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Hoffman's death spotlights heroin epidemic

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RIP. You were a great actor.

I heard this many times before, "Save the user, Jail the pusher." However, I think we are the captain of our ships. As the late Dr. Covey taught us, we have the power to choose. Why do drugs? Money? Fame? But, there are rich and famous who don't do drugs? In the end, it comes down to us.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

@Maria - Thanks for the link. I know it's a far more complicated than it sounds. What causes addiction is still a big mystery. However, I still stand to the point that if we know what is right from wrong, the choice we make is still our choice, unless we are coerced to.

@FightingViking

I'm sure people will understand I had plenty of reasons to succumb - but I never did and never will... Perhaps, knowing that the consequence might be tragic, it makes those reasons unreasonable.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Adults make their own decisions, sometimes good and sometimes bad. Human nature.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

I always wondered why some actors are classified as "character" actoers. Aren't actors playing some type of character? I look at Robert Downey Jr. who I think is a great actor and has played a variety of different characters, but I have never heard of him referred to as a "character" actoer. Johnny Depp is always some odd-ball character, but never listed as a "character" actor. Philip Seymor-Hoffman is always described as a brilliant "character" actoer. I don't see the difference

It's shorthand/code for, 'not very handsome'.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

I still don't understand why people are so weak they have to turn to drugs... I hesitate to take an aspirin for pain ! From my previous posts (on a different thread) I'm sure people will understand I had plenty of reasons to succumb - but I never did and never will...

2 ( +3 / -1 )

A pusher will never come to you begging to buy, It is usually the other way around.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

It's a sad and unfortunate loss. I always wondered why some actors are classified as "character" actoers. Aren't actors playing some type of character? I look at Robert Downey Jr. who I think is a great actor and has played a variety of different characters, but I have never heard of him referred to as a "character" actoer. Johnny Depp is always some odd-ball character, but never listed as a "character" actor. Philip Seymor-Hoffman is always described as a brilliant "character" actoer. I don't see the difference.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

It's ridiculous that drugs are treated as a criminal issue rather than a health issue. The War on Drugs is a failure, all it has done is created a thriving black market filled with violence, which in turn supports a for-profit prison system (in the US).

All drugs should be made legal, and treated as a public health issue. The money spent on enforcement should be invested in education, and rehabilitation. This would remove the black market, and make it easier for people to seek help.

No one wants to be an addict, and no one starts out with that intention. But people find themselves trapped because they let themselves slip and got addicted.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I don't know the best answer, but legalizing ALL drugs is the dumbest idea I've heard today.

There are a lot of people who would disagree with you. There is a growing movement among American police officers and judges, among other professionals who want to end the failed war on drugs. There is even a site by law enforcement officers who think prohibition should be ended: http://www.leap.cc/

All great in a perfect world, but we all know the money would be used for something else entirely.

It already is. It's being used in a failed war on drugs, and on for-profit prisons. But even so, the argument that 'we shouldn't do anything because if we tried, we'd do it wrong' is a flawed argument. First, because it hasn't been tried, and second, because it doesn't fix the existing problem.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@wealthbuilderbiz - it's a fair point, and true for those people who are not addicts. But for those people who are addicts, it's far too simplistic a comment you have made, with no deep understanding of the problem (or so I infer).

Russell Brand wrote an excellent article which is doing the rounds again, and it is really worth the time it takes to read it.

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/mar/09/russell-brand-life-without-drugs

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@akihase - Chicken and egg? Who buys if nobody's selling? :)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@WealthBuilderBiz

Perhaps, knowing that the consequence might be tragic, it makes those reasons unreasonable.

I'm sure that's quite true ! However, I'm just not interested in an "illusionary world" - unless it's either a Walt Disney one or, even better, a "Snoopy" one !

0 ( +1 / -1 )

It seems that instead of solving his problems, he turned to drugs and experienced their ruthlessness.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Yup, Once again, because somebody RICH & FAMOUS dies, that NOW we care, but not BEFORE....how typical. NOW we should "Double our Efforts ".

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Secretly I would love to try a really strong opiate. Hell, even morphine or even opium. Laudanum would be a bit classier. Heroin scares me totally, but am really intrigued about the sensation. Unfortunately I am too much of a coward to try it - I have a suspicion I would try it again.

Opiates are the most dangerous of drugs and often lead to death.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

hardly anyone cares until a "celeb" dies, lol!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

"legalizing ALL drugs is the dumbest idea"

If we lived in a jungle, our mentors would tell us which plant to eat and which to stay away from. It would be impossible for them to totally eliminate bad plants in the jungle so everyone would be responsible of knowing what not to touch. Legalizing all drugs is like telling people, you are free to experiement with anything you like. We can only warn you about the dangers, but it's you that will have to make a decision to include them with your life or not.

If this life is a school and we're here to learn, we'll also have to learn not to be an addict. 90% of people drink and use drugs without suffering from addiction. 10% is kinda ruinning it all for everyone else.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Exactly. And it's clear that the illegality of drugs does nothing to prevent people from using them. Thirty years of the War on Drugs, and more people are doing drugs now than ever.

From Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (the site I linked to above):

Why legalize drugs?

We believe that drug prohibition is the true cause of much of the social and personal damage that has historically been attributed to drug use. It is prohibition that makes these drugs so valuable – while giving criminals a monopoly over their supply. Driven by the huge profits from this monopoly, criminal gangs bribe and kill each other, law enforcers, and children. Their trade is unregulated and they are, therefore, beyond our control.

History has shown that drug prohibition reduces neither use nor abuse. After a rapist is arrested, there are fewer rapes. After a drug dealer is arrested, however, neither the supply nor the demand for drugs is seriously changed. The arrest merely creates a job opening for an endless stream of drug entrepreneurs who will take huge risks for the sake of the enormous profits created by prohibition. Prohibition costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars every year, yet 40 years and some 40 million arrests later, drugs are cheaper, more potent and far more widely used than at the beginning of this futile crusade.

We believe that by eliminating prohibition of all drugs for adults and establishing appropriate regulation and standards for distribution and use, law enforcement could focus more on crimes of violence, such as rape, aggravated assault, child abuse and murder, making our communities much safer. We believe that sending parents to prison for non-violent personal drug use destroys families. We believe that in a regulated and controlled environment, drugs will be safer for adult use and less accessible to our children. And we believe that by placing drug abuse in the hands of medical professionals instead of the criminal justice system, we will reduce rates of addiction and overdose deaths.

http://www.leap.cc/about/why-legalize-drugs/

If drugs were treated as a public health issue, rather than a criminal issue, there would be a higher chance of Philip Seymore Hoffman and so many others still being alive. By keeping them illegal, we make it harder for these people to get the help they need.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Stardom is a status attained when the public loves the personality of the actor over the role or story of the movie. My dad used to say "there is a Gable picture out, want to see it"? to Mom. This is so true, that some actors made a career by playing the same type over and over. John Wayne, for example. We are all the stars of our own lives with our spouse as co-stars, children and friends as supporting cast, and all others as extras........but all those extras are stars in their own lives and we are extras to them. The difference is no one pays to see us and our stories are real.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Addiction isn't weakness. drugs can be fun - certainly make you feel good. But some personalities develop an addiction to them. doesn't mean pain or suffering is the cause.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

I had never heard of him before the news of his death. I also heard that police found 70 bags of class A drugs in his flat. Horrible way to go.

I can't believe after this that some posters are still saying that pot, weed, whatever the stuff is called should be legalised and will stop this from happening in the future. Suppose the users don't get the high they want? They will only seek out the stronger stuff anyway.

I am so glad I never tried drugs (or smoking and drinking for that matter).

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Envelopes reportedly found in Hoffman’s house were marked “Ace of Spades” and “Ace of Hearts,” with New York police now on the hunt for the dealer who sold him the lethal cocktail.

Why don't they go to these lengths for the thousands of other who have died because a dealer sold them drugs?? An actor died so they decided to pull their thumbs out of their a$$holes?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Heroin kills.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Hmmmmm.. additction is "weakness". anyway, drugs of all descriptions make people feel good (like alcohol too). This will be used as another cue to step up the misinformation and to step up the "war on drugs".

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

I've done some drugs in the past. I never got addicted though. I know some people who were, and they had a really rough time getting straight.

Anyway, photo= Let's Go Rangers!!!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

All drugs should be made legal, and treated as a public health issue.

I don't know the best answer, but legalizing ALL drugs is the dumbest idea I've heard today.

The money spent on enforcement should be invested in education, and rehabilitation. This would remove the black market, and make it easier for people to seek help.

All great in a perfect world, but we all know the money would be used for something else entirely.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Legalization of marijuana will be the key to remove the real dangerous drugs from blackmarket. People will fight to make pot legal, but who's ever going to fight for heroin? It's known to be the hardest ever drug, physically addictive and very hard to quit. Most people will support its illegal status and it will be much easier to catch the ones responsible of delivering this poision to public. Plus, most dealers are keeping their dealer status because of pot. Once it's legal, they simply won't be able to survive, dealing only hard drugs. It will be too risky and not profitable to deal hard drugs. Mafia and Yakuza won't be able to profit from drugs anymore and one of their strongest source of income will be destroyed. Legalization of pot will save the world.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

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