Rather inferior doctor about to ingest opiate initially (8)
I believe the answer is:
mediocre
'rather inferior' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'doctor about to ingest opiate initially' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'doctor' could be 'me' and 'me' is present in the answer.
'about' could be 're' (regarding) and 're' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for mediocre that I've seen before include "Come ride (anag.)" , "Ordinary" , "Of unexceptional quality" , "Average (but poor)" , "Fair, middle of the road" .)