Not if it opens people to a meaningful discussion as to WHY people can't get off drugs even if they wanted to.

There's nothing wrong with shining a light on this topic if it ends up helping at least one person kick their addiction.

Shining a light on it is great.

Putting lipstick on it is not.

I've dealt with everything from alcohol to coke and heroin addictions amongst friends and family. I promise you guys empathy is not something I lack.

The piece quoted adds appeal to a heroin addiction rather than take it away. Particularly to people prone to addictive behavior and looking for solace.

How?

I reread it after your 1st post looking for the romanticizing bits and I just don't see them.

Can you quote the parts that in your opinion add appeal to Heroin addiction?

Sorry, I'm not seeing the "appeal" part of it and I've read it both times you two said it was romanticizing heroin addiction...

Maybe it's your state of mind when you're reading it...

Well, it is sticking your head *somewhere*.

RB's flowery prose evidently got in the way of his message for some. Anyone who has been in his shoes knows exactly what he's talking about. Those who are recovering cringe when reading it, those who are still adrift may have some desire. Those who are blessed to not be afflicted likely can never truly understand.

There are many joys and horrors in life that an individual experiences and words cannot convey to another human who hasn't "been there, done that, got the t-shirt." For instance, while I can empathize with my friends who were Rangers that had to pick up pieces of their buddies on the battlefield, there is no way I can fully comprehend that. Likewise, some here apparently can't grok the mind and life of an addict and instead prefer to sit in the comfy chair of judgement. Such is life.

Passing judgement from a comfy chair is nothing new around here......

I passed no judgement on addicts.

I like what gogar said that its not that people are putting this guy on a pedestal so much as he becomes the face of what others struggle with.

He also becomes the face of those who are given everything and throw it away whilst (flowery prose there for you!) others in the world struggle every damn day to make the right decisions and meet their responsibilities only to draw another **** card from the deck of life. They may lose a child in a car accident, watch a parent die of cancer, lose their job and home, etc. etc.

Somebody should cry for the victims. Amongst all the posts here how many lamented the pain inflicted on these innocent children?

Addiction is ugly and should be painted as such.

How do you know what he was "given"?

Who knows how many junkies OD each day, nobody gives a FF. But some artsy celebrity offs OD's and now it's a national tragedy.

If your kid "offs OD's" it would be a "national tragedy" also; however, outside your kid's family, work, circle of friends, no one knows who your kid is. Why then would the NATIONAL news media make a big deal over, or even be aware of your UNKNOWN KID?

If your kid was a celebrity, artsy, athletic, whatever, the media would be all over the story BECAUSE OF YOUR KID'S CELEBRITY. :rolleyes:

It was very selfish of him to go down the route of being a druggie. He had a long term partner and kids. If he chose that he should have stayed off the drugs. But no he wanted it all, have the lovey dovey of the GF and kids, but also wanting the druggie lifestyle.

Being an addict is optional. Early on you decide - DO NOT take drugs, or you do.

I think the rub with his death is the media portraying it as a "tragedy" because he was famous. People die daily, the death of Hoffman is no more tragic simply because he was famous. Personally I find tragedy in those who have their lives taken from them - a mother who dies from cancer, a teenager killed in a car accident, a child born with an incurable birth defect. A famous actor who had the world at his feet overdosing on drugs is difficult to pity. I feel for the loved ones that he left behind, but simultaneously struggle to say this was anything other than his fault. Addiction is an ugly thing, but at the core it traces back to bad decisions made by the addict. You will never be a heroin addict if you never try heroin.

"Doctor prescribes, drug store supplies.
Who's gonna help him to kick it?"

The above is from a favorite Stones song of mine...

Not a damn bit of difference between Oxycontin, Morphine, and Heroin (all just different "flavors" of opiates) except for the source and guaranteed "purity" fellows. My older sis has been a "junkie" most of her adult life, but as far as I know has never used H (much less needles) to obtain the same effect. I do know of at least one who couldn't get (afford) the "good schit" so down that path he went. It sure "ain't about getting high" for sis...it's pain management (serious back issues), and daily trips to the methadone clinic. (No "high" associated with methadone from what I've read...just the masking of "pure hell"). I put this "out here", 'cause some of y'all are just simply uninformed, and this is some serious schit that doc's have been handing out like "candy" in recent years...

Not too get PARFY, but H as made a comeback largely because of "our" fiasco in Afghanistan..."unintended consequences" as they say.

Another point...H ain't always about injecting as the media portrays. Two notorious users of my generation never touched needles either which is WAY more likely to lead to OD (death). Keef (snorter) and Jerry (smoker)...still just as potent, but "they" could AFFORD to "waste it" in that fashion. Just read where a "dose" of H on the street is 6 verses 20-25) for Oxy.

I can't relate as I've never taken ANYTHING stronger than that "1" Tylenol3 (Codeine) from the college docs when I broke my nose way back and they made sure I was walking (not driving) back to the dorm room. I HATED how it made me feel. Plenty of other injuries, breaks, etc. since, but I just "suck it up", and deal with it (lucky for me, I've been able too).

Addiction is a NASTY business. Anyone who has ever BTDT or been around others will NEVER, EVER tell you otherwise or glamourize it from my perspective.

"Pot" doesn't even belong in this discussion either...YMMV.

I post all of this simply to inform...hope it helps some who "just don't understand"...

ps: Oxy users die (OD) every damn day and not a bit of press....hmm.

Even after recovery from surgery I never took the prescribed codeine painkillers, it's nasty stuff. 3-4 Advils is as hardcore as I get.

Maybe if he dumbed it down for PPOT, then some might get the point...

ROFL

Too true.

I have a question not specific related to the Hoffman ordeal but in any OD case. Knowing life insurance won't pay on suicide, how do they determine whether or not the individual had an intentional OD or not? With a payout at stake, would assume beneficiaries are going to fight for it.

The addict without doubt has their demons and one often reads how they wish to end their life. So who determines what was in the addicts mind while in self life destruction mode?

buried my best friend a while back...
I hit him, I cried with him, I couldn't stop it..

some of you are hung on 'why'...
or 'how come'....
folks in recovery sometimes don't know either...
but they are trying...

you don't want those shoe's...
and while some would gladly give or throw them away..
they can't..
their stuck with them..
holes,seams splitting and painful to wear..
so they either wear them again today..
or put some polish on them to forget how bad they are..

Rika