How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Requiem for a Dream.
Quote #4
HARRY: Hey, Ma. You on uppers? […] Does the stuff makes you feel good, sorta, and give you lots of pep?
SARA: Well, yeah, a little.
HARRY: A little? I can hear you grinding your teeth from here.
SARA: That goes away at night!
HARRY: At night?
SARA: Yeah, when I take the green one. Thirty minutes, I'm asleep. Poof, just like that.
As a drug addict himself, Harry recognizes that his mother's on something. If Sara's friends ever try and stop her dangerous pill habit, we don't see it. Either they don't care, or they don't know how dangerous it is because they are not used to the symptoms of addiction. Or option C: their hearing aids are turned down and they can't hear the grinding.
Quote #5
HARRY: Ma. Ma. You gotta cut that stuff loose. I'm telling you, it's no good.
SARA: What do you mean it's no good? Twenty-five pounds I've lost.
HARRY: Big deal. So what? You want to be a dope fiend, for chrissake?
SARA: What is with the dope fiend? Am I foaming at the mouth or something?
Sara doesn't consider herself an addict or a drug user because her drugs were prescribed to her, not bought off the street. But her addiction is just as dangerous. Addiction comes in many forms – street drugs, prescription medication, peanut M&Ms.
Quote #6
SARA: How come you know so much, huh? How come you know more about medicine than a doctor?
HARRY: Believe me, Ma. I know. All right? You'll get strung out, for Chrissake.
Harry does care about his mother, and he tries to show this by turning her away from the drugs. But another thing he knows is that a habit like this is hard to break.