The Novahistine DH Story
or How I Became Addicted to Codeine Laced Over-the-Counter Cough Syrup
(Not to Mention Powdered Opium, Demerol, and Hydrocodone)
By Buddy Lee
Copyright 2011 Buddy Lee
Smashwords Edition
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BEFORE
I used to be like everybody else.
I showed up to work every day and on time. I was a devoted son and husband. Friends came to me with their problems, trusting my level headed instincts to sort out their own Dionysian blunders. To the casual observer, I seemed to have it all, to be well adjusted and satisfied with my place in this world. I was even fooling myself.
If someone had suggested that I perhaps was not as happy as I seemed to be, I would have shaken my head in puzzled amusement. But something was missing from my life. There was an emptiness inside of me. A void that needed filling. I was half a man.
Things are different now. My wife has left me. My parents have disowned me. Friends snub me. You see, my outlook is different. I'm a new man. A changed man. My whole life changed when I met Alek. When I discovered Novahistine DH and learned how to stop worrying and love over-the-counter cough syrup.
THE SACRED ELIXIR
Alek sweats. A lot. February or July, ninety degrees or twenty: Alek sweats. Rivulets. Rivers. Strangers approach him, place a hand lightly on his damp shoulder and ask, "Are you alright?" Alek turns to them, wipes his brow with the ever-moist
handkerchief that he carries with him at all times, smiles, and says, "it's just hot in this damn place."
Alek introduced me to Novahistine DH. We met at work. None of the other workers would interact with him due to his disheveled appearance and, as I mentioned, invariably wet state. So, I talked to Alek because I felt sorry for him. One day, our conversation turned to drugs, and while I had never experimented with drugs, I found Alek's conversation to be intriguing and wanted to learn all of his secrets. Alek explained to me how it was possible to get Codeine, legally, without a prescription.
Novahistine DH is an over-the-counter cough syrup that contains an antihistamine (Chlorpheniramine,) a decongestant (Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride,) and thirty milligrams of Codeine Phosphate per three teaspoonfuls, or about as much Codeine as is in a tablet of Tylenol #3. It can be obtained without a prescription due to an obscure law intended to make certain drugs available to the poor who can't afford to see a doctor. In other words, opiates free for the asking. The catch: you have to sign a ledger that is inspected periodically by DEA agents. The real problem: bastard pharmacists who will lie to you, degrade you, shame you, and yell at you because they are aware that ninety percent of the NDH sold goes to feed a malicious habit.
After work that night, Alek and I made our first Histine excursion. The drugstore was an easy mark known well to Alek. An all night pharmacy in the Atlanta suburbs. As we pulled into the parking lot, fear rose up in me. I felt I was doing something wrong, breaking the law (I was,) and taking medicine from the mouths of the truly sick. I felt that I would become sick—God's vengeance on me for taking medicine to get high, to have fun.