Add one more to the heroin death count

Kinja'd!!! "Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)" (bman76-4)
10/11/2017 at 10:05 • Filed to: None

Kinja'd!!!0 Kinja'd!!! 40

Scratch one more from my high school graduating class.

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Text from my mom who works at my former high school. It’s one thing to be dumb when you’re single (still shouldn’t), but not when you’ve got 2 kids and a fiancé.


DISCUSSION (40)


Kinja'd!!! BeaterGT > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
10/11/2017 at 10:08

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Heroin*


Kinja'd!!! djmt1 > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
10/11/2017 at 10:10

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Speaking of Americans and Heroin. I need to watch the new Louis Theroux documentary. Been too long since the last one.


Kinja'd!!! Ash78, voting early and often > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
10/11/2017 at 10:13

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At first I was like “He saw Wonder Woman too many times?” but then I realized.

I had a close friend from college who had a congenital liver disorder, then he got hooked on heroin and Oxy which finally did him in a few years ago. 33 years old and a successful attorney who had just started his own practice. It hits anyone. The saddest part to me now is that “easy opiates” (like Rx medications) are actually bringing people to heroin after years and years of the drug’s decline.


Kinja'd!!! Tripper > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
10/11/2017 at 10:15

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It is crazy how rampant opiate/heroin addiction is. I know more than a dozen who have died, a few of them close to me. I still know plenty who are struggling, but I only know one person that has gotten clean and stayed that way.

Each time I hear of someone else that I knew/know going down the heroin highway I lose a little more empathy. Stop doing the shit to yourselves!


Kinja'd!!! Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
10/11/2017 at 10:15

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Heroine overdose?

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But seriously... you’re bringing up a pair of kids. What the hell. Drugs are bad enough when you’re the only one you hurt.


Kinja'd!!! Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Ash78, voting early and often
10/11/2017 at 10:16

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Literally where my mind went

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Kinja'd!!! awmaster10 > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
10/11/2017 at 10:23

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Same with people from my high school. Instead of teaching us “just say no” and the evils of marijuana cigarettes maybe they should have focused on the dangers of abusing prescription opiates and xanax and amphetamines for add/ADHD. DARE fucked up our generation big time.


Kinja'd!!! duurtlang > Tripper
10/11/2017 at 10:28

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Interesting. People joke about my native the Netherlands and drugs, but I don’t recall ever hearing someone in real life speak about using heroin, let alone being addicted to it.

edit:
In this article there’s an interactive map, which you can set to “Deaths by overdose” per 1 million inhabitants. Drugs in general, not just heroin. It’s 9.3 here versus 194.6 in the US, so almost 21 times as high in the US. I guess a liberal way of treating drugs, education about its dangers and treating addicts as patients rather than criminals actually works.


Kinja'd!!! Sam > awmaster10
10/11/2017 at 10:34

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I’ve literally never been offered non-weed drugs other than by my doctor. So DARE was not only bad, but it didn’t even prepare you for real life. You really gotta learn to “just say no” to your doctor giving you a 90 day opiate prescription for your stubbed toe.


Kinja'd!!! Tripper > duurtlang
10/11/2017 at 10:35

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It’s my opinion that there are certain drugs that are only “for addicts”. I can’t see recreational use of heroin, crack, crystal meth etc... I’ve had my fun with this and that in my younger days, but I never thought “you know what I need...something really hardcore.”


Kinja'd!!! crowmolly > Tripper
10/11/2017 at 10:37

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Stop doing the shit to yourselves!

These days it’s not uncommon for somebody to have, say, a back injury where they build up a chemical dependency to painkillers. They’re not tying off in a gas station bathroom to start, it comes from a prescription.


Kinja'd!!! jimz > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
10/11/2017 at 10:40

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if you think this epidemic is happening because people are “dumb,” then you don’t understand addiction. That’s actually a pretty insensitive and ignorant thing to say.

the only dumb people here are the FDA and doctors who believed Purdue Pharma’s bullshit story about how their new “miracle drug” Oxycontin had a “low risk of addiction.” Oops, no it didn’t! MDs handed it out like candy, patients got hooked on it, and after they started getting cut off turned to the street. And shady dealers cutting it with fentanyl is killing people.

You want to assign blame for this? Line up all of the execs from Purdue against a wall.


Kinja'd!!! Wacko > Tripper
10/11/2017 at 10:41

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Kinja'd!!! Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
10/11/2017 at 10:42

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This is sad, this is real, this is killing and scaring a generation of great people. Nancy Regan can go fuck off with her Just Say No shit. The best thing my parents ever did was talk to me about their experience doing drugs and explaining the different drugs and the effects of them. The more you know the better chance you can make a better decision about using these extremely addictive drugs.


Kinja'd!!! syaieya > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
10/11/2017 at 10:43

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Went to a funeral last year of a guy that went out like that. Saw him the day before he was found on the floor, needle in his arm


Kinja'd!!! Tripper > crowmolly
10/11/2017 at 10:45

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Oh I know how it happens, and I agree that it’s fucked up for doctors to hand out opiates like m&m’s but it’s still in the hands of the user. At some point between getting a prescription from your doctor and stealing money/things from your family and friends to buy xyz from some guy you found on craigslist, the individual has to take control of him/herself and/or get help...or not.


Kinja'd!!! jimz > Tripper
10/11/2017 at 10:51

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I don’t think you understand how addiction works. it’s easy to pontificate about what people should do when you’ve never been in their shoes.


Kinja'd!!! jimz > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
10/11/2017 at 10:53

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oh for fuck’s sake. this isn’t happening because otherwise reasonable people got handed a balloon and a needle and said “hey, why not?” it’s happening because their doctors handed them prescription opiods like candy based on a lie the pharmaceutical company told them about its risk for addiction.


Kinja'd!!! benjrblant > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
10/11/2017 at 10:54

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High school? Two kids? A fiance? Heroin?

Aw man...


Kinja'd!!! jimz > duurtlang
10/11/2017 at 10:54

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http://theweek.com/articles/541564/how-american-opiate-epidemic-started-by-pharmaceutical-company

and the shittier thing about it (as if it could be much worse) is Purdue is trying to do this to other countries now.


Kinja'd!!! crowmolly > jimz
10/11/2017 at 10:55

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In 2012, New England Journal of Medicine published a study that found that “76 percent of those seeking help for heroin addiction began by abusing pharmaceutical narcotics, primarily OxyContin”

76 percent.

You want to assign blame for this? Line up all of the execs from Purdue against a wall.

They were blamed. And they got fines and community service. IMO it should have been 20 years in federal prison.


Kinja'd!!! E92M3 > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
10/11/2017 at 11:03

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These individuals are in deepest hell of addiction. They know each needle is equivalent of russian roulette, and they still take the gamble.

I think lawmakers are partially to blame. People had refillable prescriptions for opiates, and then they changed some laws and people got cut off without a plan and support system. Happened to my friend who was getting hydrocodone (intitially for migraines).


Kinja'd!!! Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > jimz
10/11/2017 at 11:05

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I came here to say this. My hometown (Johnstown, PA) is in the midst of one of the worst opioid epidemics in PA and it’s because so much of the work one could even find in that area was in coal mines and manufacturing. If you have the choice of taking a week off after hurting your back and getting replaced because they ran the unions out, or getting a script and doping up every day, what would you choose? Especially when there’s not enough money to get up and move out...


Kinja'd!!! wkiernan > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
10/11/2017 at 11:07

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The thing about street opiates is, unlike pharmaceutical opiates with their carefully-measured quantities, you never know what concentration you’re looking at. Now ask any junkie, the best part about taking smack is the rush. For safety’s sake, you could just take a tiny amount of that mystery powder first and make sure you’re not going to get an overdose, but that ruins the rush. So the junkie takes his chances and sometimes rolls snake eyes.


Kinja'd!!! Tripper > jimz
10/11/2017 at 11:14

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I’ve been close enough to it enough times with my family and close friends where I’ve very little empathy left. Not just with opiates, with alcohol too. You can blame doctors, pharma companies...the lot. It comes down to the individual. I’ve seen a dozen people die, and one person get clean and thus far, stay clean. It will be a life long struggle for him to one degree or another, but he chooses the right path.


Kinja'd!!! crowmolly > jimz
10/11/2017 at 11:14

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I’m going to star every post you make about this.

Purdue Pharma mislead physicians with bogus addiction information.  

Would you blame every VW dealership or TDI owner for dieselgate?


Kinja'd!!! Mercedes Streeter > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
10/11/2017 at 11:23

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Damn, I’m sorry. *hugs* :/

I think to date, 3 members of my high school graduating class have died to suicide, I don’t know the numbers for drugs. Some of my classmates were addicted to the stuff before we even walked across the stage. :/

What’s infuriating is how our lawmakers equate spend so much time fighting weed while they peddle cigarettes (so much better!) and completely ignore the opiate crisis. They’ll happily say “people are dying from opiates!” then do absolutely nothing about it.

If I really wanted to, I could easily get a doctor to prescribe me a 90 day supply of that stuff and get addicted... legally . That’s absolutely insane!


Kinja'd!!! jimz > Tripper
10/11/2017 at 11:26

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I’m not trying to give you a hard time, but that’s like saying you know what childbirth feels like because your sister had a baby once.

the fact that you know a dozen people who died yet only one who managed to stay clean should be a huge hint that stuff like this is incredibly hard to get away from.


Kinja'd!!! jimz > Mercedes Streeter
10/11/2017 at 11:30

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that’s the galling part. the .gov has a vendetta against a (mostly) harmless plant, yet I can walk into any store and buy a bottle of something which will kill me if I drink the whole thing.


Kinja'd!!! Tripper > jimz
10/11/2017 at 11:42

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I didn’t say that I know what it feels like, or that I’ve been there myself. However, I’m not a person that believes that addiction is a disease. What I mean by “I have very little empathy left”, is more or less that I don’t care what it feels like and I don’t care how it started. Straighten your shit up for your family and most importantly yourself.

I used to empathize 100% with anyone, but particularly someone close to me who was suffering from addiction of one kind or another. Then that person got to the point where they refused any kind of help offered, and eventually died. Then I saw that happen again, and again, and again...In and out of rehab/jail rifling through their families money only to die and leave those close to them all fucked up emotionally. I’m almost desensitized to it at this point.


Kinja'd!!! DipodomysDeserti > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
10/11/2017 at 12:29

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In a lot of cases, heroin addiction isn’t about “being dumb”.

The biggest fentanyl producer in the US, Insys, is currently being sued by several attorneys general for corrupt practices in opiate distribution. This same company has bankrolled anti marijuana campaigns.


Kinja'd!!! DipodomysDeserti > Ash78, voting early and often
10/11/2017 at 12:30

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Look up Insys. Corrupt fucks. Condolences for your friend.


Kinja'd!!! DipodomysDeserti > awmaster10
10/11/2017 at 12:32

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The largest producer of fentanyl, Insys, has been bankrolling anti marijuana campaigns...


Kinja'd!!! Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > jimz
10/11/2017 at 12:48

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I’m not blaming anyone here, I’m just saying that when you decide to have kids you have to put them first. Get the help you need, don’t punish them.


Kinja'd!!! Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > Mercedes Streeter
10/11/2017 at 12:50

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Yeah, we’ve lost more to suicide than this so far, but those numbers seem to be turning. Either way, it’s no good.


Kinja'd!!! Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > BeaterGT
10/11/2017 at 12:51

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My iPhone is in denial... it really liked Wonder Woman and doesn’t want to talk about the opioid crisis.


Kinja'd!!! Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > DipodomysDeserti
10/11/2017 at 13:02

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Definitely, I understand how it happens and the larger issue. I just assign a certain level of “time to get help” once you’re going to bring kids into the world.

This guy is the victim of the opioid crisis, and so are his kids and fiancé.


Kinja'd!!! crowmolly > DipodomysDeserti
10/11/2017 at 13:29

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Addiction is defined as a disease of the brain. There has been a lot of research into the conscious and unconscious behaviors of people in the throes of addiction.

I understand that people don’t see it that way. But they are not the experts on the subject. You can believe the world is flat and vaccines cause autism, too.


Kinja'd!!! BeaterGT > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
10/11/2017 at 14:31

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Haha all good. I lost quite a few high school friends to it as well, had plenty of doctors arrested and drug busts in my home town. Wish it would all end but it is what it is.


Kinja'd!!! SpeedSix > Tripper
10/14/2017 at 14:24

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It is desensitizing, and just like everything else about the brain , we currently understand very little of it.