Well, I can tell you all about that from first hand experience... at least in regard to opiates. (Opiates were my sole habit. Never had a coke problem because I merely <i>like</i> coke, never <i>loved</i> it.)
So, what do you get? Depression relief, back before I was able to figure out a better way. An artificial sense of zen & tranquility. Highly enhanced creativity & trading skills (remember how eloquent & well-written my posts <i>used</i> to be before August 2008? Opiates were the reason.)
Without their opiate habits, could Edgar Allen Poe, Howard Hughes & Kurt Cobain (talk about "Burn bright, Burn out fast"!) have exuded all that creative brilliance? I wonder.
But I'm not here to glorify or romanticize heroin... just to tell it like it really is. There are some serious downsides to having an opiate addiction that you've probably never even heard of: Like chronic constipation & other severe gastro-intestinal malfunctions. It's also seriously emasculating- I had the libido of a 90-year old man in a coma, at least towards the end when my habit had grown to ridiculous proportions.
Not to mention all the consequences of your prohibition enforcement thugs, like high prices (I was putting $400/day up my arm towards the end last year), being forced to deal with sleazy people to obtain it, and the boot of the justice system on your neck when you're eventually busted. Going through junk-sickness in jail isn't something I'd particularly recommend for anyone to experience.
BTW, there are more -WAY more- drug addicts on ET than you may realize. For every out-of-the-closet addict like me, there are a hundred more here who aren't so open about it. If you could see the contents of my PM box, you'd know what I mean.
