Junkie author William S. Burroughs on heroin addiction: CBC Archives | CBC
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- Опубліковано 4 гру 2012
- In this clip from 1977, the renowned William S. Burroughs, the author of 'Naked Lunch' and 'Junkie', talks about his addiction to heroin. He says it didn't cause any real damage to his health and he has no regrets. For more classic clips, go to www.cbc.ca/archives
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Junkie author William S. Burroughs on heroin addiction: CBC Archives | CBC
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I came home from Vietnam addicted to heroin....I was a functioning junky for 16 years. I put a lot of $$ into my arm back then. The VA gave me methadone for 4 years until I finally decided to got to the mountains and stay with a childhood friend who also an ex junky. He helped me kick the junk cold turkey. Proud to say I've been clean 40 years.
Congratulations!
Thank you for sharing your story Ron. Was on heroin and methadone for 12 years or so myself. I hope you are doing well and sending you much respect and best wishes from 🇮🇪
Congratulations and thank you for your service sir!
Congrats. That was a true friend.
Dude that’s an old wives tale. This same story is in “A Thousand Junkies.”
The happy days when one could be politely interviewed on a controversial topic and be allowed to speak candidly without being attacked or ridiculed.
Or totally canceled!
I beg your pardon but the interviewer here was clearly in accusatory mode. He clearly had an “already convicted” attitude that backed Burroughs into a somewhat defensive posture. This was NOT an open, interested exploration about heroin, but a kind of “contempt prior to investigation” that riddles popular belief.
@@laurencegoldman4639 Even his "civility" itself had a somewhat snide undertone. You can definitely "politely" disregard ideas and information offhand.
@The Sexecutioner bath salts and rubbing alcohol?
@The Sexecutioner Haha...it has the most influence, but it doesn't rule the world.
Could we please have TV shows like this again? Not everything has to be dumbed down to the level of The Jerry Springer Show.
@@pashadyne he means like having intellectual conversations, all the late night shows nowadays come out with questions like "Is it true you ate ice cream for breakfast once?" Nothing like this on TV nowadays
@@pashadyne i was kind of expecting a response to my question
no, people are dumber now
I guess we have Joe Rogan and other long form podcasts.
no. the agenda requires society to degenerate.
Burroughs straight up laughing at the host when he said "Bit it's done damage to your SOUL" is giving me life lol
Yeah, superb moment.
Burroughs was really into the occult and other religions. He wouldn't rubbish the idea of souls. When the interviewer asked him, he blew through his lips before laughing as if to say "man - you have no idea what junk did to me".
At least, that's my take away.
It hit a chord
The host was right.
That host was a chain smoker too. One of the only times I didn't see Peter without a cigarette.
They never do intelligent interviews on talk shows like this anymore. The questions and answers are consice, serious and thought out.
now it is all about, such conversation will take your attention from all the advertisment shows are for these days
hey brian there aint no life nowhere
Yeah it's usually just some emotion-based state propaganda nowadays.
Charlie Rose does this style of interview for PBS
Now you get Jimmy Fallon playing charades with some celebrity. Stephen Colbert has his moments though..
6 weeks clean
How’s it going?
Mate it’ s so hard but keep going. I found the clear pristine reality of life after drugs was a coming back home. Please please keep going. Mark. X
i’m 6 weeks on sunday dawg keep it up
Hope you are doing well. If no one else there are strangers on the internet happy for you. :)
Congratulations!
What he said about junkies taking a bath is absolutely 100% true. Even now that I'm on methadone and no longer using heroin I'm still on an opiate so a lot of the old side effects are still there. It takes everything in me to shower because I can't stand the way it feels on my skin when I'm wet. I never understood why until this interview. I thought it was just depression but I know a lot of depressed people that shower and do makeup everyday. This man has given me so much insight into my self and we've never met. It's amazing being able to connect with someone on such a deep level like that.
I thought that part was weird & was sure he was gonna say it was just a stereotype. I loved showering while on heroin/opiates. In fact I was way more active while using them & had more motivation to get things done.
Now during withdrawal, yes, I wouldn't shower. But that's because in withdrawal or when fiending, I simply did not have the energy & motivation to pick myself up & do it. However, when I had my drugs, I took care of myself & better.
I never had that issue. Didn't shower when I was dope sick, but was fine if I was well and was fine when I was on MOUD.
Only true on methadone/withdrawal.
@@kpatters78 when I was withdrawing I would lay in the bathtub switching the water from hot to cold, i showered and changed frequently due to sweat, when I was using I didn't care about anything especially washing my hair and sometimes showing. It's weird
Same!!! I was blown away the first time I read junkie how much I could relate to an old time junkie someone so far removed from my era and the more things change the more they stay the same it seems!
I had no idea what real addiction was until this took over my life. Most people would never dream of doing heroin or any drug for that matter, and that's good. But there are people like me that couldn't die without finding out what it was like. It's great at first, then the greatness doesn't come anymore. You end up doing it so you don't get sick. And the sickness I'm talking about is no regular sickness. Words can't describe the pain. You will do anything to avoid the sickness. Those were the darkest times of my life.
hope ure doin well
Thank you. I'm well.
Keep doing well. Do you still get seduced by the wicked mistress from time to time? I hear she's beautiful from afar, but up close riddled in grotesque scars.
what wait was someone in an accident
Dustin 3423 me too bro and much of the darkness remains after all these years, best wishes and stay clean!
Of course its all about William Burroughs, but its great how Peter Gzowski mostly lets him talk and asks the questions his audience wanted to ask themselves.
I had an eating disorder for ten years and tore through therapists without taking any of their help on board. My fourth therapist was a drug and alcohol addiction counsellor in a men’s prison before The Priory where I saw him. He taught me that an eating disorder is an addiction and the road to recovery is by following the recovery route for any addiction. I finally started to make progress. I am an addict. I am in recovery. I can always relapse. Tomorrow I could relapse. I hope tomorrow I will continue in my recovery. Sending peace and love to all those on this harshly travelled road
I wish you continuing success! May I ask though - what is the 'recovery route'?
You are beautiful. You have a lot to live for.
Stay strong Scarlett
I'm coming to believe that a lot of psychological issues people have tend to be a lot like or even just the same as an addiction.
Choosing to be weird about food is nothing at all like being legitimately addicted to something
Although Naked Lunch is often the most discussed, Junkie is also a fantastic book and is quintessential to an understanding of the Beats.
I could not get Naked Lunch but I am interested in reading Junkie.
Read it. It's spare, realistic, riveting. And a short novel for younger people who won't read long novels
yes, he was a Beat, older than Kerouac Ginsberg, Casady.
@@mikeberry2332once you understand what was going on in his life at the time ‘Naked Lunch’ was assembled, you’ll be able to better enjoy it. With proper context, I should’ve said. ‘Junky’ is more autobiographical and definitely more straightforward and digestible. There’s a few mini documentaries on UA-cam about William S Burroughs. Check those out before you start and I think you’ll better appreciate the style of his writing. *and another rabbit hole to journey into AFTER all that: check out William S Burroughs and Brion Gysin, if you REALLY want to get right. Godspeed to you, child.
I know the subject is about Burroughs but man, do I ever miss Peter Gzowski; one of the greatest broadcasters and interviewers of all-time. RIP
Oh Canada - that's why it is a civilized interview - Canadians are cool!
In the diary he kept in the last year of his life "Last Words", WSB with takes brief aim at himself and admitted he was never really off. Even when he wasn't using heroin he was imbibing on codeine or paregoric...So, his statement in JUNKY, "Once an adddict always an addict" holds true. It has certainly held true for me and every fellow addict of my acquaintance.
he was on methadone till he died i beleive
@@randomviewer2319 Yes...in 1980 in what was described as "A Tsunami of smack that hit New York City", Uncle Bill relapsed and was heavily addicted. Not since Tangier with Eukodol had Burroughs been so obliged to "the Chinaman" as he and the old timers called it. So Burroughs went on Methadone approximately 1981 and, as you said, was on methadone maintenance (like many of us have) until his death in August '97.
I have been in active addiction for close to 30 yrs no major health issues
@@josephsmith6777 Hey joseph. You got about 8 years on me. I also have been fortunate. In "JUNKY" Burroughs writes that the general health of most addicts is fine and many addicts lead long and productive lives. In "Drugstore Cowboy" as father Tom Murphy, Uncle Bill says it best: "The idea that anyone can use drugs and escape a horrible fate, is anathema to these idiots."
Peace and Stay Well.
@@1060michaelg ya its not the junk its the lack of it and dirty supply thats tge actual issue ive been forced to use fent for last cpl yrs its strong sure but no legs no "good smack" its all wham bam ty mam shame really but hey man stay safe out there and take care of urself
The reason these type of interviews no longer exist is because there is truth to them and if it’s one thing that the big corporations can’t stand is, it’s the truth.
You nailed it!
I hate corporations as much as the next guy, but WB is flat out wrong or lying about being "cured" of addiction. He was back on heroin not long after this period and pretty much used for the remainder of his life. And contrary to what he says, heroin junkies aren't generally take-it-or-leave-it types as he suggests.
Burroughs was lying through the whole interview though lol
@@forrestrichard8133 dude literally has junky voice in this interview
Joe Silva ..... Exactly right man!!
Lots of people die because they're kept on their own. Dying of loneliness, because other people did not care. Drugs just play the side gig. We destroy more on a psychologic basis by denial of love. We only want to blame the drugs because it's an inconvenient truth.
+mizzomiz Quite profound.Yes i've known people that that would apply to.I haven't thought of it that way but i think your right.
Sadly,you are very right. The very nature of drug addiction is that of extreme loneliness and isolation,which leads to sorrow and a crushed spirit. Really, who wants to be around a junkie?
Lots of people want to be around Junkies, I'm much more fun when i'm on drugs, or at least in my mind :)
Do Bo Well, that might be true. My question, though...what the hell IS a loser? Just basing this solely off this one comment, I think YOU might be a loser (you also might be greay. I've no REAL way of knowing). It's a very subjective term that means nothing, really. Boiled down, a loser is someone that you personally don't like for whatever reason. I might love the person, though. So who is right here? People care so much more than they should about things like this.
True... that who is and isn't a looser is in the eye of the beholder
I agree with most of what he is saying. After over 25yrs off heroin, I had minor surgery & took pain pills with no problem. It's nice that we could have polite discussions like this. I miss those days.😢
Opiates are little less addictive then cigs. If u can quit cigs u can quit any drug
He has the most noticeable iconic voice ever .
It’s where the voice of Dale Gribble from King of the Hill came from. Seriously.
Sounds like a cross between WC Fields and Wm. Buckley.
Its definitely an opiate addict voice
methadone moan
Smack voice
Do you remember Burrows in Drugstore Cowboy? He was amazing.
The drugs may not kill you but the lifestyle sure as hell can. Car wrecks, gun shots, stabbings, assaults etc etc etc. Bad stuff.
Yes! If it wasn't the fact that drugs like heroin or cocaine are illegal, there would be atleast tens of thousands (maybe hundreds of thousands +) less deaths every year around the world. Everything from the black marketers at the source murdering each other over greed to the addict on the street buying a product that has a different purity to what he is used overdosing in the gutter. The war on drugs costs so much money and lives to the general population that the government's of the world couldn't legalise it because they make a fortune themselves, and it makes too much revenue for them fighting the problem than it would by legalising it.
@Auspician just like Alcohol prohibition in the American 1920's and 30's. All that did was create organised criminals and make them rich and powerful. They made fortunes which funded greater crimes when prohibition stopped. Do you think the American Italian mafia would have got so powerful if prohibition didn't happen? I don't think so, or atleast they wouldn't have got so powerful so quickly.
The Governments are the suppliers of drugs and the street guys sell it and do the prison term whilst the Government creams the profits
@@carolynmurphy3697 You are dumb as a rock if you believe that. And no doubt a liberal.
Yes, those with access to clean medical grade heroin (i.e. doctors and big time musicians/actors etc) can go on using almost forever so long as they can continue to afford it. The life style kills you if you’re just a poor average Joe Schlub who can’t afford good heroin, you end up buying low grade crap from other junkies just higher in the chain, cut multiple times with various substances, then eventually a new more powerful heroin comes on the market that is less diluted and you overdose cos you’re not used to it. You have to beg/borrow/steal to afford your junk, you lose everything, you get desperate, you live in squalor and often end up in prison.
Alan Arkins character in Little Miss Sunshine has it right. Pick up a habit when your in your 70s. Why not? You're near the end anyway so enjoy yourself.
totally + you'll need a lil somethin somethin to take away all the joint pain and other gnarly aging side effects
Because it seperates you from God
@@maggiemae7539 praise be !!!
I couldn't imagine scoring gear at 70 and dealing with dope sickness at that age sounds horrible.
It's bad enough now ffs.
@@maggiemae7539 Is that good or bad?
I wish tv was still this interesting and intelligent. I miss the 70s.
I am a Junkie. Not a using junkie but one probably until I die. I make money now, due to a reintegration back into society, much more than I have ever had before. I do not buy junk with this money; I pay my mortgage, pay the bills, take care of my son, etc. I still have disposable income after all responsibilities are satisfied. The addiction is so ingrained that I don't even know what to do with extra money. I'm not a materialistic person, I am a hedonist. So basically when I have extra money I will have a hundred dollar lunch (by myself), it doesn't even come close to the opiate high. It's a far away second. I love my son though so I keep on trucking because it is no longer about me. However, I will always think like a junkie and therefore will always be a junkie.
i found that the best feeling i could get as close to shooting up anyways, was to do something for someone else. Maybe by someone's food either at a restraunt or store, or take a family member out to do something. idk i just enjoy giving
A great comment, Jeanette. Thank you. You are obviously an intelligent person and a loving parent. Merry Christmas.
For what it's worth I found your response tremendously interesting. I love it when people are honest about the exact effect things like opiate addiction have in the actual context of their personality and their regular life. William Burroughs was in many ways an astonishing person and his natural inability to tell even a trivial lie shines through in this clip in my opinion.
Jeanette im 3 weeks clean. I disagree a bit w/ your always a junkie. Thats the one thing I do not say in 12 step. I feel it reinforces my powerlessness, or more accurately, Gods power. Im not gonna get all religious on you for that is disrespectful to agnostics. You beat a powerful, powerful demon. Many applause and it shows great character! But you know you so....keep it up!!
amen brother..
I was an addict for roughly 10 years - been clean now for 10 (although I did have 1 relapse some 5 years ago - I'll get more into that in a min). Opiates start out as the key to heaven but finish as an entry into hell, madness and despair. I was one of the unusual ones who took it and didn't nod off but became extremely productive and creative. In the beginning I was a better husband, father and employee. But then physical addiction happens and the chase begins. Dope sickness is the worst & I'm speaking as one who recently had Covid and it was a walk in the park compared to being Dope sick. So for me, it became that tired old game of not running after my high, but running away from being sick - which made me deceitful, unreliable and I wasted a lot and I mean A LOT of money. So I quit and accepted the punishment to come. The sickness is the absolute worst. I didn't sleep at all for 4 days and then for a full 7 days after that only averaged 1-2 hours of sleep a night, I ached everywhere, I couldn't control my bowels, couldn't eat and I lost 20 pounds in 2 weeks. Thoughts of suicide, which I had never had before were a common theme rolling around in my head. I developed restless leg syndrome and still deal with that from time to time today. Mentally, I wasn't sharp for roughly 6 months. I feel like it took nearly a year to get back to normal. And, believe it or not, after going through all that I had a relapse. My grandfather passed some 5 years ago I had a terrible headache from all the emotion and sadness - my aunt (not knowing my history) gave me 3 Oxy's...without hesitation, I chewed and swallowed them up. Thankfully, it made me nod off, feel sick and after 2 days of just being dog-tired I knew then that it would never be the same and I've never touched them again.
Based on your comments here, I would think that you would agree with me that what Burroughs says here is a lot of nonsense. Keith Richards in "As Wicked as it Seems" reveals an accurate picture of what being on junk is all about. Or better yet, watch any UA-cam video of addicts who have wasted every good thing in life to be nothing more than a slave to the cravings this drug creates. Like the devil, Burroughs is a liar at his core.
@@shadowknight9807 I totally agree and would put Dr Carl Hart in that category as well. Both men are liars and seem to enjoy deceiving people into thinking Opioids are relatively harmless. In my book - they're the epitome of evil
@@BD-xn2dp I've thought a lot about good and evil. For me, there are three classes of people. Those who consider how their actions will affect others in a positive way and act accordingly, those who don't care how their actions affect others ("do what thou wilt") and those who want to see harm to others and participate gladly. This seems so simple, but I believe you can reduce any theology or religion down to this. For myself, I am trying to act with the Fruits of the Spirit in mind which are based on and include love as the greatest good. One final note: Burroughs' treatment of his son in the book "When I was Cool" says so much about this man. He was absolutely indifferent to his son's degradation through alcohol and his eventual death as a result. Some kind of father.
@@shadowknight9807 Interesting! Sounds very much along the lines of: Sins of Omission, Commission and Disposition. Omission - more accidental and less willful. Commission - willful, openly deceitful and manipulative (Burroughs, Hart etc..) and Disposition - all mankind, regardless of intent, are inheritably flawed & fall short of the Divine standard. Back to Burroughs - not only did he ruin his son (his son claims as much before passing at 33) but Burroughs also shot and killed his wife. I believe it happened in Mexico and after paying off several corrupt officials was able to get off scott-free. Further proving that Burroughs's was truly an evil man.
@@BD-xn2dp Good to have some meaningful conversation! I like your parallels. It seems to me that there are those who have signed up for the good, those who have signed up for evil and the vast majority who are not involving themselves actively. Certainly, those are generalities and as always it's on a spectrum. I am particularly keenly aware of those who are currently spreading "disinformation" -which is "purposeful lies" - it is the new propaganda. [This is in contrast to "misinformation" where the person spreading the falsehood doesn't know any better.] QAnon, Alex Jones, Trump all making up their own stories for their own benefit and believed by the masses. Playing with the facts. Interesting that the tables are being turned in the courts of law where the defense has become that "no one could possibly believe this craziness" (see the Dominion lawsuit). Final note on Burroughs - he seemed to regret killing his wife greatly - probably because she served multiple needs for him. Of course he was drunk when he did it. Again, alcohol, drugs not really a problem!!
It's refreshing to hear such a frank and honest interview about drug addiction like this rather than demonizing or glorifying drug use he just tells it as it is in his own experience. Drugs are neither evil nor good, they just are what they are they have consequences both good and bad and everybody has different experiences with them. It's like fire, use it properly it can heat your home cook your food, let it get out of control and it will burn your house down.
i need this drug that cooks my food, where can I find it
You can say that about money too but greed has overtaken the world and you see the result. It’s an illusion that we have that type of control. Most people fall into addictive use of drugs and the consequences are usually harrowing for all those around the addict and in many many cases ends in death.
@@Georgeanne17 I’m not sure most people become addicted to drugs; if you take the most accessible and widely used drug alcohol, most people aren’t addicted to it / alcoholics they’re in the minority although admittedly a decent sizeable minority due to it’s widespread use.
Same with say marijuana I believe. Also a large swathe of the the public in western countries are addicted to coffee but that particular drug doesn’t even register on the ‘harm’ scale even my doc told me it’s fine to drink.
A dangerous drug like Heroin though is a different story, that drug is designed to hook you. Although according to what William says about it you have to take it an awful lot before your body chemically adjusts itself to cause you to become physically dependent on it. The danger is that it is so intensely pleasurable (not speaking from experience here) that people take it an ‘awful’ lot.
Yeah definitely heroin should only be used responsibly
.
@@Gachaleieish I actually saw a doco many years ago on TV about heroin use, I assumed it was just going to be another doco about the dangers of drug addiction but the people they talked to did actually use Heroin in moderation. One guy was a doctor, another was a nurse who would only use it after her shift was over to 'relax'.
Mainstream media will only report on the horrors of drug addiction but there is another side to it; the 'functional' addict. So I guess it's possible to use even a hard drug like H in moderation in theory. I wouldn't want to test the theory myself though, I have too many dramas in my life to add another. My sister had an ex boyfriend who's brother died from an H overdose, it's a dangerous drug no doubting it.
this is a wonderful interview-the cbc deserves thanks for posting it
I was a addict for 11yrs., got off in 2010. It made me feel alive, "normal"; I could fit in to any social situation. I went to work, was a good employee, took care of my family,etc., during the work-week. On the week-ends, I would "splurge" so to speak, doing larger amounts than I required to put-up with the work-week. As time went on, I found that not everyone who uses can do as I did. The few people that I knew who used, were generally a mess and could not do ANYTHING other than dose themselves, and nod-off. The drug to me was a "tool", and I used it accordingly. The only reason I quit, was because of it's worst side-affect: Jail.
I almost completely agree with all you said!
I hear ya, I'm a 15 year junkie myself. People don't realize that there is a lot of "functioning" junkies out there, I would even bet that there is way more that are functioning than there is that aren't. If it was open and talked about more people would not believe how many there are... It's cause we never hear the story of the junkie that's good, and a loving caring human being that gets by and has no problem... It's cause everyone only hears is the negative things about heroin, so the first thing people think about it is that if you do it eventually it will just kill you. And that all junkies are nothing but scum and the only thing they care about are themselves. Now... I'm not saying it's great and that everyone should be doing it. I'm just saying... When's the last time you heard a positive heroin story?
I used to take 8 Oxy 30s a day and go to work. I was a essential worker even before this virus.. They took Oxy away from everyone now I'm on Buprenorphine which is ok but not as good.
My problem, like many, was procurement of the drug. I used pills, I could continue my daily activities with little trouble but for procurement. Supply of my DOC became harder and harder to find.
@Reece Cantrell I couldn't agree more. I lived it. The running and chasing is such a drag.
Burroughs looks like a Shop teacher on the verge of retirement.
he looks colonel sanders-esque here lolo
He was born in 1914 and always dressed soberly. What did you expect, a purple mohawk, tattoos and nose-ring?
Personally, I would not run the risk of developing an addiction by wanting to experiment with Heroin, or any other Alkaloid. But that's me. I am certain others would disagree with me by saying they've experimented and found it beneficial.
He looks similar to my maternal grandfater. But perhaps that's just mid-century WASP style.
Actually he does look like my shop teacher back in '82. I wonder if he's missing any fingers?
I spent the better part of a decade addicted to opiates and during that time I was more high functioning than I have ever been. I was organized, regimented, disciplined, out-going, and congenial. Eventually the addiction led to negative behavior (Mostly due to the inability to adequately procure drugs) but as long as I had a supply, the effects were more beneficial.
ThIS! and I ALWAYS have a supply
Agreed.
This was my experience well. 15 years of pain pill & then heroin (before fentanyl) use & I never even once overdosed or any of these cliche stereotypes. Most people are ignorant about drugs & actually think opioids are the most deadly. lol It's incredible. I was much more functioning on opioids than I am or ever was off of them. The only thing that made them difficult was the illegality.
After being off and on heroin the better part of my life 90% of what Burroughs says is dead on. Although you hear many reasons people use dope, the big one for me and many people I've met had been that it makes them feel normal. The first time I used I thought "this is what regular people must always feel like". No anxiety wearing on me, the depression I always felt was gone. It's basically the only antidepressant/anti-anxiety medication that really works!
joshuadaly1976 I hear you. The very first time I had an opiate (one 10mg Percocet) I was like...ahhhhhhh!!!! Finally my brain shut the hell up. I've since struggled with heroin and I do regret ever trying h. The whole ritual and the paraphernalia etc. is very hard to break away from.
Luckily for me I never got hooked but experimented with lots of drugs and agree. For me the only time I feel normal is when I am high or drunk
Very true, probably very unfortunately true.
Yes, and for all those around the addict supposedly wishing you weren't, In reality they are glad you are... Coz of its numbing properties subdues a certain amount of personality that others find intolerable.
Perfectly said
This is probably the best Old Bull has ever looked.
Burroughs has good humor, a brilliant mind, a curiosity of life, and an understanding that all three can work together, perhaps with an aid of choice, perhaps not. Either way I've always gained an incredible need to experience life like Burroughs has when reading his words or listening to him in interview. To merely exist is an insult to nature and the lives we're given.
"you will do anything to avoid the sickeness" , so true and yet so sad, unfortunatly its easier to point fingers than to try understand a junkie , all i can say is to walk a mile in any junkie shoes , only then you will understand how brave you will need to be to face another day every and each morning of your life
I hope you read up on his upbringing and what he did to the mother of his child. Yikes.
I swear I could set down & listen to Burrough's lecture for hour's & be completely enthralled. I love his voice ! He'd of been my idea of the perfect college professor as well as a great guy to come home & do Dope with & talk. Something along those lines...👣🐾
Opiates also make you chronically constipated.
+transtremm This is detailed rather graphicly in Naked Lunch.
+transtremm thats the least problem
+transtremm not really, thats an old wives tale
+Lucky Rocket No it isn't! I'm psychologically, but not physically addicted to opiates, and I currently use about once week. I don't 'go' for 2-3 days following taking the drug. Every. Single. Time. Ever. There's loads of evidence about this, just Google it!
I dont need to read secondhand information what i already know stupid, I have taken lots of opiates and its never affected me at all
"but it has done things to your soul"... a great line, which non plussed the great william s burroughs.
One gets to choose his master
he talked about no health problems, because the H was pure, now days it is cut with coffee/shoe polish etc.. which leads to abcess and infection
@odibex how did he "get lucky"??? Wtf? So only burroughs is a deep thinker? Is an interview a game? I'm tired of murdered wives being a footnote in the story of adored men. He has zero insight into himself. If he did he wouldn't have been a misogynistic pedo.
I laughed, from my most honest and sincere place. I laughed at the ridiculous, period-specific pretention of the question (like a Christian asking a sincere and thoughtful Buddhist or Jew or atheist about their worries about not getting into "Heaven") AND about WSB's own deep consideration of his own "soul" throughout his work. WSB was "nonplussed" by the incredible ignorance, arrogance and inanity of the suggestion, but remained polite in his reply.
"If you believe it, it's not a lie" -George Costanza
Im dying... Good one! Lol
His comments in the interview are certainly not consistent with his depiction of drug addiction in naked lunch which was unbelievably horrific
This is especially important today due to the opioid addiction in America. As Burroughs points out, it's primarily a pain-killer. It's how people get addicted--prescribed pain-killers feel so good. When I was prescribed such a pain-killer after surgery, I took some initially. It was like floating on a cloud in a dreamy half-sleep. When I came to, I threw the pills away and never got a another prescription. I can see how people get addicted to that feeling.
Speaking from experience Heroin addiction is the bottom of any pit of despair to start with it is like a warm cosy blanket until that blanket turns into a noose and it gets tighter and tighter until you pass out and wake up 20 yr later wondering where your life went half spent in a haze and the other half in a nightmare
True. Except few serious addicts last 20 years.
You nailed it.
He played the junkie priest in Drugstore Cowboy, great movie!
I agree. Great flick.
He was such a gentleman. I had the pleasure of meeting him several times.
A gentleman? Didn't he kill his wife and leave his young son without a mother? And fill his books with violence and racial slurs for very little reason other than shock? He grew up privileged but chose to be a criminal and drug addict murdered. But eh.
This is an excellent interview featuring a man with a huge intellect and spirit, managed by an interviewer whom I see as unbiased... even though he said, "But it has done things to your soul."
Once again, allowed the use, most junkies are fine, function well and just need to be given their drugs.
I feel our civilization would collapse solely because of the lack of coffee or beer or anything softer than junk but still addicting, so yeah, everyone has his drug.
Very true its not the junk its lack of it
William Boroughs is a great man. Can listen to that junkie sounding crackled voice all day.
20 years as a heroin (crack/beer) addict was enough for my body. 8 years clean. Believe in yourself.
My favorite childhood poem is, Take Me In Your Arms, Miss Heroin.
Wow, so he always sounded like that. Thanks so much for de-archiving this, CBC. I question whether U.S. TV would have been brave enough to air an interview like that back then.
You’re kidding right? America has always been open about drug and alcohol addiction. Also in Canada and England they have less rights and more censorship than the US
Despite living on the border and watching and listening to CBC Windsor for decades, I forgot Peter Gzowski. His name should be in the synopsis of this clip. His history with the CBC should not be forgotten.
Two years after this interview, in 1979, Burroughs started using the mentioned drug again. He spent the remainder of his life trying to break the addiction, but he was never able to. What a sad tale, and in retrospect, what dumb things he says here in '77.
he is high as hell in this interview. typical raspy slowed speech from opiates
Could listen to that voice all day
But it places you on the cliff of greatness. Only few can walk that knife edge and repeat back to us what they see.
i agree once you try it that feeling ia always there still have dreams about 20 yrs ago
Yet the interviewer has an ashtray on his desk. An addiction that killed how many people? 😂
Great point
Very pleasant interview, my thanks to Mr. Borroughs
I’m an old dude and I’ve known many folks who were heroin addicts. One recurring story was that they never got sick with normal illnesses like influenza or colds. I don’t know what to make of this, but it’s very interesting.
Junkie is a great read, interesting reading about someone being a junkie in the 40/50s before the whole hippie scene.
Burroughs is not telling the truth. I am a heroin addict (on and off) and between 1999 and 2008 i was 100 % off (of all drugs ) . I was moody, had aggressive outbursts and depressive stupors that seemed to come out of nowhere all the time. Even after 9 years H was permanently in my head, and I was still mentally addicted. And there was no tendency that it was getting better at all. That`s why I don`t believe him... I DO have regrets. I wished I had never touched it, because the disadvantages outweigh the positive sides by far, the longer you take that crap!
Burroughs seems to have tended to change his answers on things constantly. If they asked him an hour later he would just as likely declare heroin to be a virus from voice space sent to destroy the K9 thought experiments.
...a little more seriously, he doesn't seem to look much past his own initial thoughts on things which are rooted in his experiences. At one point he claimed his constant on and off with heroin was why he was living so long because it was forcing his cells to regenerate new young healthy cells.
RIP Uncle Bill you are a legend .
Beautiful interview.
2 hours clean.
keep goin bruh
Well done Mikey, it's a start.
It's been two weeks, you make it? Should be through it now!
Gotta start somewhere(:
keep it up you can do, the first 2 - 5 days are the worst
I was addicted to heroin for 30 years from 15 to 45 then I quit by coming down then cold turkey, I almost went crazy.
What a brilliant interview
Excellent interview, thanks for posting.
The worst side effects of narcotics is,They wear off. 🍾🎉💥
Junkie should be a required read for any person in recovery. I was an amphetamine addict and I experienced alot of the same symptoms.
I’ve been clean of heroin since 1998 but I’m still an addict.
@wavygr What do you mean a week vs 6 Months?
@wavygr Oh ok and ya i understand i've kicked methadone a couple times before and a was sick for a full month at least. And what where you saying about suboxone? And no one kicks methadone in a week.
Congratulations. It's good that you're aware of that. I was clean as a whistle for 18 years and started back using full-blown. I convinced myself I could handle a coupe of percodans. Hah!
@@paracelsus9282 i live in the U.K. and i dont think theyve started using fentanyl in the smack here yet. Theres only been reports of it been in 1 city in the U.K. It was going around Hull for about 6 weeks and whoever started using it stopped.
@@ronniechilds2002 hello Ronnie are you still using my friend or have you managed to kick it again? Ive been close to the same situation myself as my doctor has prescribed me oxycontin for long term chronic pain even though he knows im a none using addict. Im actually self medicating at the min with cannabis. I use the flower and make my own oil and for the most part thats enough but i do have times when i cant even get out of bed. Luckily it doesnt usually last to long 5 days is longest i wasnt able to get out of bed.
I spent 15 years on fentanyl for spinal cord tumors, and while I never bought it illegally or took it not as prescribed-it did things to me that 8 years after I stopped taking it I still feel.
Thank UA-cam for trying to convince me to change my mind about committing to sobriety and AA/NA! ❤😍
He is correct when it comes to alcohol. I have been addicted to both, and it was physically impossible to get off because i, and I’m not exaggerating, would die without substition medicine, like high dosages of benzodiazepines. I drank half a gallon of Vodka daily for ten years, cocaine and xanax/benzos. Daily.
the interviewer is Peter Gzowski, renowned Canadian public radio journalist.
Back when CBC was actually good, rather than the cucked, racially obsessed dumpster fire it is now. I miss the old CBC.
Huzzah! My favorite writer, his style electrifies me. Makes me think
If you haven't read Naked Lunch and seen the movie of it, do it now!
Along came Hepatitis,AIDS ,OxyContin,fentanyl 😢
“The damage to health from addiction is minimal”-William Burroughs absolutely on point! especially if heroin was legally available and provided, made of the highest standards for quality & purity. All drugs, ALL DRUGS, should be legal to use, to make, to acquire precursors chemicals in the amounts you see fit. Take away this ridiculous idea that people wont use drugs if they’re illegal or scheduled....
Look at Portugal policing a social problem is not the answer either. Portugal has had no skyrocketing rates of use among people and spend the money on treatment and education and awareness instead of incarceration.
Alcohol causes far worse damage. I’ve had drug counselors tell me such.
Very true and we see its evil very clear 100% of fentanly addicts would prefer high quality herion its much better and safer i imagine a few would like stable clearly dosed fentanly but not many ppl only use it bc its synthetic cheap and available the swiss and others have great succes w there heroun clinics
Depends on what you mean by “health”. Why on earth would one WANT to be an addict? Why on earth would one WANT to not go through life experiencing it in all its natural glory?...
@glitter kittens reid uhm... there's a huge drug problem in Portugal...
That chuckle
I love this mans voice.
Burroughs looks like "Uhhh.... what soul??"
the assertion that one man could judge the condition of another man's soul... so arrogant.
The interviewer is trying to get Burroughs to tell everyone how horrible heroin is. The truth should be enough but he doesn't want to hear it.
William S burroughs was a brilliant man. That was one of the most fascinating books I've ever read 'Junkie" I was in fact a junkie when I read it, glad to no longer be a junkie either! Have no desire to do that again I'm too happy...
His own son died from addiction to drugs in the 80's, before Burrouughs himself died
The drug being alcohol
I met Billy Burroughs in 1972. He was so tremulous he may as well have had a severe palsy. This is from speed, which is the title of one of the books he wrote. It was peculiar to read in a book an account about one day he was waiting for this check from his father, in a hotel in DeLand, Fla; a sort of raw survival that check meant, as that was an account of something I watched in the hotel room that day. (long story, I was 16, and a counselor at... an institution Billy used to work for where I was staying knew him and took me to meet him.) He didn't die from "addiction to drugs" he died from the effects of alcohol, specifically liver failure. This was a rather young man - 25 - and he was in bad shape.
WS Burroughs Jr here is more or less correct that opioids do not wreck the body per se. The life can, no doubt, but the drug itself can in fact slow aging down considerably, to where _preserved in amber_ may be said of some.
He's totally right about not bathing, and sexual apatite...I was hooked on painkillers, and couldn't stand water, especially if I was dope-sick. I think the squashing sexual desires is the reason I liked opiates so much. That being said, I don't suggest anyone flirt with the dragon.
+TheOldOakSyndicate Well of course if you are dope-sick you are not going to tolerate water on skin as your hot/cold tolerance is extremely acute. But plenty of addicts do bathe or shower regularly. Depends on circumstances. A poor homeless addict is not going to be able to bathe often. A wealthier addict with ready access to the conveniences of home and a regular supply of drugs is likely to be clean.
+TheOldOakSyndicate This actually really surprised me.. the not bathing thing. I've struggled with opiates and benzos for years (although I've been clean for around 10 days atm) I can definitely understand not wanting to take a bath or shower because you really don't want to do ANYTHING, but once you're in the hot water, I feel it really helps with withdrawls. It affects people differently, I suppose. The hardest part is getting in and out..
+TheOldOakSyndicate I couldn't stand to shower when I was strung out - sponge baths only... weird, huh?
+Warren Burger I can definitely second Warrens thoughts here - Soaking in a hot bath was perhaps the best way of dealing with several of the symptoms of withdrawal (even for an hour or so after the bath).
- surprised it's not more widely used as a helping method.
Warren Burger Now you do make a good point that had slipped my mind. When I was being tapered off suboxone, I found hot bathes helped. But It was always difficult to get out when that cold air hit!
This interviewer obviously has no clue whatsoever what happens outside of his little bubble. I love his reaction of when Burroughs says that his personal experiences cause little damage to this health.
the way he brings up the damage it does on the "soul" lololol
still love his work!!
What an amazing human being!
Ironically, at the time of this interview, James Grauerholz - his assistant/manager - was having to find heroin around Toronto to sort Burroughs out so that he could do his reading gig at the Danfoth theater.
Was that the one with John Giorno and Jim Carroll?
As long as you have financial security you can be a junkie all your life, the real question is why would you want to? This interviewer isn't really asking the right questions, it seems
That’s pretty cool. What a great interview
The damage to Burroughs’ health clearly was minimal; dude lived to be 83 years old.
he was a very rich person who had always lived with the safety net of daddys money despite his addiction, most opioid addicts cant afford the kind of treatment he could
If you really wanna see a trip, watch William Burroughs in the movie Drug Store Cowboy play an 80 year old Junkie, he does it so well. That's how I was introduced to him back in 1994. Really cool movie , staring Matt Dillon 👍
We TRIED to watch it. Always nodded off before the end! Seriously! Lol
I love the way he fights off the "liberal" trying to skewer him and throw him into the lower castes, such a genius.
It just has to be about politics
these guys were both liberals but i understand what you mean
@@darrianguffey6879 if you refuse to acknowledge the basic political and historical realities of the world you will fall into fascism over and over again
I like his old school mid-Atlantic American accent. A lot of the Hollywood/entertainment types had it(or adopted it).
he's correct in the sense that opiates ALONE don't usually cause so much of the mortality rate is based on peripheral effects of not being able to SUSTAIN the habit. The immediate dangers of opioids are respiratory depression and constipation, but people on the street are unable to stay well and have varying sources of varying potency and those variables are usually where the dangers manifest. I believe that with proper supervision and administered by the properly trained personnel, opiate "abuse" would yield next to no fatalities but we need to stop treating the sick people afflicted with it like criminals first and to do that we have to completely retrain ourselves as a society
Health over 50 has to be worsened by opiate addiction.
@@charlesterrizzi8311 opioid dependency into your later years is certainly not ideal, but neither is intense chronic pain. Again- it's all dependent on the amount one takes and how well it's managed by the person and their medical professional
I have been an opiate addict and chronic relapser for over a decade and while i believe some people simply cant handle certain drugs...other people are lacking natural endorphins and need a chemical substitute. Besides tha fact that drugs are illegal i haven't seen much harm to myself physically. It has improved my mental and emotional health...opiates have literally saved me from suicide and for that i am forever grateful. All my drug problems came from tha criminilization of its use. Im not ypur typical stereotype heroin addict. I dont steal i have great work ethic it motivates me ive worked 2 jobs 7 days a week for years...never stole pawned or sold myself for a fix. I look 10 years younget than my age and due to my knowledge of use and cleanliness i have no diseases and even after shootong heroin for years straight...never once did i overdose. Im tha best worker at my job im intelligent i feel empathy for people and nature i have my own place my own car i pay my own bills and im responsible enough not to bring any children into this world. So don't judge addicts all tha same...you probably know a few and couldnt fathom that they are junkies. When i sold drugs i woukd meet nurses teachers doctors lawyers police officers...addiction does not discriminate. Sure i get clean from time to time to lower my tolerance or to stay out of jail ( i e probation) but with my depression and hatred for tha stupidity of society it always comes back. Im in love with opium its my light at tha end of tha tunnel...tha only peace and comfort i get. Sober life just isnt for me its too dark and cold. Ive been thru withdrawal more times than i can count and surely will again...why? With such negative consequences and suffering and pain why would i go back. Cuz there is much more suffering and pain without them...a more subtle pain that just wears u down everyday little by little until my choices become...use or suicide. I pick use everytime cuz i have hope for better days. Maybe one day ill be free of it...clean and sober and happy. Until then its just a basic choice not of right or wrong. ..but life or death. So ptay for addicts in your life...and work to overturn drug laws because chances are an addict is already being punished enough. Throwing them in jail taking their freedom property money and dignity helps no addict and overall hurts society. I will say if you've never tried opiates...dont ever start. Nothing that good exists without an equal bad. Hope this helps give you anotherperspective on addiction. Much peace n love to all.
I have been using dope for a little over 25 years but have been on methadone for the past 15. In the last 25 years I have been clean off opiates maybe 1 1/2 to 2 years so I figure my brain chemistry is changed by having opiates daily for over 2 decades. At this point I wont even try to kick the one time I kicked dope and meth I was so depressed that I was so miserable. The only joy at that time was when I would allow myself 1 or 2 shots on the weekends.
Exactly what I experienced!
That was a fascinating comment. You are also a very good writer.
I used heroin for four years straight three times a day intravenously, that was 15 or 20 years ago. I’m 45 years old and I am the most healthy member of my family.
Brilliant to cast William S Burroughs as Father Tom Murphy in Drugstore Cowboy.
"talk for a moment about being on the bottom". i always took buyrroughs for a top hahahaha
Omfg I love his voice so much liek-
While sounding pleasant, it's sometimes really hard to sort out what exactly he is saying, at times his speech gets really mumbly
WSB is one of my life long heroes, drugs or not, books or not - the man was one of a kind and a true unique force of this planet. Like him I found myself in a battle with heroin for over 20 years, this of course being something I at times regretted and others did not. Looking back I do not regret a thing, not the loss or gain of the things in those years and certainly not for reasons pointed out by society. Here the interviewer is looking at drug addiction in a black and white factual way, having not probably ever having any experience. William is a genius of experience and a teller of tales, on a level rare to most people.
well, he lived to 83. not bad
yeah better to live an enjoyable and interesting life. his life was not without ups and downs though.
Frank James Bonarrigo He was in DRUG STORE COWBOY WITH MATT DILLON.
Burroughs is also in that early 90s MINISTRY video “just one fix”.
It is true that chronic long term use of opiates does not have known long term effects. As Keith Richards has said...'I didn't have a heroin problem, I had a police problem'. Most deaths from heroin users are overdoses and infections from needle sterility issues. You can also get stuff laced with who knows what...but it is that stuff and not the opiate that can cause health issues.
Clearly the addiction and loss of some function in some people can be a big problem. Not eating and using alcohol too are side effects of some opiate use, but again it is not the opiate per se.
Society needs to balance its concern with individual dysfunction against the legitimate needs of chronic pain patients. Ironically the little old lady with a vertebral fracture who needs opiates is often the one who fears it so much she will spend months in needless pain,
Grateful to be 8+ years clean from junk now, I got out just as that damn fent was getting into the primary street supplies.
What's people's issue with Burroughs? Not all fans of his work are addicts, most have used something at some point, and some are the full package of it. His work is not all drugs, junk, and stonerisms... Look deeper inside yourselves and the world of creativity and art you bunch of dimwits...
good 1
well, he killed his first wife for one thing.
I liked it up til the dimwit part. Siyanara...LATTES~!
Mdriver1981 Yeah but who cares? She shouldn't have offered to put a fucking apple on her head and have him shoot it off while both of them were drunk and on amphetamines
I have nothing against his art but his treatment of his wife and son leave an unpleasant taste in my mouth. It's not my place to judge but I have trouble buying some of his statements on the nature of addiction, considering the havoc it wreaked in his personal life.
I love his voice...
Lady Jenny me too!
😄😄😄 It always creeped me right out!
Junkie voice
This is for sure the healthiest I've seen Bill.