He crawls under the bed, finds thechocolate and
crams it into his mouth with both hands.
"Jesus! These ID's got no class to them."
Benwaycallsover theattendant whois sittingat one
end of the ward reading a book of J. M. Barrie's plays.
"GetthesefuckingID'souta here.It's abring down
already. Bad for the tourist business."
"What should I do with them?"
"HowinthefuckshouldIknow?I'm ascientist. A
purescientist.Justgetthem outahere. Idon't hafta
look at them is all. They constitute an albatross."
"But what? Where?"
"Properchannels.BuzztheDistrictCoordinatoror
whateverhecallshimself...newtitleeveryweek.
Doubt if he exists."
DoctorBenwaypausesatthedoorandlooksback at
the IND's. "Our failures," he says. "Well,it's allin the
day's work."
"Do they ever come back?"
"Theydon'tcomeback,won'tcome back,once they're
gone,"Benwaysingssoftly."Nowthiswardhassome
innarest.'
Thepatientsstandingroupstalking andspitting on
the floor. Junk hangs in the air like a grey haze.
"Aheart-warmingsight,"saysBenway,"thosejunkies
standingaroundwaitingfortheMan.Sixmonthsago
theywereallschizophrenic.Someofthemhadn't been
out of bed for years. Now lookat them.In allthe course
ofmypractices,Ihaveneverseenaschizophrenic
junky,andjunkiesaremostlyoftheschizophysical
type.Wanttocureanybodyofanything,findout who
doesn't have it. So who don't got it'? Junkies don't got it.
Oh,incidentally,there'sanareainBoliviawithno
psychosis. Right sanefolk inthem hills.Like toget in
there, me, before it is loused up byliteracy, advertising,
TVanddrive-ins.Makeastudystrictlyfrommeta-
bolism:diet,useofdrugsandalcohol, sex,etc. Who
careswhattheythink?Samenonsenseeverybody thinks,
I daresay.
"Andwhydon'tjunkiesgotschizophrenia?Don't
knowyet.Aschizophreniccanignore hungerand starve
to death if heisn't fed.No onecan ignoreheroin with-
drawal. The fact of addiction imposes contact.
"Butthat'sonlyoneangle.Mescaline,LSD6, deteri-
oratedadrenaline,harmalinecanproduceanapproxi-
mat~schizophrenia.
Thebest stuffis extractedfrom the
blood ofschizos; soschizophrenia islikely adrug psy-
chosis.Theygotametabolicconnection,aMan Within
youmightsay.( Interested readersare referredto Ap-
pendix. )
"Intheterminalstageof schizophreniathe backbrain
ispermanentlydepressed,and thefront brainis almost
withoutcontentsince thefront brainis onlyactive in
response to backbrain stimulation.
"Morphinecallsforth theantidote ofbackbrain stimu-
lationsimilartoschizosubstance.(Notesimilarity
betweenwithdrawalsyndromeandintoxicationwith
Yage or LSD6.) Eventualresult ofjunk use-- especially
trueof heroinaddiction wherelarge dosesare available
totheaddict--ispermanentbackbraindepression and
astatemuchliketerminal schizophrenia:complete lack
of affect, autism,virtual absenceof cerebralevent. The
addictcanspendeighthourslooking ata wall.He is
consciousofhissurroundings,huttheyhavenoemo-
tionalconnotationandinconsequencenointerest. Re-
memberingaperiodofheavyaddictionislike playing
backataperecordingofeventsexperiencedby the
front brain alone. Flat statements of external events. 'I
went to thestore andbought somebrown sugar.I came
home andate halfthe box.I tooka threegrain shot
etc.' Completeabsence ofnostalgia inthese memories.
However,assoon asjunk intakefalls belowpar, the
withdrawal substance floods the body.
"If all pleasure is relieffrom tension,junk affords
relief from the whole life process, indisconnecting the
hypothalamus,whichisthecenterofpsychic energy
and libido.
"Someofmylearnedcolleagues(nameless assholes)
havesuggestedthatjunkderivesitseuphoric effect
from direct stimulationof theorgasm center.It seems
moreprobablethatjunksuspendsthe wholecycle of
tension, discharge and rest. Theorgasm hasno function
inthejunky.Boredom, whichalways indicatesan un-
dischargedtension,never troublesthe addict.He can
look at his shoe for eighthours. Heis onlyroused to
action when the hourglass of junk runs out."
Atthefarend ofthe wardan attendantthrows up
an iron shutter and lets out a hog call. The junkies rush
up grunting and squealing.
"Wiseguy,"saysBenway."Norespectforhuman
dignity. Now I'll showyou themild deviantand crimi-
nalward. Yes,a criminalis amild devianthere.