FT reporter was doing heroin in the newsroom’s bathroom

Joel Lewin, a former reporter for The Financial Times, writes for Vice about how he was addicted to heroin and used it while working.

Lewin writes, “I would wake up at 5:45 AM. I’m not much into agriculture, but I’d listen to Farming Today on Radio 4 while smoking or shooting up a few bags. Then I’d feel normal enough to eat some Rice Krispies, listen to Today, and check up on overnight Asian markets news, which helped me feel even more normal.

“I’d be at my desk by 7 AM, when the UK financial reports drop, and bash out a few stories. Another frenzy of writing at 8 AM when the markets opened. I’d make use of the lull around 9 AM to get my head straight with another hit in the handicap bathroom in the basement before the GDP and other economic numbers started coming in. Ideally, that would see me through until lunch, when I would get my daily methadone at the pharmacy, glancing around furtively before entering, lest any colleagues see me drink a bottle of green stuff.

“One unlikely side effect of my drug use was that I spent a lot longer at the office than I needed to. My life was getting narrower, sparser, and more isolated. By sitting at my desk trawling through bond market analysis late into the evening, I could pretend to myself my life was rich and meaningful.

“My drug use meant my stress levels fluctuated differently to those of my colleagues. I was insulated from the stress of the job by the heroin, but I was exposed to other stresses unfamiliar to my colleagues. Unreliable dealers could ensure that, even on a quiet day at work, I was rigid with anxiety, sweating into my chair. Sometimes I had to fabricate a meeting to get out of the office for a while to score.”

Read more here.