- Harlem Resident #2: Just to be normal you have to got through a lot of hell.
- Harlem Resident #10: When you come into court, you see these people standing before the law, you can realize, gee, I remember seeing that person walkin' around, you know, the neighborhood, you know, a few months ago. And they must have seen all the addicts and must have seen the people hangin' on the streets. People without clothes and shelter; because, they use drugs. But, that didn't seem to impress their minds. They probably were saying to themselves, "Well, that will never happen to me. I'm starting to use drugs, but, I know I won't be like that. I'm not that old. I'm young and I can take care of it. I can control my habit." And all this kind of thing, you know.
- [first lines]
- Harlem Resident #1: Drugs is just a waste of time.
- Harlem Resident #3: It's like - suicide. Jumping off a bridge.
- Harlem Resident #4: I know he's killing himself and I have a sneaking suspicion he knows it also.
- Harlem Cop: This is one of the places where you would find a junkie. It's cold and narrow. A steel, barred cell. You'll see him in here, doubled up in pain, sweating it out, waiting for tomorrow.
- Harlem Resident #5: I really didn't know who I was, you know, what I was. Or, where I was going.
- Harlem Resident #6: He is socially dead, morally dead, and soon, he will be, physically dead.
- Harlem Resident #7: Drugs are a cop out.
- Harlem Resident #8: You're a poor person. Here, you have a very expensive habit. In fact, you're really living like a rich person. Because here you're giving yourself something of which is gonna cost you quite a few dollars per day. And where's the money gonna come from?
- Harlem Resident #9: There's no future for him. You know, as it stands, in reality, there is no present; because, he's really non-existent.
- Harlem Resident #9: The economic consists mainly of the hassle of trying to get that dollar. You know, stealing, lying, cheating their friends. They, like, use people for what they can get. They might as well be dead.
- Harlem Resident #9: The addict has to, like, change his present views that he has of himself. If he doesn't, he will remain a walking corpse. And, until this thing happens, he will continue with his path to nowhere.
- Harlem Resident #10: It's kind of hard to see a young person, almost near death, because he stuck a needle in his arm. The person was vital and has a lot of life in him. He should be going to school. He should be playing, you know, playing basketball or something and has body to be able to do these things.
- Harlem Resident #10: This happens time after time. Seeing even teenagers dying, fighting death. Many people stand around in a crowd, you know, watching this person see this kind of thing. There's not too much sympathy for them. This is a different kind of death.
- Harlem Resident #11: He's sleepy. His nose is runny. He itches. He feels cold. He feels hot. He doesn't even know what the sun really looks like. He's literally living in a world of illusion. He's like a zombie.
- Harlem Resident #12: No more school. No more future. Its an abysmal end. And I tell you, I - I'm not trying to put any kids down or *any* people down; but, the story is when you start with junk - it puts *you* down.
- [last lines]
- Mortician: So, it's a pretty rough story. There's no easy way to tell a guy, don't take it because you get jaundice, because you get syphilis, because you die. No, he doesn't want to listen. This guy knows everything about dope. The only thing he doesn't know, he doesn't know that when I see them in the autopsy room on a Monday morning, you see this fish-eyed look - looking up at the ceiling. It's the end of the road. And then you got to call the old lady in, his mother, and tell her to pick up the brown paper bag up front and take all his clothes. That's the end of the road for her boy. And then she says, "Why? Why?"