“Once a junky, always a junky. You can stop using junk, but you are never off after the first habit.”

— William S. Burroughs, book Junkie

Junkie (1953)
Context: Why does an addict get a new habit so much quicker than a junk virgin, even after the addict has been clean for years? I do not accept the theory that junk is lurking in the body all that time - the spine is where it supposedly holes up - and I disagree with all psychological answers. I think the use of junk causes permanent cellular alteration. Once a junky, always a junky. You can stop using junk, but you are never off after the first habit.

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William S. Burroughs110

American novelist, short story writer, essayist, painter, a… 1914–1997

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