The World Under the World

This is a story about active drug addiction.  

Last year I made a story about my friend Susan Randall, after her office was robbed in the middle of the day in downtown Burlington by a woman with a heroin addiction. She walked into Susan’s office while people were working there and loaded a bag with electronics, and left.  I couldn’t stop thinking about the woman. Where was she coming from that day and where was she going? The world of active addiction is a kind of world underneath the world, with its own rules and relentless demands. But to most people it’s invisible.  

All four of the people in this story are in recovery but they spent years in the world of active drug addiction. They’re aware of it in ways that most of us are not, and they agreed to describe it to me—what it feels like day to day, and its demands.

Warning: This story contains explicit descriptions of active addiction. It might not be for everyone.

Thanks

Enormous thanks to Avery Staats, Mark, Raina Lowell and Eric Breeyear.  

Thanks also to Julie Bond and Ed Baker and Good Samaritan Haven.

Thanks to Tobin Anderson.

Music for this show: What If, from Sylvan Esso’s album Free Love. Thank you Amelia and Nick!