Easy Come, Easy GO

The Battle of Drug Addiction

Drug addiction is a serious issue running rampant in the graffiti community. I find a lot of writers must use substances to go outside & create their art. Whether its the nerves or fear that is the catalyst, or maybe they’ve always been heavy into drugs, but whatever the reason, I wish it wasn’t so frequently talked about. Meeting writers in my area, I find that a large majority of them are recovering addicts or still slipping down the slope that is drugs. I know it’s part of life & I shouldn’t be negatively impacted by others, but I think it severely impacts your judgement & decision-making, obviously.

I’ll be the first to tell you that some drugs are awesome! Cannabis, for example, is a prime contributor to my creative process. I find that inhaling cannabis or ingesting it gives me the freedom to abandoned the fear of judgment & express myself creatively. LSD has given me experiences that were so vivid & memorable, I think about them regularly. I have flashbacks to the feelings & sensations I had while intoxicated. I listened to Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” in a pitch-black dark basement watching the room light up in fireworks & beautiful colors. Mushrooms always seem to give me an alternative perspective on life & my place in the world.

With that being said, I realize that other drugs do the same thing for some people, but the problem lays with addiction & abuse. Most of the time, trying drugs won’t kill you or harm your brain activity, but when you begin to chase that feeling & sensation constantly, it can truly harm your body physically, but also mentally & spiritually.

I’ve seen it first-hand! My friend, let’s call him Amari, use to love smoking weed. We use to hangout by the basketball courts & play ball regularly. We used to walk to different parks to play pickup games & we’d smoke weed constantly. For any weed smokers, they know the high they get nowadays is no where near the psychedelic feeling they first got, but we continue to smoke because of one reason or the other. Eventually Amari got introduced to Percocet when we went out to a party one night. We walked over together, but got separated shortly after because there was hella people wondering around socializing. Later in the night, I spotted Amari off by the pool in the backyard with his teeth showing & his body swaying back & forth. I asked if he had gotten too drunk, but when I got close I could hear his teeth grinding. He was moving his jaw in a way that made his teeth clench up tight & release in a matter of milliseconds. He ended up getting fired from his overnight job, losing his car, & back to living at his mom’s house in her spare garage. He’s doing a lot better nowadays, but we lost contact over the years. I grew in a different direction & I didn’t see him progressing in a good way.

I lost my uncle to an overdose in 2015 a week before I went off to college. It was devastating for the family & I. We all knew had substance abuse problems, but we were told he was working through it with his new wife. He had been hanging out at his father’s house because of issues with the same wife & my grandfather is a huge family man so he wanted to help his son. Nobody really knew the extent to which my uncle’s addiction was until it was too late. My grandfather found him laying face down in the basement hours after his passing. I didn’t believe my mother when she came to my room crying that morning. I jumped out of bed & ran a few blocks over to see it for myself. It was like 7 in the morning & the temperature was starting to drop again. In shorts & a tank top I stood on the sidewalk as they carted my uncle off into the ambulance. I listened to my family cry & ask God for help. It was a lot for a developing person to witness first-hand. I wasn’t young, but I was still finding my place in this world & learning how to become an adult.

Drugs have always been an issue in today’s society & especially rampant in the graffiti community. It’s an underworld that not many people are privy too. I see it too often. Recently learned that one of the company’s I wanted to work with was ran by a recovering addict. I say recovering addict lightly because they day I met her, I thought she was drunk. She was stumbling around the room, slurring her words, & dropping paint brushes every few minutes. I didn’t understand why until I realize the people she was associated with. I’ve been in Springfield the majority of my life & was born in Forest Park. I know drug addicts when I see one & she was giving me all of the red flags. I say all that, without judgement or distaste, to say that I don’t care what you do in your personal & free time. I just don’t want to be held accountable for anything you say or do while under the influence. I’m already putting my freedom at risk by painting on illegal surfaces & places, I can’t put my trust & safety in people who I know are already compromised.

I know this post might make people hate me or look at me different, but I feel like it has to be said. People should realize that if they like to get high all of the time, they can’t don’t always have control over their actions. In situations like the ones I find myself in, I can’t have an unreliable person around me. I’ve already got burnt by one writer who has a serious mental issue, that I’m upset I didn’t see earlier. He gave out my phone number & what type of car I drive to other drug addicts. I’ve always wanted to meet some of these writers that I looked up too, but now I realize that I just want to admire the art they create. I don’t want to get to know these people. I found a lot of amazing artists, have terrible personalities for one reason or the other.

I just want to create art & live my life. I don’t want to deal with the unnecessary stressors that could increase my chances of getting in trouble or arrested. I think drugs can be a good way to destress & unwind, but in moderation & with control/restraint. Chasing a feeling of bliss will only ruin the beauty of it. I pray a lot of artist get well & stay clean. I’m proud of those working & continuing to choose a drug-free lifestyle. It takes a lot of courage to turn your life around & start making strides in the right direction. I hope you all find peace & love!

Jekl from 2017

Els, Splat, Beon, Nest, & someone else that I can’t read

Crete

RIP John “Coaltrain” Easly

Crete

Looks identical to one of the pictures above, but it’s just a handstyle that has been practiced a million & one times.

This freight kinda reminds me of a placeholder. They wrote on the train as a placeholder for their space when they return. Maybe with more paint, maybe with a ladder? Love the concept though.

Soak from 2017 & 2018! Love this one because of the quote

Easy Come Easy GO

Pioneer Valley Railroad! I thought they were picking up freights so I stayed a little longer & got some videos & pictures. Unfortunately, they were actually dropping off & I think the conductor must have gotten spooked by me standing there recording. They know that people write & paint on these things. They try to hide their layups quietly & out of the way from people who may go searching for them. This conduct must have been trying to keep their cargo here overnight, but because they saw me maybe they thought I was going to alert people where to find them? Either way, they moved the freight a few hours later. Maybe it was just there for crew shift change? The world may never know.

Anon 1

Justy

I’ve always wondered what this was. Is it a church? Is it a flower pot? Is it a freight train? I should really just message & ask

Freight Bandit from 2021 a Reluctant Enthusiast

GO from the 413 with an ugly ass tank & Chevs

Thank you for viewing! There are a few more freight pictures will full color below, for a small fee. By supporting me you gain access to more exclusive pictures of graffiti in the Western MA & New England area. You also get sticker packs, magazines, & canvases as a thank you for supporting me along this journey. Hope to see you on the other side. Thank you to everyone who views, likes, & shares my posts. It means the world to me that other people are interested in the pictures I take.

Peace & Love from the 413