doi:10.7916/d8-71t6-ez87Oral history interview with Mason Hoffenberg, 1981Hoffenberg, Masonoral historiesmixed materialAuthorsDrug addicts--United StatesDrug traffic--History--20th century.--United StatesDrug abuse--History--20th century.--United StatesHeroin abuse--History--20th century.--United StatesRecreational marijuana useDrug addicts--Rehabilitation--United StatesMethadone maintenance--History--20th century.--United StatesGreenwich Village (New York, N.Y.) Intellectual life 20th centuryWoodstock (N.Y.) HistoryHoffenberg, MasonOlympia Press (Paris, France)In this interview, Mason Hoffenberg discusses his life experiences, both in New York City and abroad, with a focus on his drug use. He describes his time in the Air Force during World War II. He discusses in depth his navigation of the blossoming artistic and literary scene in Greenwich Village in the 1940s and 1950s, where he met Allen Ginsberg, James Baldwin, and Jack Kerouac, among others. He explains that this group was very insular and tight-knit partially because they were among the first in the United States to start recreationally smoking marijuana. He discusses the development of an insider language among people in this scene, and explains that much of the slang originated from black jazz musicians, carnival workers, and drug addicts. He describes his nearly lifelong oscillation between Paris and New York, working for Olympia Press, and Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Paris, and his marriage to a Frenchwoman in 1953. He discusses his novel "Candy" which he co-authored with his friend Terry Southern in the mid 1950s. He describes his cycles of heroin addiction and detoxification, both in hospitals and independently. He describes traveling to London to recieve apomorphine treatment, designed by Doctor John Yerbury Dent. He compares the price, availability, and public perception of narcotics between London, Paris, and New York, as well as the addict-doctor relationships in the three cities. He discusses his move to Woodstock in the 1960s, and describes the drug scene and his personal heroin connections there. He describes his experience on the methadone program, as well as his experience detoxing from methadone. He compares heroin as a street drug to methadone, a sanctioned drug. He describes drug "supermarkets" that started opening up on the Lower East Side in the 1970s. He describes his reacquaintance with Judaism in recent years, and his studies at Lincoln Center Synagogue