addicts (whatever the drug) are, as you say, "just regular run of the mill" people. Some years ago Forbes magazine listed a couple of the Colombian drug kings (now deceased) as among the world's richest persons. If you add up what they top men get, plus the enormous overhead (bribing officials, etc.), and all the profits along the way from the retail dealer on up, it is pretty obvious that all that money does not come from the kind of addict you can recognize as you walk down the street. A large number, a _really_ large number, of users must be men and women with substantial (and continuing) incomes. And substantial and continuing incomes do not flow to those who "look like druggies."
Carrol