Border Junkies: Addiction and Survival on the Streets of Ju%C3%A1rez and El Paso

In this eye-opening account, former heroin addict and current doctoral student Comar chronicles his five years as a junkie, during which he panhandled to support his drug habit and repeatedly completed rehabilitation only to quickly fall back into drug use. Readers will continue waiting for the announcement of the low point of his life: is it the withdrawal pain, going to jail, learning a friend has died from overdose, or lying to his family to get money for drugs? While following Comar's trail between Ju%C3%A1rez, Mexico, where he lived for most of these years, and El Paso, Tex., where he was often able to find employment or panhandle, readers will learn about the facilities available for detoxification and where Comar finds them lacking; life on the streets; and survival with, and without, the bare necessities. As Comar writes, "The food was good, and the showers had hot water. I had a small pocket radio and a bottom bunk. What more could someone want out of life?" Clean since 2003, Comar uses these pages to reflect on the processes of addiction, detoxification, and recovery, while questioning how drug treatment centers could better assist recovering addicts. (Oct.)