Crossword Genius

Haver, beginning to abandon drug (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

owner

'haver' is the definition.

'beginning to abandon drug' is the wordplay.
'beginning to abandon' means to remove the first letter.
'drug' becomes 'downer' (downer is a kind of drug).
'downer' with its first letter removed is 'OWNER'.

(Other definitions for owner that I've seen before include "The person in lawful possession" , "Holder, possessor" , "Title-holder" , "possessive type" , "One who has something" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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