What is "dopefiend"

n. (alternative form of dope fiend English)

Dopefiend: The Story of a Black Junkie is a 1971 novel by Donald Goines and his first published novel. The book is considered to be Goines's benchmark novel and shares some similarities to the author's life. The book deals with "the power dynamics between dealer and junkie and illustrates how a perverted, cowardly, black drug dealer in a dilapidated ghetto house can exert his influence across socioeconomic boundaries over anyone who becomes addicted to heroin. Goines emphasizes that no heroin user can emerge from the experience unscathed."

The novel was written while Goines was incarcerated and was written after his book Whoreson was accepted by Holloway House's editors, but was published first.