Comments on: William Burroughs and the History of Heroin

By: Rich

Rich — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 16:16:32 +0000

One thing not really mentioned here: Burroughs had the safety net of a generous trust fund! This enabled him to thoroughly explore every avenue of hard drug lifestyle without risking the point of no return: being on the streets, starving.
Unfortunately so many people romanticised his lifestyle and wandered into it themselves, without having that financial lifeline. I bet most of them didn’t live into their eighties.

By: LEIGH

LEIGH — Sun, 30 Apr 2023 01:49:16 +0000

Burroughs probably had depression or anxiety. He was a visionary in terms of gender politics around the use of the term queer its now standard language to describe so much diversity.
I think the term once a junkie was Burroughs just pointing out how hard it is to kick heroin. There is some evidence to say that some brain changes occur for addicts and that the process of breaking the addiction is years long. Lets not forget the addiction to pain and the needle ….its an addictive process that is reinforced by the receptors in the brain.
Methadone was a lesser evil but I believe its success was questionable. Subozone probably with nalozone is probably a better choice.
Lastly the money and the crime is a criminal act of successive governments in affluent nations. We all know the furphy that is life and Burroughs was honest about that lie!

By: Guy

Guy — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 03:50:51 +0000

Interesting read, thank you. I’ve always had an interest in William Burroughs. Although I found his books mostly unreadable the interest comes from his heroin addiction.
I shot heroin on and off for 30 years. The last 12 years was every day. The only time I didn’t use was when I was locked up. That’s the only way I could kick, you had to lock me in a cage.
I kicked 80 mg of methadone along with a couple gram and day habit cold at CIM, better known as Chino. I didn’t sleep for 16 days. Believe me, death looked warm and inviting.
I got clean and sober through the 12 steps of AA in 2002. I have been able to maintain that recovery for a little over 20 years.

Burroughs was fascinating and I still love to read about him. Thanks again.
One last thing, heroin is pure euphoria, heaven on earth. Until it isn’t.

By: Daurade

Daurade — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 13:34:44 +0000

I think Harris cites someone who viewed Burroughs’ addiction in the light of it giving him something to do. Making appointments, having a purpose, filling his days. Anyone recall that?

I don’t think it’s at all a ridiculous notion, I’ve thought the same thing many times. It also hints at the idea that addiction isn’t an illness or a moral failure bit has many “social” components: isolation, boredom, lack of purpose, etc. Whenever my addiction flares up and gets bad it’s along these lines…last bad period was during the Covid lockdowns.

I’m not married to these ideas and I know they’re not very developed, just some random thoughts I had.

Context: alky for 30 years and one an off h in a big way for 13. Before then it was time to time and very irregular….

By: Andreas Tangen

Andreas Tangen — Wed, 03 Aug 2022 10:12:42 +0000

So many misconceptions in these comments. Firstly, a junkie is not always a junkie. Once you no longer wake up in the morning worrying where you’re gonna get your drugs from, you’re not a drug addict. When I quit a 20 year habit I could watch people shooting up and it didn’t bother me at all. I didn’t want to take drugs any more. I wasn’t an addict. It’s that simple.
Secondly, whilst methadone withdrawals are the worst of all opiate withdrawls (though not nearly as bad as benzo or alcohol withdrawal), there are numerous drugs which can get you off any habit in a matter of days.
I was taking 150ml of I/V methadone (not something that has ever been prescribed in the US) and was well, ecstatic even, within 4 days. The magical treatment is lofexidine, the only treatment for opiate addiction that isn’t simply a replacement opiate.
Despite being created in the UK (its tradename was ‘Britlofex’) when it lost its exclusive license the small pharmaceutical company that made it went bankrupt, such that the UK is now almost the only country in the world where it is now not available. In the States it is called Lucemyra, but probably costs about 10 grand a course knowing their system.
You can even come off methadone using pregabalin. The idea that methadone or heroin are difficult to come off is simply no longer the case.
Just find a doctor who knows what he’s talking about.

By: James Ward

James Ward — Sun, 22 Nov 2020 11:35:37 +0000

If you withdraw from methadone, it must be very gradual, and you need some determination to take the last step, notwithstanding that by that time the so called ‘glow’ is a distant memory. But it can certainly be done. Burroughs once said that, as a writer, he never regretted his experiences with junk. I first encountered his name in a review except on the back of a paperback copy of Castaneda’s first book, back in the mid seventies, in a list including Huxley, Michaux, et al. I think it actually enriches understanding to have these experiences.. but that is true of experience in general.. There is a price!

By: Tintilinitch

Tintilinitch — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 04:36:56 +0000

I don’t know why I have to leave a mark here, but I got nothing left to do after 72 hour amphetamine marathone I guess. The sleepless rush run which I didn’t indulge for awhile now, let’s say few years, is just about to end. With some dope. That, I do indulge. On regular basis.
I have to say though, I was on a methadone programme and I hated it, maybe because I abused it to the furthest reaches of mental and physicall junk sickness. I got on it just because I couldn’t cope with day to day obtain-the-junk fight and it is free. Also, I was getting my share once a week. But, I was mainlining it, and it almost completely destroyed me. I got out by going to a rehab known as a commune in Europe. Ad, it is true – that is the worst junk kicking one can go thru – a month of madness, hallucinations, and real danger of an epileptic seasure if one’s not careful and drop from very high dosages to nothing.
The dope I’m about to use will be about half of my daily habit since speed keeps my junk sickness at bay. Just to smooth the edges. I am smoking or snorting it. I haven’t been shooting for years now, not for any ‘health reasons’, or morals- but rather issues. For a decade now I couldn’t find a worthy vessel to save my life – maybe onece or twice a month and my body would rebel and kick the shit out of me from inside – mentally as well as physically.
I got back to junk but after the methadone fiasco – I never upscaled my dependence to levels I was at before, those that brought me to the ‘methadone decision’. I use a really small amount daily – varying from qurter to half a gram.
And I live a pretty normal life, as any methadone patient, but with a big difference – I do a clean week every now and then, every 2 months or so. Finished one about 10 days ago.
We’re in the middle of a panndemic crisis of global proportions – corona virus, or COVID-19, and I’m sure Bill would love to have witnessed this as he was a ‘global pandemic senario buff’… been writing this comment to long now – I have a 12 hour taxi ride to do and it starts in about 3 hours.
I am the driver.
I’m 42-

By: MDawg

MDawg — Sun, 17 Nov 2019 14:28:18 +0000

WSB was not a typical junkie. A white, educated published writer coming from a wealthy family with well-to-do friends he was able to support his addiction throughout his life without resorting to the usual criminal activities that take most addicts down. As such his story is atypical and not representative of the horrors that befall most junkies.

By: Seppo Koivula

Seppo Koivula — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 09:15:17 +0000

Really good read, again…. This Reality Studio is indispensable place! I have to read that Eric Schneider book you mentioned, which is about USA cities and smack. I’m European and schooled of the realm in this side of the pond only. Burroughs’ books I know quite well though.

By: MDawg

MDawg — Fri, 08 Feb 2019 12:52:04 +0000

I’ve always loved Junky. Less so Naked Lunch and even less so his other works. Still I am a Burroughs fan. I’ll read Junky about biannually and have most of its key passages memorized. It’s a masterfully wonderful work of distilled yet colorful expression.

I was a heroin and cocaine user on and off for about five years in my life otherwise been entirely clean and sober. My speedball use is perhaps part of why I like reading Burroughs but his writing is the real reason.