Drug addicts share their experiences<\/p>\n
By K. Basrie and Soeryo Winoto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Ecstasy addicts can enjoy themselves fully only
\nif there's dancing, music, crowds, peppermint gum, certain tonic
\nwater products and liters of water.<\/p>\n
They say it would be total nightmare and a waste of money to
\nstay at home after consuming the costly pills, which they call
\nInex (derived from the enak, meaning delicious).<\/p>\n
Soon after taking the pill, users feel energetic and
\nautomatically shake or move their head, hands and body to channel
\ntheir energy. Ecstasy users therefore feel around a sea of people
\nand pounding house music.<\/p>\n
The peppermint gum is used to help control chattering teeth,
\nanother normal response to Ecstasy. Tonic water helps boost the
\nsubstance's effects, while the water is to avoid dehydration.<\/p>\n
Ecstasy addicts usually have dry lips and their thought
\npatterns change so they cannot enjoy normal life without the
\npills.<\/p>\n
In interviews with The Jakarta Post, some regular Ecstasy
\nusers and a former drug addict told of their experiences and
\nviews on the substance.<\/p>\n
Vera, 23, a divorced mother with a four-year-old girl: Inex
\nhas been part of my daily life since three years ago when a
\nfriend of mine asked me to try it.<\/p>\n
I find the pills wonderful and good to enjoy the nightlife
\nbecause it makes me steady until midday.<\/p>\n
I can dance for three to four hours non-stop, compared to the
\nprevious 20 minutes without Inex.<\/p>\n
The bad thing is that I cannot sleep long enough. I lose my
\nappetite and sexual drive, get angry easily and my lips are
\nalways dry.<\/p>\n
So far, I have not found a pill as \"friendly\" as Ecstasy.<\/p>\n
I get at least seven free pills a week from old and new
\nfriends I meet at the pubs or nightclubs here in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Gilang (Bowo), 26, a male hairdresser: Inex is the most
\nexcellent pill that can help people enjoy music and dance a whole
\nnight without having to worry about brutal visitors because the
\npills make you calm and coolheaded.<\/p>\n
I first started on the pills two years ago when a friend at a
\ngay rendezvous party gave one to me. It's good.<\/p>\n
I would like to say that Inex is better than beer, heroin and
\nmarijuana because they provoke people to fight.<\/p>\n
An unnamed taxi driver: Please, please never ever try this
\nkind of pill. It's very addictive. I took the pills for the first
\ntime several months ago from a female passenger. She then invited
\nme to go to her house and we went to bed.<\/p>\n
On the same day, I made love again with my wife for several
\ntimes without feeling tired. That's stupid but I can't run away
\nfrom the pills now. I have to go to the passenger and buy some
\npills from her and listen to the music in my cab.<\/p>\n
Fitri, 21, a college student: I first took Ecstasy last year
\nat a discotheque. It was sold at Rp 75,000 each. It's good for
\nme, especially if I want to go to bed late after preparing for an
\nexamination. It's not addictive for me because I can stop taking
\nit any time I want.<\/p>\n
Yuni, a university student: One day last year, my boyfriend
\ngave me a pill which I found fantastic, especially if we want to
\nenjoy music at discotheque and make love.<\/p>\n
I feel that I have a lot of energy and can keep my eyes open
\nlonger than I used to be able to.<\/p>\n
If I feel tired, I just asked my boyfriend to find me one.<\/p>\n
Satrio, a journalist: I had my first experience with marijuana
\nin 1970s, when I was a college student. A new friend gave me a
\ncigarette, which I soon discovered was ganja.<\/p>\n
Since then I often met other people with the same hobby:
\nsmoking marijuana. This was what we called becoming modern. I
\nalso took drugs like Mandrax, Nembutal, Magadon and Valium, which
\nstrengthened my image as a modern man.<\/p>\n
I easily bought marijuana from my supplier, who said that he
\ngot the stuff from Medan. I wonder how he always had stock. I
\nbecame addicted to marijuana and I would not hesitate to knock at
\nhis door even at 2 a.m. when I wanted it.<\/p>\n
Everyday, I smoked at least an envelope of ganja and at least
\nonce a week we held a ganja party at my rented house. The ganja
\nparty often turned into an orgy.<\/p>\n
I felt high and hungry whenever I smoked marijuana, but that
\nwas really fun and people who had never tried it would find it
\ndifficult to imagine.<\/p>\n
As I had a closer relationship with drugs, I knew other stuff
\nlike stick, or Buddha, tai kebo (buffalo dung) and magic
\nmushrooms. Stick was scratch and then mixed with cigarettes. Bits
\nof the mushrooms were mixed in the cigarettes.<\/p>\n
To get certain drugs like Mandrax, we often asked for
\nprescriptions from physicians who were willing to help us. Once,
\nwhen we were at a pharmacy to get nine tablets of Nembutal, the
\nreceptionist called a policeman. We started the engine of our
\nHonda CB 100 and left right away.<\/p>\n
I had never tried morphine because I was afraid. But once I
\nsold it. Once I got some morphine from my friend whose father
\nworked in the Ministry of Agriculture. He bought a box of
\nmorphine, containing 10 tubes. Each tube had a syringe. I sold
\neach tube for Rp 1,500, which was very cheap. The label said that
\nit was for American GIs in Vietnam. I don't know how it reached
\nthe Ministry of Agriculture. My friend said it was for the
\nplants. I don't know.<\/p>\n
I had the most horrible experience when I had a kilogram of
\nmorphine from Jakarta with a skull and crossbones label reading
\nDanger. I kept it in my backpack for one month in my house.<\/p>\n
Then a friend came to take it, saying that there was a buyer
\nfrom Semarang who would buy it for Rp 500,000. We planned to buy
\na used motorcycle, which at that time cost Rp 400,000.<\/p>\n
Two days later, I read in the newspaper that my friend was
\narrested for selling morphine. He was jailed for six months.
\nLuckily, he did not mention my name.<\/p>\n
I stopped taking drugs in 1975 after I joined Javanese
\nmysticism (kebatinan). The teacher seemed to know everything
\nabout me and I felt ashamed. I stopped taking drugs and sleeping
\naround, and also stopped drinking beer.<\/p>\n
I sometimes missed marijuana very much. In 1976 I moved to
\nEast Java to work. When it was unbearable, I took a night bus to
\nYogyakarta and smoked marijuana with my friends and then returned
\non the following day.<\/p>\n
After I got married in 1977, I stopped taking drugs. Sometimes
\nI feel the desire to smoke, but it has never been that strong.<\/p>\n
Now, I can tell my two sons that what is dangerous is not the
\ndrug, but when the user does not know the danger of the drug,
\ndoes not want to stop (they can stop if they want to) and does
\nnot know when to stop.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/drug-addicts-share-their-experiences-1447893297",
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