"It was around the summer of 1982 when the drug problem really impacted. It became a lifestyle rather than a recreation. When you start lying and stealing, you cannot con yourself you're in control any more"

Irvine Welsh's quote records a transformative minute in society relating to drug use, particularly showing how drug consumption can evolve from periodic indulgence to a specifying component of one's lifestyle. The recommendation to the "summertime of 1982" locates us in a specific historical context. Throughout this duration, numerous Western societies were experiencing shifts related to drug culture. The influx of stronger substances like crack cocaine and heroin, paired with economic and social obstacles, worsened drug issues.

Welsh keeps in mind a vital transition-- from occasional use ("entertainment") to dependency ("way of life"), symbolizing how something when perceived as a safe activity can insidiously take control of a person's life. This shift hints at deeper mental and societal concerns. Leisure suggests flexibility and pleasure, but once drug use becomes a lifestyle, it often brings constraints, dependency, and anguish.

The assertion about lying and taking highlights the moral and ethical decline often accompanying dependency. When individuals resort to deceptiveness or theft to sustain their addiction, it shows a loss of control. This stage marks a departure from reality, where individuals can no longer "con yourself you're in control". The internal conflict in between the individual's viewed control and actual dependence ends up being obvious. The illusion of control is shattered by habits that oppose individual values and societal standards. This descent marks the dangers of dependency, where self-deception turns to self-realization in the harshest way.

Welsh's use of individual change as a lens inclines us to review broader societal implications, consisting of the failure of social systems to address drug dependency successfully. At its core, the quote is a poignant tip of the potential for escapism to turn into entrapment and works as a cautioning about the personal and communal costs of unchecked addiction.