Blog Post:  Narrative

By Will McCabe 

Working on this project has been a rollercoaster of emotions. When I first started, I thought it would be a piece of cake because I am interested in the topic and I find it fascinating what large pharmaceutical companies will do for money. The whole issue of drug use and abuse is intriguing and overwhelming. I’m curious about what drugs do to your brain that would make it worth throwing you life away for. 

This week, I’d like to talk about my first attempt to communicate with former drug addicts. The day started off well with great intentions. My research was almost complete and I had my interview questions written out. All I had to do was find someone who had experienced the epidemic firsthand. That day, I was at the Shasta Public Library downtown to study for my other subjects and realized that it would be the perfect place, or so I thought. If any of you have ever been to the Redding Library, you know that it often feels like an episode of “The Walking Dead” with hundreds of homeless and drug addicts loitering and causing problems. Immediately when I got out of my car I smelt the sugary, musky, of methamphetamine (Meth in use smells like burning sugar.) I’ve done enough research on other drugs to know that the effects of meth are not anything that you want to be anywhere near so I crossed that right off my list. 

I was expecting that the library itself would have a lot of sober individuals who might be willing to help out with my project. This was not the case. In fact, I saw very few who looked approachable in any way, shape or form. Although this project and my english grade mean a lot to me, my safety is my number one priority. I worked on my other subjects for about 2 1/2 hours, kind of waiting it out to see if the crowd would lighten up or get any safer. As the day went on, the crowd seemed to get worse, rather than better. The hard part about trying to interview a drug addict is that all they care about is finding that drug and they have no intention to talk with anyone unless they’re going to help them get their next fix. I am definitely not that guy. 

All these factors combined made me conclude that it was not the right time or place to try to get productive interviews to learn more about the subject. I genuinely feel as though talking to former or present drug addicts will provide me with knowledge that biographies and books can’t, with first-hand perspective. I haven’t given up. We spoke with the facilitators of the methadone clinic in Chico and are working on a tour along with potential interviews. I have also talked with a few acquaintances who have first hand experience with the topic. Although this interview process has taken exponentially longer than I was expecting, I have not wasted time and have the entire video cut and ready, all it needs is interview clips. 

Keep in mind, my report only covers a fraction of drug abuse. Opioid addiction only scratches the surface of the illegal drug underworld which is and forever will be a problem around the world.