Siminarifen Addiction

Doctor Kondury had seen it too many times before, particularly since taking up a position here at an asteroid mining facility. The slight flush. The constant twitch. The slow dialation of the pupils. The request for treatment of "dry mouth" in a youth. They ran the usual toxicology screen, per standards of practice, just in case, but the diagnosis was never in doubt. Siminarifen Addiction. The screen came back positive for Siminarifen, as well as the usual cocktail of stims, deps, and meve's. This kid was lit up like an asteroid landing dock. It's a wonder this kid hasn't collapsed under systemic stress, the doctor thought, as he filled in the necessary paperwork. Some minutes later, prepared thanks to many similar encounters, the Doctor met again with the patient.
Hello... Jakarta Running?
Yeah, me ma liked the sound o' that. Whatcha got for th' dry mouth?
I am afraid the situation is somewhat complex. I seems you are suffering from physical dependence on a collection of tightly controlled substances. Per company policy the local Director of Security has been notified, as well as your own Supervisor.
Wha'th'Fu'! Hey, aint you got 'ta help me?
Indeed. You are experiencing the early stages of systemic collapse that will result in your death within three to five weeks. I have notified the authorities, and arranged for full treatment at the Mars detoxification facility in order to prevent that outcome. You may, of course, refuse treatment, but I assure you that to do so is suicidal.
I, You, AAARRGGHH!
The youth began to twitch violently, and, prepared for this likely outcome, the doctor calmly called in the small medical response team present in this regional office. The team went to work restraining, and then quickly stabilizing their patient. They applied the necessary sedatives, carefully calculated ahead of time to work with the cocktail of drugs already in the system, and prepared the youth for the twelve hour transport to the nearest major medical facility, currently Mars Central. One of the nurses asked a common question.
Why do they do it, Doctor. Why do these young, healthy, miners turn to Siminarifen, or the other killer drugs we see so often here?
Asteroid mining is a dangerous, lonely, and difficult job, Nurse. The isolation and hard conditions can result in a host of psychological maladies. Some turn inward, some turn to the other miners, and some, far too many, turn to destructive drugs like this to escape, for a little while, from their harsh existence. Once, there were plans to transition most of the work to robots, automated equipment that would leave the few humans involved safely ensconced in well built and larger facilities where the conditions would be better and community stronger. The Corporation found, however, that it is better to have nearly everyone employed, even in terrible conditions, than to allow for a higher rate of unemployment due to greater use of automation. In the end it serves a purpose in the overall plan of the Sisters to ensure that young adults serve time in these harsh environments, rather than directing mostly autonomous robots.
So sad. This is the third this week we've sent to Mars. Do they ever return?
No. The lucky ones, the ones that survive, are transferred to duties on Mars or Earth. The rest....

Siminarifen, originally developed to treat a range of viral diseases that swept the globe in the third decade of the century, turned out to have a much different effect when mixed with a combination of other, nominally safe and legal, drugs. The first documented case of addiction was an Alcoholic Juicer who took the treatment for a mild virus. The poor man kept faking the disease with different doctors for six months before he ended up in a hospital with the classic symptoms of major collapse in the synaptic pathways. It turned out that this steroid-derived medication, when mixed with certain other substances, transformed into a potent agonist of a wide variety of neurotransmitters. The result was a brief, one to four hours, surge of hypercognition, followed by a longer, eight to twelve hours, period of suppressed function and mild hallucination. The combination was instantly addictive in a psychological sense, and produced profound physical dependence within as little as five days of regular use.