I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Philip Seymour Hoffman’s astonishing performances live on stage in both Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2003) and Death of a Salesman (2012), and I always found him a joy to watch in his incredible range of roles in the movies. He was one of those rare truly unique talents.
I admit to some purely selfish reasons for being upset with his passing, just in thinking about all those future roles he now won’t play. I would have loved to see what he could do as an old man.
There will be a lot of discussion about heroin and addiction in the next few days, and a lot of that will be ignorant knee-jerk reactions (I’m already seeing some friends on Facebook declaring how this reinforces the importance of telling people to just say “no” to drugs.)
It’s a lot more complicated than that, and I have questions… Does this have any connection to the new batch of dangerous fentanyl-poisoned heroin being distributed on the east cost? How does this connect to his recent stint in treatment? (As we know, treatment can actually lead to overdose if people aren’t aware of the change in their tolerance.) Why was he alone? (Does stigma increase the danger and reduce the opportunities for reversing the overdose with naloxone?) Was uncertain dosage due to prohibition a factor?
Perhaps this will be an opportunity for some good discussion. That would be nice.
This makes me concerned for CJ in regards to the East Coast poisoned heroin. Hoffman is the reason why I enjoy Capote, which further lead me down the road to other great books and even to Beckett. Had our society embraced marijuana back in his early days as we do now, would he then use hard drugs? It seem like hard drugs are becoming a bit more defunct with all the publicity marijuana is getting (one less prohibited apple to bite from). Even the great playwright Lett is talking about marijuana being a bit more ‘OK’ or ‘safer’ than Pills. Someone who uses a lot of grass uses a lot of grass, while a pill popper is a drug addict in the words of Mrs. Streep . . . same with booze being more damming than grass is for a grass user. Obviously keeping it illegal didn’t help him . . . nothing wrong with ‘just say no’, but total legalization will reduce such tragic deaths since laws don’t stop everyone from using. Legalization will increase education and of course a reduction in the kind of stigma that made this poor man die alone.
It would be nice to have a rational national discussion.
As to those initial ‘knee-jerk’ reactions – premature intellectual ejaculation (or PIE). It’s time for those voices to be ignored as irrelevant to much of anything. They need to be put at the kid’s table while the adults talk.
As we know there’s nothing fact based about drugs prohibition. I’m not sure about the rest of you but the all-encompassing insanity of the times is almost overwhelming to me. Ignoring the oncoming environmental change leads the insanity charge and most of the other issues of insanity stem from the mess we’ve made with our narrow planetary life zone.
A simple rule of nature is that you don’t piss and poop in your water supply (unless you’re a wild burro)(and I bet they only piss and not poop in their water sources) and generally speaking that’s what we’ve done.
And then there’s all these issues of how we deal with each other… good lord… for our crimes against ourselves we seriously should have the planet taken away. Failure to play well together is anathema to group success.
Put it in whatever context you need but that the plant kingdom supplies in raw form some pretty heavy weight medicines that work for and are known to humans is a living definition of symbiosis.
We don’t need to have adulterated anything in place of pure, known dosage and quality tested substances. We need regulation, not prohibition. In deaths like Hoffman’s -RIP- there is nowhere but at the feet of prohibitionists to lay the blame.
Those that argue otherwise are the same puritan voices that hid evidence (for nearly 3 decades!) of a promising cancer killing substance. That is obscene. That is pornography. That is a crime against humanity.
And that there is a massive global collusion between cartels, banks and governments is as obvious as who is going to win the StuporBowl.
Drugs prohibition is part of that war against nature (and thus ourselves) we wage. The free use of natural bounty is written in our DNA. Liberty is not a concept. Freedom means freedom to choose.
I feel a line being drawn. We have delivered a terrible blow to our enemies w/ our last election. They are on the ropes… they may still have their thuggish machine still grinding up bodies but in fine Ed Abbey style, we’ve monkey-wrenched the works and the machine is grinding and grumbling. When the machine can no longer defend the wall, it shall fall quickly.
Choke it, beat it, pound the living crap out of it/them. There are no Marcus of Doonesbury rules in this fight. The death of WODbeast is the goal.
Your example of PIE reminded me of this post. The only surprising thing about it is that it wasn’t written by (k)Lieman or Harrumphreys.
To have a rational national discussion one must first find a rational nation. For there to be a rational nation there must be a preponderance of rational, sentient humans. People must be willing to examine their core beliefs and accept change. No such nation and no such people have yet been found. Ergo, no rational national discussion is possible. The discussion will proceed, however it will be full of irrationality of various kinds. Only when the people accept that they have been misled all these years and accept that change is not only inevitable but necessary will there be change. Many writers are calling the fight over and won. I disagree; the fight is well under way but it is far from won. If there is a scare, it will scare all the fence sitters their way and we will be set back years. Don’t count your chickens, people.
My thoughts too, Pete. Uncertain strength and adulteration are the result of the war on drugs.
Prohibition is the killer. Heroin doesn’t kill when used propery and outside of suicide there is no logical reason to use it improperly. Even under prohibition thousands use heroin every day. With the consistency and quality assurance of pharmaceuticals, a medical examination for potential side effects, heroin is a safe remedy for reaching pain faster. No one should have to guess what they are injecting or smoking. Forcing that is no less than premeditated murder.
Racism, classism, demonizing are all tools, not final products or naturally occuring. They are taught to separate and control the masses. D’oh! The Ganjawar is a product. Congress are puppets. They do what they’re told. Products aren’t sold if they end the war. Winning or losing is not prudent at this juncture. Perpetuation, no different than health care treatments over prevention or cures. Crime laws are based on cage capacity and empty beds. Treating the problems whether they be figments of drug worrier imaginations or with actual victims. Overwhelmingly caused by prohibition. 80-100k dead Mexicans because Obama can’t fart without permission. The Wall St answer is sell more guns legalizing Vigilantes.
Mexico Moves to Legalize Anti-Drug Vigilantism
Jan 28 2014
After months of tacit co-operation with rural vigilantes trying to drive out a cult-like drug cartel, the Mexican government has moved to permanently solve one of its toughest security problems with a plan to legalize the growing movement and bring it under the army’s control.
☀Beat the Recession in Denver vs 60,000 Dead Mexicans
☀Are US Pot Laws the Root Cause of Mexican Drug Violence?
☀Ganjawar Puppets Cave… again
Too draconian gets sympathy from soccer moms. Without Monsanto agent orange, hippies or Lt. Cali and then the Pentagon Papers Vietnam left to the media and Nixon and his predecessors would probably still be active. The cold war ending was 50,000 Russian musicians, hippies and Bonnie Raite marching on red square the media neglected to publish much of. Not Rayguns or Bush selling it. Nothing changed much since Nixon as far as a large segment of the public has always smoked Ganja. The polls change up and down as well as the availability and potency. All kept flowing. If Congress had a say they would have authorized Jeb Bush to eradicate anything looking like Ganja with Fungus, Fusarium oxysporum or Rayguns Paraquat. The Military wiping out stoners is not a new suggestion. Neocon religionists spewing hate for hemp like Calvin and Dobbs and sabetaur, scream to take no prisoners just wipe em out, kill them all and solve the problem. Legalizing quasi laws means it is still outlawed and giving states what the feds don’t have to pay for is a blessing for Obama and Bush and the entire Ganjawar Industrial Complex.
NeoConflicts of Interest
☀Bush Barthwell & Drugs
☀MJ Research Cut as Support Grows.
☀Urinalysis growth industry and more rehabs and cages.
Bush Barthwell & Drugs with Bayer and the Mississsippi Schwag Farm.
Why would anyone believe they care about dispensaries other than competition removed. Its all about removing competition and selling prohibition.
It’s not even a secret, why the corporate media, politicops and refriedformers require this prohibition to continue. Even after they are set up with Big Pharma, Sabetaur SAM is protecting. Then would probably be the best time for a Military intervention on above ground businesses. But no reason to kill the golden goose of prohibition on stoners and growers. The underground market will go back to before all this logic and common sense beyond imagination. What the Dispensaries and Hempreneurs have accomplished while under the hurdles of war is remarkable. We owe a debt to their perseverance. But they are in the way of corporatism.
The Feds have the patents, they have the pot farm, they have distribution, packaging and until the last drop of crude is sucked out of the ground they are not going to give it up profits on doing the right thing or a safer alternative. Nor are Adolph H. Coors or the old Budgeiser. Incrementalism is stalling a loud demand to remove cannabis in all forms as a controlled substance. For a few without connections with money to pay the price the bigger picture is zoomed in blurring reality that this plant should not be illegal and if the roots are poison so be the fruit they are trying to sell. Giving states jurisdiction to bust citizens for amounts, caused by profiteers limit laws. Forcing the communities to “buy” amounts sanctioned and taxed by the state. Homegrown be damned. So what the Incrementalists are doing is what the Feds will do to them when Big Pharma and Big Ag take over.
Or conditionally surrendering certain ailments, to leave cops reason to bust. The Feds have said they have no manpower to root us out. So the desperate and greedy fix it for him with Incremental Retardation. Ping Pong match. Whack a mole. While the IOM still sits at the HHS so the FDA can’t approve it to test. Koch cages stay full. Jerry Brownose would rather spend 30k a head for non violent stoners in cages and make it up taking from the wheel chair people and schools. Hemp is the enemy of synthetic anything. Or potentially more economical and environmentally sound that using trees, chemical frankenfoods, nukes, coal, factory farms and fossil fools. The bread is buttered, the time for this silly notion of appeasing and pleasing and lesser evils has worn out its welcome. Americans look like they are getting what the world has been praying for. Self inhalation. Cannibils for and foe Cannabis! Giveitawaygiveitawaygiveitaway.
Catch 22²
Exactly. The war on drugs only makes them unsafe.
Philip Seymour Hoffman was reported to have been “clean” for 23 years. He wasn’t “clean”; he was depriving himself for that amount of time.
Let’s put an end of this ridiculous war – the truth is, 90% of those drugs are directed to Wall Street. If the war on drugs had any validity, brokers would be frog-marched multiple times daily.
I was going to do a piece on PSH, but you’ve all said it much better than I could have.
Thanks.
It will take time for the autopsy results to be revealed. There will be wild speculations planted by the government in the MSM, all designed to support the prohibitionist agenda. It will become an opportunity for bloggers to challenge drug stereotypes.
Were this the result of a typical accident in the home, like falling down a flight of stairs, the publicity would be different. In this country, we try to reduce stairway accidents by technical means, like installing railings, and anti-slip surfaces. Not so for the drug users. A drug user doesn’t have the same rights as someone walking down stairs. No indeed. Doing no harm doesn’t apply to doing harm to drug users. This is a discrimination that must stop. When it does, many tragedies like that involving Philip Seymour Hoffman will end.
While unknown purity could very likely have played a role, they went as far as naming the specific stamps (branding) of what he had- Ace of Hearts and Ace of Spades. A level of detail rarely reported, and much appreciated. They are not fentanyl-laced OD-magnets (or maybe they have fentanyl, but they’re not vastly ahead in strength, like the original WorldWide stamps a couple months back, or the 24K and MagicCity stamps now). They are average products. And I strongly object to the characterization of “fentanyl-poisoned”. These are great products. Having fentanyl (no real difference from any other full agonist opioid) making a bag super strong is a good thing. It’s not a poison. It’s simply another narcotic drug that is often used to increase strength. People need to be responsible about their drug use and not do their full dose when they pick up a new batch. Obviously legal products with known purity would be better, but it still falls to the user to exercise due caution when dealing with the most dangerous of drugs; don’t pretend for a minute people don’t overdose on fentanyl in the form of quality controlled pharmaceutical products like Duragesic patches or Actiq lollipops.
What is more likely, as Pete says, is that we have someone who goes in and out of addiction, and likely did as much as he used to after a period where his tolerance went down to zero.
-One of those normal guys that nobody would dream is a heroin addict, because we’re responsible and you don’t hear about us.
I’d rather my heroin packaged like this: http://www.auralis.co.uk/Products/DiamorphineHydrochlorideBP5mg.aspx
In either pre-filled syringes or a nasal spray.
With some naloxone in the box as well.
I used to smoke the gel from the Duragesic patches. Interesting product.
Woah, those are good for like 3 days (72 hrs give or take) – I can’t imagine ANYONE ever smoking the gel…
I read they changed them somewhat since then – but I used to know someone that would poke holes or small cuts in the inner membrane to absorb it faster. (She had a really massive tolerance and a severe pain issue – so it wasn’t pure ‘abuse’ she had legitimate chronic/severe pain – from a car accident.)
But seeing her mess with them like that was scary + she’d go thru them faster… which was a problem when she’d go to get more – it was a real PITA for everyone.
Still, I can’t imagine what I’d would’ve said or done if I saw her trying to smoke the things? You’re the first person I’ve ever heard of even suggesting that as a possibility *shiver* yikes!
But, apparently it was changed to some sort of semi-solid ‘matrix’ as opposed the the liquid-ish “gel” that they used to have.
I LOVE Almost Famous, and its sad to see the guy die – but I do wonder if he was using (off & on or not) would he have been the same actor – If he’d been totally clean & sober for the 23 years(?) its been said – that he claimed. I’d never heard of him being a addict – my first guess was alcohol poisoning.
But, if he’d gotten clean, started back up, and then gotten even a little careless – that could easily have been the issue. And if people had access to opiates of various -known strengths- that he might still be alive.
Getting into “what-ifs” is somewhat pointless (IMHO)- Hoffman (along with anyone & everyone else) could’ve/(still can) die any number of ways at any second, the cliche “wrong place, wrong time”, literally under a bus, etc.
The drugs may have killed him ‘prematurely’ – or it might have been ‘his time’ = maybe God was ready for some excellent live theater!
IDK, about “all the above” (pun *lightheartedly* intended)…
But, one thing I absolutely do know – was hearing James Lipton (the ‘inside the actor’s studio’ guy) = talk about how he much “hates drugs” on Morning Joe earlier today was almost enough to make me puke.
And just thinking about the opportunistic, self-aggrandizing, ‘Pols & Pundits’ – talking and Bloviating about “him being taken from us too soon”, etc.
Just recalling it right now = makes me a nauseous, Philip Hoffman didn’t “belong to them”, nor ANY of the other people who we all KNOW are absolutely going to take this as an opportunity to push their ‘anti-drug’ agendas.
Okay, I’ve got the Almost Famous Soundtrack playing, & I’m gonna try to calm my stomach and think of something positive… I just can’t imagine he would want anyone to be presuming to speak for him, or blame “the drugs”. (Unless they were literally “bad” – reportedly they weren’t and barring new info) – He was the only one responsible and, as sad as this all is = it was HIS LIFE, for him to lose.
And please – Pardon me, but IMNSHO, James Lipton can go fuck himself!
I got the idea to smoke the gel from a publication called the “Medical Letter.”
Otherwise it would have never occurred to me.
Hello everyone. I would like to say a few things but before I do I do think it’s important to remember that if not for prohibition this man would likely be alive today. I need some coffee bad and im going to look more into this too but I will be back.
Stay safe, CJ! The tragedy of this loss, almost immediately sent my thoughts to you.
Prohibition kills. In so many ways.
Prohibition does not stop quite a lot of people from using this drug.
Prohibition seems to make it hard, to impossible, for them to find a clean, known product in a reliable dose.
Maybe, just maybe, Philip would be alive today and working on his next project if he’d had access to a known product.
Yes, he took a risk. But the way this complete prohibition is run… it’s like telling a race car driver that because it’s a stupid thing to do… he can’t have a safety belt or harness.
How about telling the sky diver… maybe your chute will open, maybe it won’t. Half of them have rotten cords, because we don’t approve of you doing this… but you know the risk.
Terrible waste of a great actor.
But I’m having troubles myself. Had trouble sleeping last night due to all the beer I drank at the party. Took some doc prescribed sleeping pills and finally fell off.
Woke up this morning with a nasty headache, so I gobbled down some aspirin, drank lots of caffeine and have been getting my daily dose of morning nicotine.
My back is giving my some pain, better take some doc prescribed pain pills to work.
And don’t want to get the latest batch of flu, better get another shot of flu vaccine….
Ok I got my coffee, cigarette is in mouth and lit. First and foremost I would like to thank war vet for the kind words and concerns and I would like to thank anyone here who does think of me or says a prayer for me because it is brutal out there. Further more after a night of insane heroin withdrawal that will not be getting better until way later today (because I may be getting 50 bucks) I definitely appreciate your thoughts. Second thing, about the deceased… First, in a.. well when I guess I lived in a different world, indeed once upon a time I was engaged to a beautiful girl and we saw movies alot one of our favorite things to do and I saw capote with her and he was excellent. Pete is right that a great actor died and the fact that it’s a fellow heroin user is even sadder for me. That being said I would like to share a few things and this may get long, I hope you wont mind. Okay yes its true that the word on the street (of nyc, where I live, literally) is theres bad dope going around. There’s two things to say here. First and most important to any who look at a celebrity dope od and reply with “that’s why prohibition is a must, just say no” well no you’re wrong its because of prohibition that poison heroin exists so let’s not forget that. Second, when I was arrested at the mount Vernon metro north station 3 years ago after posting bail the chief told me about a couple ods and bad dope the point is there is ALWAYS bad dope out there. To this end most heroin has stamps on it like a brand name. Stick with the brands you know and you should be okay. Phillip Seymour Hoffman died in the presence of bags stamped “ace in the hole” and “ace of spades”. He was Manhattan based as am I (though I usually get my things in Brooklyn) and I can say ive never heard of the stamps he used. Now, was it bad dope? Well I don’t know but this I do know, a bundle of heroin means 10 bags (it used to mean more) and there’s two kinds of ways to shoot dope (Hoffman was an iv user as explained in the articles he died with rig in arm) the homeless junkie (me) will probably go a bag or two at a time because were broke panhandlers its 10 a bag (for singles) and if you’re not female and don’t have a dog it can take hours to get 10 bucks. When you are a rich actor or kurt cobain you can afford bundles at a time and its way more effective to shoot multiple bags versus one at a time. Its said that Hoffman was in the presence of 8 empty bags when he died. If he did an 8 bagger well that’s a hell of a shot even for someone with money and tolerance. Consider in my life ive never even done that. To me that’s possibly suicide. That may be what happened. Now unfortunately I have to get going now I have something to do but I wanted to say alot more ill try to come back later but before I go I want to say, the anti od/od reversal drug, naloxon, see if you aren’t involved you wouldn’t know but generally we don’t want that. I have been present for ods, two come to mind one at the second ave library around the corner from st marks place and then a little bit up the street at kmart. Both times the said friend who oded first thing they did after waking up is to forcefully remove the iv with the naloxon, this always precipitate a physical confrontation with the ems. When around other users I always make it a point to say if anyone naloxons me if I od ill kill them. The traditional methods of punch to the stomach or groin or water on the face or down the pants is far more preferred because if that naloxon gets in you im telling you the pain it causes makes you wish you were dead anyway it is beyond me why they make these drugs cause withdrawal etc. Its just more drug war moral superiority insanity. I gotta go but I hope to be back later
CJ – Just by virtue of its mechanism of action, introduction of Nalaxone into an opiate dependent’s system is going to be painful if they aren’t already in withdrawal. The Nalaxone has a much higher binding affinity than most (any?) other opioids, even powerful full agonists like Diacetyl or oxymorphone, and because of this, competes for your receptors in your brain and wins, essentially stripping all the full agonist bound in your brain and replacing it with a partial agonist.
This is what precipitates withdrawal, this stripping of full agonist from your receptors. Yes, it’s painful, speaking from experience in troubled times, but your life is worth that pain. The Nalaxone only effectively blocks your receptors for a short period, so it’s not a stretch to say you could likely take a small dose of whatever it is to make you well very shortly after exiting the throes of precipitated withdrawal, ie Hell on Earth.
And you leave with your life intact. Don’t deny the Nalaxone when it can save your life. Most hard-core opiate addicts are pros when it comesto withdrawing, whats a few hours of it to see another day?
The Israeli’s are using cannabis to help people to quit opiates,tobacco and alcohol as an exit drug but they didn’t build a foolproof way to stop medical research like the US did,,they didn’t put the enforcers that depend on marijuana prohibition for 60% of their budget in control of medical studies,,wish we had thought of that…
It’s a shame, it really is. Through my years of battling opiate addiction, all the trial and error, success and relapse, I’ve become convinced of one thing:
Getting clean is the easy part and Cannabis is the only thing that has helped me stay clean. In absence of Cannabis, the lure of Lady Opium is too strong for me. Surely this speaks to my personal failings, but I have a feeling many others could and would benefit in the same way with improved access.
cj, I appreciate seeing your comments. Glad you’re okay. Thanks for sharing your story.
Take care of yourself.
I told Malcolm earlier,,if you have not seen Cold Mountain Philip plays as one of the main supporting roles in a different kind of Civil War movie,,very believable.
Watching right now:
http://putlocker.bz/watch-cold-mountain-online-free-putlocker.html
It’s sad it really is.. What’s even sadder is the people who are downing him because they’ve never been an addict. Like any drug when used excessively can kill but heroin has to be the worst. No one can really judge him as no one really knows what he was going through, just by my own personal experiences and failure to get clean.. I deeply feel sorry for his family, as I know an addiction is an addiction and it takes someone strong to overcome that. Most think they can and have but only takes one time, just one time “trying” that again and you’re right back at square one.
I decided a long time ago never to cross the opiate line. I was in northern Thailand, the lad had it in his hand and offered and I said no, repeatedly. I know myself. I have empathy for all people who enjoy something but for whatever reason feel compelled to quit that which they enjoy. It is super stressful and pointless. It is also part of why we have prohibition. Do-gooders genuinely want to make things better for you, they just don’t ‘get’ that their efforts actually make things much worse for you and without stopping anyone from doing the ‘shameful’ act and without saving even one life, indeed causing many deaths. I hold out little hope that we will rationalize the prohibition of opiates in my lifetime, seeing as I have been waiting over 40 years of adult life for the pot laws to rationalize. I hope that the regulation of cannabis will lead to further rationalization of regulation of all drugs, however it will likely be a lengthy process. Soldier on.
my only experience with opiates was in Thailand as well. The attraction was short lived. Ganja was and remains my preference. Ah… and of course the occasional jaunt with our friends with the funny hats. It’s pretty much all a good time for them.
I’m less skeptical than you about the end of prohibition. Conditionally of course…
if nature continues to intensify the kicking of our collective asses, all bets are off…
Sorry to be so dense, but you lost me with the ‘friends with the funny hats’ line. ?????
shrooms… sorry for the obscurity!
Never understood the attraction people have to opiates — and I’ve lived with chronic pain too. I took T3s once and it just made me loopy and constipated. Give me a heavy indica over that anyday.
It seems every few years we hear stories about high-purity heroin killing addicts. I’m not keen on conspiracy theories, but I’d not be surprised if the government puts this on the street to cause panic and reinforce prohibition. Because I doubt heroin dealers want to kill-off their customers, at least intentionally…
And it seems that, with all those empty heroin packets scattered around his apartment, it wasn’t an overdose due to purer than average heroin (and if he was really clean, that first pop would have put him down). Plus, how many dealers cut their heroin with fentanyl – a drug more expensive (and more difficult to produce) than heroin?
I too wonder about this.
“According to the U.S. Attorney General, the Sinaloa Cartel is responsible for importing into the United States and distributing nearly 200 tons of cocaine and large amounts of heroin between 1990 and 2008.” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinaloa_Cartel
Nations Largest Cocaine Smuggler Revealed: The DEA
http://youtu.be/jbGaWSXfbWk
Since the Government has tightened its restrictions on Doctor’s ordering opiates for patients with pain, coincidentally heroin is rising in prominence on the streets. Is this truly coincidence? Sinaloa smuggles heroin too. Its time for someone to take a look at the connection between the DEA and its new snitch buddy partner – The Sinaloa Drug Cartel.
Gold star for TC! Spot on…
Amazing that these questions aren’t more obvious to those claiming to be journalists. Not so strange that this is the territory the prohibs will never discuss – just like they won’t talk about the victims of the drug war.
The caca floweth deep. The sole hope of the prohibitionist – cartel – banker co-conspirators is that no one notices the stench. The prohibs crow about “success” in Colombia but it was Plan Colombia (which morphed into Plan Mexico) that created the ongoing tragedy in Mexico.
“They ‘re So Corrupt, It’s Thrilling.”
Lenny Bruce’s Killers Pardon Him
http://www.flashpointmag.com/bruce.htm
the assassinated press
http://www.theassassinatedpress.com/
Huge amount of prohibitionist garbage up at the Wa. Po. on Eugene Robinson’s editorial on PSH. Have at. It’s what is known as a target rich environment: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-philip-seymour-hoffmans-death-shows-that-were-losing-this-drug-war/2014/02/03/7b58568e-8d16-11e3-98ab-fe5228217bd1_allComments.html?ctab=all_&wp_login_redirect=0
Philip Seymour Hoffman Didn’t Have to Die
By Maia Szalavitz @maiasz Feb. 03, 2014
There are ways to prevent loved ones from becoming victims of an overdose. Here are three.
UK: OPED: It’s No Riddle. Hoffman Is A Victim Of Our Drug Laws
Kentucky lawmakers are concerned that too many Kentuckians are dying from heroin overdoses. Their solution? Increase the penalties for heroin dealers:
http://www.kentucky.com/2013/10/13/2875347/senator-to-revisit-bill-to-crack.html
*rim shot*
Francis’ law strikes again.
.
.
One of the most morbidly amusing habits of the prohibitionist cohort is how they list gross failures of absolute prohibition as reasons for the continued embrace of the proven, epic failure of public policy which we call the war on (some) drugs. The prohibition laws certainly did not prevent that man from suffering a fatal overdose. No matter, it’s still proof that we need to keep heroin absolutely prohibited because it causes people to suffer fatal overdoses and we couldn’t let that happen, now could we? ≤sarcasm≥ ≤disgust≥
Recently I heard a report on the radio that there have been 13 fatal overdoses in my county in the last 6 months. It’s got the sycophants of prohibition particularly confused because they’ve occurred in the northern part of the county which isn’t incorrectly characterized as a rural environment. Those with very little understanding of the subject appear to believe that heroin is only used in the ghetto. There’s no ghettos in Germantown or Urbana, hence their confusion. I need documentation of the fact that there hasn’t been a fatal overdose in Switzerland during this century. I’ll be searching but if anyone has a link handy I’d certainly appreciate a heads up.
If we’re actually going to dig into this, my first question is what was his BAC at the time of death? We’ve touched on this before, that approaching 100% of fatal overdoses characterized as being caused by taking heroin are actually fatal overdoses caused by the interaction of heroin and another drug. The other drug is most often drinking alcohol.
I’ve read reports which say that it’s not uncommon for someone who likes to use heroin to also use drinking alcohol because it enhances the effect from the heroin and so gives them more bang for their buck.
I’ve actually never before heard that tricyclic anti-depressants have a not insignificant role in polydrug overdoses when one of the drugs is heroin. I was aware of the potential injury or death when the second drug is a benzodiazepine.
Monkey wrenches from a study published in 2003:
The policy of prohibition didn’t stop PSH injecting inexact quantities of heroin so let’s continue funding this policy to ensure that all IV drug users inject inexact quantities of heroin.
If we start prescribing heroin to reduce the risk of overdose and the number of degenerate street ‘junkies’, how will we scare children about the dangers of using it? Who will we point at to berate and publicly denigrate?
Surely we must ensure that the drugs we say are harmful, actually cause harm!
Hoffman and the Terrible Heroin Deaths in the Shadows
http://tinyurl.com/mcxuu59
Good article, but some real yo-yo’s there.
totally off topic but sweet tidbit, Phoenix, Oregon, city lawmakers fail to enact an “emergency” mmj dispensary moratorium. The heads assemble… prohibs lose again. nanner nanner nanner!
” According to state law medical marijuana dispensaries will be legal in Oregon starting March 3rd, but cities like Coos Bay, Hillsboro and Tualatin have temporary bans in place to buy more time to figure out the law.
It’s called a moratorium and Monday night the Phoenix City Council considered one.
It would stop dispensary applications, licenses and permits for six months. Councilors voted against a moratorium after hearing public comment from more than a dozen people. Including one man who said having access to dispensaries is a matter of life and death “I’m a caregiver for terminally ill patients and if you deny their access to their medicine…They’ll die. They will die within months and that’s the bottom line.”
phoenix-city-council-considers-and-votes-down-moratorium
An old story in S. Oregon. Moneyless regulatory bodies scratch their heads very loudly and flirtatiously hoping for moneyless police to step in and make rules for them. There’s no money in this area at all except for Obama pot-busting grants.
hooray for our side
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you’re always afraid
Step out of line, the man come and take you away
Project SCAM ecp