Drugstore Cowboys & the "Junkie Philosophy"

For the characters in Fogle's book, it is clear that the simple addiction to and ingestion of drugs itself are hardly the end of their obsession. To the contrary, it is indeed a way of life. Rick believes he is not addicted and could live without the drugs, and despite his denial about his addiction and the likely difficulty of becoming clean, he is honest about the fact that the fixation extends beyond the mere drugs. Rick says to the neophyte Nadine: "To tell the truth, I like the excitement. I love to watch Bob work, I like the lifestyle" (Fogle 47). Of course, this little gang is composed not merely of people who use drugs illegally, but of people who rob drugstores. The drama attendant on any addict's life is multiplied by these people's criminal activities, and

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or adhere to the junkie philosophy. Shortly, her inexperience will cost her her life and she will be simply another casualty to drugs. The generally cold-blooded responses of the others to her death are expressions of the junkie philosophy, which ignore all standards of humane behavior and focus on the self, drugs, and avoidance of the police who can end their desired way of life. At the bottom of this hierarchy is David, a "street kid" and an outsider among outsiders. These street kid/junkies "had no honor at all,; they were capable of anything" (Fogle 18). One must remember that this judgment of David and his ilk comes from Bob, a man who makes his living breaking into drugstores. The junkie philosophy can even be seen as a kind of perverted religion, for the junkie is as dedicated to his world view and way of life as dedicated as a believer is to his religious path. Drugs to the junkie can be fairly said to be gods, worthy of worship. After all, he lives his life to acquire and take drugs. As Jonnes writes of famed junkie-author William Burroughs, "Using junk made him part of the group, it was sort of a rite of passage" (Jonnes 210). This philosophy is not a crude one with respect to drugs, but includes a connoisseur's refi
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1380
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)