In preparing the syllabus for my graduate seminar on the drug war, I came across the following from the BBC: When heroin was legal. It seemed worth posting given the comment thread in my post from the other day (War on Drugs Reconsidered).
My wife’s grandmother–incidentally, wife of the Commandant of the USMC–was a life-long heroin addict. She became addicted back when it was legal and continued with her MDs supplying her habit until she died at age 87 in the early 1960s. She was fully functional–though a bit of a hypocondriac–for some 60 years, with a heavy social schedule, typical for the wives of senior military officers in the 30s & 40s.
A habit, plus a reliable supply doesn’t lead to serious problems, usually.
