Author Irvine Welsh on "Trainspotting", Hit Book and Movie Opens in U. S.

July 20, 1996 - In the early 1980's a pipeline providing extremely pure, and cheap, heroin began pouring the drug into the Scottish Capital of Edinburgh. The effects were dramatic. In a matter of months the number of addicts soared. A couple of years later the number of needle transmitted HIV infections also mushroomed., so much so Edinburgh became known as the AIDS Capital of Europe. The drug explosion also drove Irvine Welsh to become a writer. Welsh is currently the hottest writer in Britain and his publishers are hoping he's about to make a huge impact in the U.S. The movie of his first novel "Trainspotting" opens this week in the states, after a hugely successful run in Britain.