drugs

Author

Previous Topic | Next Topic

Scrooge McDuck

15108 Posts

Posted - 07/01/2009 : 8:56:51 PM

whats with these damn things? why do people lose their minds over them? why do people risk it all for this stuff?

i have a high school friend who is currently brain dead wired into every machine in the hospital right now. this dude has had quite the history with his issues. he has a long list of screw ups, but until sometime late last night, heroin was never one of them. now his legacy will be his biggest one.

they say he was dead on the floor of his kitchen for an hour before anyone called the ambulance. when they got there, the medics somehow got things ticking again, and got him to the ER.

now i have friends in tears everywhere, people are freaking out. my really close friend, a man i respect deeply, who treated this guy like a son, is broken in a way he never should be and is the one i feel the most for right now.

the side of story they never talk about is the one where you're 90% dead. where everyone still has hope but doesn't know why. there is a tragedy playing out amongst my friends right now, and i am just plain old confused.

drugs?

racerx

12112 Posts

Posted - 07/01/2009 : 9:02:50 PM

I'm sorry to hear about your friend, Scrooge.

Scrooge McDuck

15108 Posts

Posted - 07/01/2009 : 9:09:21 PM

i am too, but not in the way i thought i would be.

he was a really funny guy, often the life of the party, but he was extremely taxing and could suck the life out of you with his needs if you let him. we had a falling out a few years back, and a lot of it had to do with frustrations which i later found out was stemming from drug related issues. i always wished him the best, and know deep down he was capable of many great things, but he was always his own worst enemy.

i feel really bad for my friends. the ones who didnt have the falling outs. the ones that went in to help over and over and over and never stopped. these people made it so he was around, but i kept the friendship at arms length for many years now. i have so much going on with my family and my friends that are pursuing the good stuff in life, that i just couldnt get sucked in anymore.

i have to say, see this guy hooked up to machines, knowing what i know about the state he is in, is pretty much the most shocking thing i have ever seen.

quote:
Originally posted by racerx

I'm sorry to hear about your friend, Scrooge.

racerx

12112 Posts

Posted - 07/01/2009 : 9:22:59 PM

You really don't need to feel bad for those that kept helping. They choose to do so; they could have stopped.

Did you go to the hospital?

Scrooge McDuck

15108 Posts

Posted - 07/01/2009 : 9:28:21 PM

i did. its weird. i feel confused over it mostly. i really should just sleep on it.

quote:
Originally posted by racerx

You really don't need to feel bad for those that kept helping. They choose to do so; they could have stopped.

Did you go to the hospital?

ahetrick@deltale

115 Posts

Posted - 07/01/2009 : 11:00:12 PM

I am sorry for you loss. I dont comment on this to much but I do feel you pain. I have been there

craigppls

2115 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 04:07:13 AM

Addiction is something some people can't control. It is sad people like him don't get the treatment they so very need.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Mandyvilla

6395 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 05:06:43 AM

I am sorry for your pain. Addiction is evil and one of those things no one came make you take care of or deal with. It must come within, so no one around him should feel responsible.

Take care of yourself and your other friend that is hurting.

clarenceworley

5717 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 05:23:48 AM

Addiction is tough. Sorry to hear about your friend. Reminds me of a friend of mine that died a few years ago.

darkstar

26263 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 05:24:15 AM

Drugs aren't his problems, they're the flag for help and his means of escape until the help arrives...Sorry to read about that bro and hopefully he pulls thru ok...If so, it could be the help he needed, all you can do is be there for him...

djorge44

3699 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 06:07:55 AM

A bad drug problem is such a bad thing. When we were in highschool (1996) a friend of mine little brother started dealing and doing a lot of drugs (especially Meth and Special K). He stayed awake using drugs for about a week and his mind could not handle it. This was a extremely smart kid (probably ivy league).

He now is under constant care (can not drive etc) and thinks he can hear your thoughts. Very sad and strange.

I am no saint by any means but I always knew what lines not to cross.

Scrooge McDuck

15108 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 06:25:22 AM

i will find out a little later what is happening. im 99% sure he is brain dead, and they will pull the plug on him. its all really very lame.

i was thinking on my way to work today, but if i had a kid right now, i would have brought him in to the hospital today to see where drugs can take you. this is the type of thing they dont talk about.

i know i havent been close with this guy for a while, but i will miss him.

CoolMtgGuy

9067 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 06:49:12 AM

Sorry to hear of your painful situation. I experienced a similar situation when my close friend and neighbor lost his teenage son to a drug overdose. The hardest thing for me was watching that father struggle to deliver a eulogy for his son. Wish you strength as you deal with your situation.

frank drigotas j

3871 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 07:18:27 AM

This is a vivid, cautionary tale.

As unsettling as it is, thanks for posting it Scrooge.

dollar

carriemaese

3884 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 07:20:31 AM

tragic, sorry for your pain.

ritabradley01

4945 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 08:11:48 AM

I'm Sorry Duck. Drugs are just nasty. I think people just get pulled in little by little.

Scrooge McDuck

15108 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 08:20:52 AM

they found his cellphone. the dip**** girl who he was "partying" with dialed 991. she waited 10 minutes or so, called a guy named Rick twice for about 15 minutes total. waited another 20 minutes and called the police department directly. the whole timeline on just the calls is over 45 minutes, and i have to guess this person waited to even make the first call.

991? seriously? how do you misdial 911?

StevieV22

283 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 08:46:44 AM

I feel your pain and very sorry to hear that.
I often watch Intervention and have yet to hear a legitimate reason of why they chose this drug over their family, friends, everything they have worked for.

Again sorry to hear about your friend.

the_mortgage_guy

2628 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 10:03:46 AM

Hey Anrew,

Sorry bud. I chalk it up to bad dna...nothing anyone can do to start or stop an addiction other than the person. Everyone has their bad dna and challenges in life. Some just get the worst luck and land the addiction gene.

I guess one positive could be that if he was dead and they were able to bring him back...then he has an opportunity to at least make things right for himelf, family, friends and his maker in whatever time he has left.

AK__47

1645 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 10:33:59 AM

I am sorry to hear what happened to your friend. Addiction is a hard thing to understand. I have lost several friends to drugs. I never understood why they can’t stop. I have tried over and over again to help some of them get clean, but there is nothing you can do.

The girl who misdialed 911 probably cost him his life that night, but it would have happened eventually if he was a drug addict. I had a friend who overdosed when we were 19. He was on his way home from Chicago getting heroin. The people he was with locked him in his truck at a 7/11 across from a hospital. They went inside a house next door and left him there. Several hours later they must have sobered up because they went back to the 7/11 and call 911 from the payphone. My friend was in a comma for several days before he died. Had they taken him to a hospital he might have survived that time.

I had another friend who overdosed on the way home from Chicago, and the people he was with dumped him in a ditch on the side of the highway. Guess what he survived, and continued doing drugs. What’s even worse is he continued to hang with the people who left him for dead. Drugs just have this control over people that we will never understand.

Scrooge McDuck

15108 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 10:52:47 AM

christ thats sad.

drugs and addictions promote childish behaviors and decisions. sometimes worse. its unreal.

quote:
Originally posted by AK__47

I am sorry to hear what happened to your friend. Addiction is a hard thing to understand. I have lost several friends to drugs. I never understood why they can’t stop. I have tried over and over again to help some of them get clean, but there is nothing you can do.

The girl who misdialed 911 probably cost him his life that night, but it would have happened eventually if he was a drug addict. I had a friend who overdosed when we were 19. He was on his way home from Chicago getting heroin. The people he was with locked him in his truck at a 7/11 across from a hospital. They went inside a house next door and left him there. Several hours later they must have sobered up because they went back to the 7/11 and call 911 from the payphone. My friend was in a comma for several days before he died. Had they taken him to a hospital he might have survived that time.

I had another friend who overdosed on the way home from Chicago, and the people he was with dumped him in a ditch on the side of the highway. Guess what he survived, and continued doing drugs. What’s even worse is he continued to hang with the people who left him for dead. Drugs just have this control over people that we will never understand.

RGK2394

2167 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 11:48:31 AM

Sorry to hear about this situation. You did the only responsible thing you could, and that was to walk away.

lemeuss

1862 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 11:49:25 AM

Very, very sad. Aside from the experimenting teenagers often do, I cannot understand serious drug use at all.

A friends boyfriend passed away the first time he tried heroin (he was an experimenting teenager)...who life and all that was ahead of him gone in a flash.

I have seen others recover and it's such a nice thing to see an addict transform into a happy, coherent human being. I hope your friend eventually gets to experience such a thing.

Scrooge McDuck

15108 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 11:53:06 AM

i do too. maybe not this life, but hopefully the next. you cant die for an hour, and come back anywhere near whole.

quote:
Originally posted by lemeuss
I hope your friend eventually gets to experience such a thing.

Jonas

1217 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 12:01:33 PM

When he was like 28, my uncle stole his 16 year old sister's (my Aunt's) car and sold it for drug money...

Scrooge McDuck

15108 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 12:21:36 PM

they call those Rock Rides. dealers buy the car for a hand full of drugs, gets to drive it around for whatever and the people call it in stolen 7 days later.

quote:
Originally posted by Jonas

When he was like 28, my uncle stole his 16 year old sister's (my Aunt's) car and sold it for drug money...

assassin17

7838 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 12:35:08 PM

How long will it be before someone pops on here yet again to remind us that "drugs don't hurt anyone else" and should be legalized?

Or is that just for weed? Maybe I should recount the story of my old friend's date with a bullet in the head while smoking his weed?

darkstar

26263 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 12:37:40 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Scrooge McDuck

they call those Rock Rides. dealers buy the car for a hand full of drugs, gets to drive it around for whatever and the people call it in stolen 7 days later.

quote:
Originally posted by Jonas

When he was like 28, my uncle stole his 16 year old sister's (my Aunt's) car and sold it for drug money...

We used to have to pick up the dealership cars from impound when a salesman did that and the dealers got popped....

GetLoans4me

2697 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 12:54:15 PM

Even congress and senators are popping drugs too. Hence, they get away with it. Arnie was a riod users and now he's a gov at "cough cough" california.

benjamin

6966 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 1:38:39 PM

MJ should be legalized.A lot more people are dying, corrupt, in jail because it is not legal.

Agent_Mike

1042 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 2:56:18 PM

quote:
Originally posted by assassin17

How long will it be before someone pops on here yet again to remind us that "drugs don't hurt anyone else" and should be legalized?

Or is that just for weed? Maybe I should recount the story of my old friend's date with a bullet in the head while smoking his weed?

I'm sorry to hear the OP's story but that doesn't change the fact that the drugs in question are illegal and still someone got their hands on it, didn't they? The fact the the drugs are not legalized didn't stop this tragedy. Individual choice ... people make choices and choices make people.

What's also tragic is the "WAR ON DRUGS" a war fought in our own streets against our own people spending billions for periodic PR stories of "big busts" that is easily resupplied the next day. Perhaps it is time to legalize, starting with marijuana. The amount of stupid non-offending potheads clogging our jails, judicial system, and not contributing to society for simply possessing some small amount of weed that never in recorded history, killed someone of overdose, is ridiculous.

If America is a free country, we should be able to put whatever we want into our own bodies. The OP"s friend made that choice, the wrong way, unfortunately. Many others will also make the wrong choices, whether it's legal or illegal. Sad but fortunate truth. If certain drugs were legalized, the money would flow from gangs into legitimate businesses that generates tax revenues, can be regulated, and controlled without cost to our legal system or jails.

Jonas

1217 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 3:37:16 PM

An unsound argument. How many fatalities occur by way of alcohol? By your description both should be illegal. If your point is making alcohol illegal thats another thing.

quote:
Originally posted by assassin17

How long will it be before someone pops on here yet again to remind us that "drugs don't hurt anyone else" and should be legalized?

Or is that just for weed? Maybe I should recount the story of my old friend's date with a bullet in the head while smoking his weed?

Agent_Mike

1042 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 3:53:47 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Jonas

An unsound argument. How many fatalities occur by way of alcohol? By your description both should be illegal. If your point is making alcohol illegal thats another thing.

quote:
Originally posted by assassin17

How long will it be before someone pops on here yet again to remind us that "drugs don't hurt anyone else" and should be legalized?

Or is that just for weed? Maybe I should recount the story of my old friend's date with a bullet in the head while smoking his weed?

If anything, we should've learned from the prohibition era that prohibiting the people of substances that they enjoy, that can harm them, are futile. Funnily enough, many of the congressmen who initiate legislations of "tough drug policies" to fight the stupid war on drugs will go home and enjoy a nice drink - which by any measure, is a drug ... a mind altering, addictive, and potentially toxic drug.

frank drigotas j

3871 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 4:22:17 PM

We are now in the pulpit stage of this thread.

That is to say, a stage of discourse that veers into preaching and away from Scrooge's former high school friend who now lies brain dead in a hospital from a deathly misuse of drugs.

I expect it to turn into some comments about President Obama or Sarah Palin any moment, while the kid lies near death, and Scrooge laments his condition.

Geez.

dollar

craigppls

2115 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 4:27:47 PM

well said...

quote:
Originally posted by frank drigotas jr

We are now in the pulpit stage of this thread.

That is to say, a stage of discourse that veers into preaching and away from Scrooge's former high school friend who now lies brain dead in a hospital from a deathly misuse of drugs.

I expect it to turn into some comments about President Obama or Sarah Palin any moment, while the kid lies near death, and Scrooge laments his condition.

Geez.

dollar

Mandyvilla

6395 Posts

Posted - 07/02/2009 : 4:58:05 PM

The news was talking about sudden cardiac death, and told the story of this woman was walking w/ her father/husband and he went down suddenly. She read a blurb somewhere that you do the chest compressions to the beat of "Stay'n Alive." She kept him going for over half an hour until EMT's could get there. At the hospital, it was determined he was living because of her efforts, only the doctors said when they teach the "beat" they use "Another One Bites the Dust."

Maybe this will help one person that reads this.....

<true story>

LanceB

169 Posts

Posted - 07/03/2009 : 06:47:54 AM

I have a friend that has more money than he knows what to do with, a beautiful rich lawyer wife, 2 beautiful young boys, a mansion, everything one could ever want...and he chose pills over all of that. He has been in and out of rehab and wrecked several cars. He has been detained for suicide after his family cut him off and fired him from his job until he cleans up. Currently in rehab in Atlanta. I hope this place is able to help him. Willpower seems to be the only true cure from what I have seen. Addiction sure is a crazy thing. I think I agree on the MJ legalization, its crazy how much alcohol can devastate lives but its accepted? When I was in college the stoners never bothered anyone and actually some I had class with got good grades...one of my buddies was stoned every day and borderline genius 4.0 student. The drunk frat guys bothered a lot of people.

Previous Topic | Next Topic