As some of you may have heard by now, Anna Nicole Smith's son, Daniel, died from a fatal mix of antidepressants and methadone. Ironically, it was around the same time as a news special that I was watching about a young woman (near Daniel's age) who died on a luxury cruise after taking a very small dose of her boyfriend's methadone.
Methadone can be deadly. What amazes me is how many people get hooked on it. It's rarely used to treat extreme pain. In Daniel's case, this surely wasn't the reason. What it is most commonly used for is a substitute for other highly addictive, illegal drugs such as crack cocaine.
My ex-boyfriend has been struggling with his crack cocaine addiction. Once I'd found out about it, I'd asked him why he didn't simply go on methadone to help with the cravings. "Why?!" he asked. "I would only be substituting one addiction for another!" He had a very good point. Methadone is serious stuff. It's just as nasty as the drugs that it's supposed to wean an addict away from.
Perhaps Daniel had only taken the stuff as a lark, without realizing that even a teaspoon can be deadly. Perhaps it belonged to his mother or another relative. Or, perhaps it was a substitute for something else he had been hooked on. We may never know. But this may serve as a valuable message to others: Methadone is nothing to fool around with.
10 comments:
I really get the feeling that his drug use was not your normal innocent teenager depression treatment. I mean his mother has clearly been (and is likely still in some way) a drug addict. With wealth and fame, it seems, comes substance abuse of some form. Pills as much as any. I think he was simply using a spectrum of pills, and it caught up to him. The line that it was all about a bad breakup just rings a bit weak to my mind.
Oh and methadone sucks. You never want to use it if you dont have to, period. It takes your life and your mind away. You sleep half your life away and it ruins you. Maybe it is better than heroin, but that is a weak maybe. I often see meth users on the subway or in the street, it is obvious. Many of them act clinically insane, all of them look horrible. Some of them fall asleep mid stride on the sidewalk, one man fell asleep standing up and had his head resting on the sidewalk like a tripod. I kid you not. That might have been a funny thing if he was just really tired, but to see a human just shut down in this way in an instant, is really sad.
I only caught about half the show but I think the ladies boyfriend should have been charged with involuntary manslaughter. He hid the methadone in a Nyquil bottle and obviously was happy when he got it through security. I don't buy it that he told the girl about it.
On the subject of methadone or drugs in general, I never get too worked up when it takes the life of someone. I see it as Mother Nature cleaning up the gene pool.
With a mother like that, I'm not all too surprised Daniel was on something in the first place. She's not exactly a good role model in any sense of the word.
Such a shame....
By the way (a little off topic) I've tried to comment for the last couple of days here, but blogger has munched away all my comments. I didn't want you to think I haven't been by... and have enjoyed your posts of the last couple of days. Hope this one makes it through this morning.
There is an epidemic of meth here in the NW. The Oregonian put together a "Faces of Meth" story and if you haven't seen it, you will be amazed at what meth does to people:
Faces Of Meth
and here are their stories:
Behind the Faces of Meth
You can tell some of the people who do meth around here, faces covered in scabs, skinny..or nervously trying to by cold tablets (ingredient in meth). This stuff physically eats away at your brain.
It saddens me. Such a waste...
what happened down ur way today with the police shootig?
thats fubar
js
It never ceases to amaze me how coincidental the world can be. Or not.
I wrote a strory for the Record about a kid who just overdosed and died in the same manner. It is also the topic of today's reflection in my blog.
So very sad...
Mike
Drug addiction in general is nothing to mess around with.
I don't understand what drives people to this stuff in the first place.
Well, yes, my ignorance shines...obviously I missed a good street education. :o) Thanks for the clarification.
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