Oral history interview with Steve K., 1980

Biographical Note

Steve K. was born to Polish immigrants on February 2, 1902 in Brooklyn, New York. His formal education ended after twelfth grade. At eighteen years of age, he was incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility for fifteen and a half years for killing a man. After being released, he began to work as a welder in the Brooklyn shipyards. In 1945, he had an operation on his stomach to remove a cancer, and while in recovery at Queens General Hospital, he became addicted to morphine. After being released from the hospital, he continued to receive morphine prescriptions from his doctor for the next fifteen years. During this period, he also used cocaine. Steve K. was incarcerated three more times between 1940 and 1970, and spent a total of eighteen more years incarcerated in that period. When he was not in jail, Steve worked as a tailor. In 1960, he transitioned from taking morphine to Dilaudid, given to him by friends who had prescriptions. In 1973 he joined a methadone program. Steve K. was interviewed for the project that led to the book Addicts Who Survived. The name is likely a pseudonym for the project

Scope and Contents

In this interview, Steve K. discusses his life in New York City, with a focus on his drug use. He recalls getting addicted to morphine in 1945 after a surgery at Queens General Hospital to remove cancer in his stomach. He describes how he continued acquiring morphine prescriptions from his doctor for fifteen years after his surgery. He also discusses mixing the morphine with cocaine he bought from dealers in the street. He reviews his arrest history, and discusses time he spent incarcerated. Facilities included: Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Clinton Correctional Facility (Dannemora), and United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth. He discusses how drugs were smuggled into the prisons. He recalls occupations he held when he was not incarcerated, namely as a welder and a tailor. He discusses his experience detoxing from drugs at Lexington Kentucky Hospital. He describes his transition from morphine to Dilaudid in 1960, and his transition to methadone in 1973, when he joined a methadone maintenance program

Subjects

• Courtwright, David T., 1952- interviewer.
• Drug addicts--Rehabilitation--United States.
• Drug addicts--United States.
• Drugs--Prescribing.
• Imprisonment--United States.
• Interviews.
• Joseph, Herman, 1931- interviewer.
• K., Steve--Interviews.
• Methadone maintenance--United States--History--20th century.
• Morphine abuse--United States--History--20th century.
• Narcotic Farm.
• Oral histories (literary works)

Access Conditions

Copyright by David Courtwright