Junior was married and had three children. As his drug problem worsened, he separated from his family. ibid. caption
‘Tell him [son] you’re sick, please.’ ibid. mother of children
Six months later Junior’s drug habit is $200 a day. He gets caught robbing a grocery store. ibid. caption
Junior’s lawyer discusses a plea bargain that would send Junior to jail for about three years. Junior is sentenced to two years. They only way he can avoid serving jail time is to be accepted by a drug rehabilitation program. Junior is released from jail to attend the DAYTOP VILLAGE rehabilitation program. ibid.
‘Why couldn’t you walk away?’ ibid. drugs counselor
Two weeks later, Junior runs away from the treatment program. Back in the Bronx, he resumes the life of an addict. He is caught robbing a store and spends three years in jail. ibid. caption
In 1983 Junior is released from jail. He goes right back to the South Bronx. We spend two months looking for Junior. ibid.
‘You don’t have to live like this, Junior.’ ibid. girlfriend
In Pakistan it is cheaper to buy a kilo of heroin than food. The country is infamous as a major transit point for heroin and cannabis from neighbouring Afghanistan to the rest of the world. But it is fighting its own battle with addiction. Drugged Up Pakistan: A Billion Dollar Narcotics Trade: 101 East, Al Jazeera 2014
Pakistan is in the grip of a raging drug epidemic … It’s a deadly scourge that has now infiltrated every class and every age group. Drugs are cheap and easily available and they are destroying countless lives. ibid.
Parts of Karachi have been overtaken by gang violence and narcotics abuse. Addicts are sprawled on street corners and roads across the city. ibid.
Welcome to the United States of Addiction: we want everything big, we want everything now, and we don’t want to work for it. Prescription Thugs, Netflix 2015
People were dying from prescription drugs ... Doctors are starting to look like drug pushers; and if they are the dealers, what does that make us? ibid.
We consume 75% of the world’s drugs. ibid.
Are we just a nation of prescription thugs? ibid.
Mad Dog’s [Mike Bell] addiction began in wrestling. ibid.
‘These doctors are profiting from keeping you sick.’ ibid. addiction counsellor
One in every ten Americans are on anti-depressants. ibid.
‘There’s too much money to be made.’ Our World: America’s Opioid Crisis, critic, BBC 2019
‘When they first entered life, your first breath of air came along with withdrawal symptoms.’ ibid. addict
‘There is no other medication that kills so many people as opioids. ibid. critic
One in eight children in America live with a parent who suffers from a substance use disorder. And they all have secrets they need to share. ibid.
Every eleven minutes someone dies of a heart atttack. ibid.
America’s greatest health crisis. 80% of heroin users started their path to addiction on prescription painkillers. And now pharmaceutical companies have been blamed for igniting this epidemic. ibid.
It was in the 1990s that this opioid epidemic began. ibid.
It was Purdue Pharma, with their painkiller Oxycontin, that revolutionised how they were marketed. ibid.
Perdue Pharma has earned more than $35 billion from Oxycontin sales. The company is wholly owned by the Sacklers. In 2016 the family’s net worth was $13 billion. ibid.
He [Henry] refuses to join the rat race – he drinks and he wakes. Barfly 1987 starring Mickey Rourke & Faye Dunaway & Alice Krige & J C Quinn & Frank Stallone & Jack Nance & Sandy Martin et al, director Barbet Schroeder, barman
No-one in this neighbourhood can swallow paste like I can. ibid. old bird in bar
Bloke in bar: What do you drink?
Henry: Almost everything. ibid.
Some people never go crazy; what truly horrible lives they must live. ibid. Henry
Your mother’s cunt stinks like carpet cleaner. ibid. Henry to Eddie
What do you think I am? A bum? ibid. Henry
I can’t stand people. I hate them. ibid. Wanda
Henry: What do you do?
Wanda: I drink. ibid.
Don’t worry, nobody’s ever loved me yet. ibid. Henry
Nothing ever works right in this life. ibid. Wanda
We’re all in some kind of hell. ibid.
To the working class. To us. ibid. Henry’s toast
This is a world where everybody’s got to do something. ibid. Henry
Hatred – the only thing that lasts. ibid.
Anybody can be a non-drunk, but it takes a special talent to be a drunk. ibid.
Nobody suffers like the poor. ibid.
You hired a Dick to find an asshole. ibid.
To all my friends. ibid. Rourke’s toast
For some people the line between the life you log on to and reality are increasingly blurred. One couple in Korea live their virtual lives at the cost of their real lives … Love Child, television news, 2014
The only crime of its nature in which a child [Sarang] had died as an indirect result of internet gaming. ibid. Andrew Salmon re South Korean case
The genius of online gaming is that you can connect to thousands of players at the same time in the same internet space. ibid.
Just before the turn of the millennium, [South] Korea to the astonishment of the world found itself with probably the finest internet infrastructure on the planet. ibid.
The couple sold their virtual money to those who wanted to buy game items without investing the time it takes to earn them. Some call it Gold Farming, and as far as I could tell, this was the only way the couple earned income. ibid. reporter
Korea’s MMORPG games today enable users to decorate their avatars by charging the game cash, so called ‘game avatars’. ibid. young player
They would come in [Internet Bang] after dinner and play all night. They were so happy lost in this game together. ibid. reporter
They [parents of baby] had clearly fallen through the cracks of society. Rather a sad couple. They were unaware of what they had been doing. They had no information about raising children. ibid. Andrew Salmon
For some people who suffer from boredom, lose vigor, become depressed, video games provide the only comfort. They play games because they have nothing else to do. They barely eat and barely go out. They become like a hermit. ibid. psychiatrist
There is still controversy around whether the [South Korean] Law should include ‘online addiction’ in the category of mentally and physically ill. ibid. defence dude
She secretly game birth to a baby in the PC Bang toilet stall and suffocated the baby with the plastic bag. She was addicted to online gaming and roamed around the PC bang homeless. She started having contractions and went to the public restroom to give birth to a child. ibid. captions
The judge in the case accepted a psychological evaluation alleging they were addicted to online gaming. ibid. defence dude
It’s a basic responsibility as a human to feed a baby. It’s not something to be taught. ibid. rozzer
In a final twist to this story, the wife of the couple is now pregnant with a second child. ibid. Andrew Salmon in court
Sarang’s father was sentenced to one year in prison. Sarang’s mother served no time. ibid. captions
The parents are deeply sorry for their actions and are seeking redemption. ibid. defence dude
50% of the women that arrive we need to put on to a health care unit because of addiction. Inside Holloway: Women Behind Bars, Channel 5 2020
I do it because I remember that this didn’t exist before. So, my kids, we gladly bring these to all of you. The Trade s1e1, gangsta with toys, Showtime 2020
I’ve never seen this kind of epidemic before. We’re seeing folks that are struggling across the border in Mexico who would love to have that American dream, and they see what the drug trade has to offer – thousands of dollars a day, and that thirst takes over. ibid. border officer