By Amy N.

One of the greatest misconceptions today is that all drug users are poor, uneducated, and unemployed people that come from broken homes with no values, morals, or ambitions. I’d like to paint ya a different and more realistic picture.

At the age of thirteen I did my first shot of heroin. Three years later I began to sell it. For the last 11 year I’ve been using and selling heroine.

From the sale of heroine, I gained a five-bedroom house, two cars, a small business, and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Today I’m twenty-four years old and I’ve spent the last two years in prison. All I had was either confiscated by various authorities or sold to pay for my legal fees. Not only did I lose all I had to defense lawyers and the government, but I also lost things much more valuable. I lost my freedom, my self-respect, and my basic civil rights.

Was it worth it? No. There are just some things that can’t be replaced and time is one of them.

I’ve dealt with enough drug users to know that the stereotype given to them is all wrong and very misleading. On any given day of the week, I’ve sold to more wealthy professionals than I did to your so-called average drug user. I’ll further this point by letting ya in on a normal day for me making my rounds.

My day started at 5 am. I’d wake-up to a knock on my door. I’d open the door without even looking to see who it is because I already know. Sam and his fiancée Julie have just completed a night at the hospital where they’re doing their internship. They are both medical students and attend a respectable university in town. I see them every day at this time.

After they leave, I hurry to get ready for the day. I have to be down town in 45 minutes. Jason will be just arriving at work. He’s worked for the district attorney’s office for about 5 years now. Jason’s been married for 7 years and has 2 kids. He also has a $200 a day heroin habit.

I make my sell and head down to my regular place for breakfast. In the two hours I spend in the restaurant eating and studying, I’ll sell to five more people; a customer service representative for a major department store, the owner of a local sports bar, a sub-contractor for an electric company, a software designer, and a lawyer. All on their way to work they’ll stop in to see me.

It’s now time for me to get to school. I’m working towards a degree for chemical engineering at the university. During the 7 hours I spend at school I’ll sell to many different college students and one math professor.

Once I leave school, I’ll have to go meet with my supplier to give him his money and get more dope. Allen is married and has a little boy. He works for a pharmaceutical company and his wife is an accountant. They, like me, have an expensive heroin and coke habits that keep them constantly working to keep their lives together. That’s the common thread I share with all these people. We’re normal, functioning drug addicts.

In 2 hours I’ll drive down to the beach to meet with Maria. She’s a successful investment banker who deals in real estate. I’ll only make this drive once a week so I don’t mind it. Maria has enough money to get all the dope she needs in a week at one time.

It’s now almost 8 pm and the end of my business day. I do not waste any of my time selling to the unemployed criminals and kids around the city. They just don’t have enough money to keep me in business. Billions of dollars a year are spent on drugs in America. The uneducated, unemployed, stereotypical drug user just doesn’t have enough money to keep the illegal drug industry going.

So you thought you knew who all the addicts are, but now you really know. Maybe next time you wont be so quick to fall in with what society has made people believe about this nations drug users.