"I've been using narcotics for 20 years"
About this Quote
The phrasing is tellingly unsentimental. Not "struggled with" or "battled" but "been using" - clinical, procedural, almost passive. It reads like a man already speaking from inside the machinery of addiction, where moral drama has been replaced by routine. The number does the heavy lifting: two decades makes it less a scandal than a weather system. Whatever the original gateway (injury, anxiety, sleep, pain) is irrelevant now; longevity implies inevitability.
Context sharpens the sting. Mid-century Hollywood could sell audiences fantasies while quietly feeding performers the chemistry to survive the grind: stimulants to work, sedatives to come down, opiates to numb what the camera couldn't fix. Lugosi's Hungarian accent and gothic typecasting narrowed his opportunities, and the industry that profited from his face offered little when the roles dried up. The line plays like a stripped-down negotiation with the public: not a confession for absolution, but a declaration of fact. If there's a plea, it's buried under the fatigue - a request to be seen as a human body, not a monster silhouette.
Quote Details
| Topic | Health |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Lugosi, Bela. (2026, January 18). I've been using narcotics for 20 years. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-been-using-narcotics-for-20-years-18554/
Chicago Style
Lugosi, Bela. "I've been using narcotics for 20 years." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-been-using-narcotics-for-20-years-18554/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I've been using narcotics for 20 years." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-been-using-narcotics-for-20-years-18554/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.




