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The Random Thought Thread
- Thread starter The Greek
- Start date
Ellicottraven
Ravens Ring of Honor
Contrast Ridley's indefinite suspension with the waffling over Watson's suspension. Something smells really weird.
SaltyDog
MVP
Not talking about a war on drugs, talking about a war on a poison that’s killing 10’s of thousands every year. It was the #1 cause of death in US IN 2021.
Biff Tannen
Practice Squad
Cheers friend. Its a tough job but rewarding at the same time when one of our clients leaves after 30 or 60 days way better than when they came in. I think its easy for people who have never been a drug addict or in my case, know and have worked around them, to shrug it offand just expect people to stop doing drugs without help.
And I have heard people all the time say also well if you never start doing them in the first place well then you can't get hooked to them, etc etc. Well that may be the case but people start doing drugs for all sorts of reasons.Its not our job to judge them on that but to help them get past their addiction by becoming clean and having a productive life without that demon over them.
Did people in Jaylon's life try to get him help?We will probably never know that and again I hate to see such a young promising life end this way over drugs.
JoeyFlex5
Hall of Famer
I never in anyway claimed he wasn’t responsible for it, just that waging a war on drugs 2.0 doesn’t seem like a good idea since the first one was a total disaster
JoeyFlex5
Hall of Famer
But it’s a drug and you said wage a war on it but there’s already a 40 year war on drugs happening and it gets exponentially worse with every generation.
Maybe the answer is a different approach
Biff Tannen
Practice Squad
I think the first main thing to do is keep the shit out of the USA period. And that starts with stopping drugs coming in from Mexico and I am sure Canada also. Yes I know easier said than done and I know they are trying to do just this, but gotta be a more productive way of doing so. Then of course you have to take into account the simple fact of drug dealers in general: They don't care who the drugs they are peddling harm or hell even who uses them, as long as they make their money.
They have gotten harsher on drug sentencing, but need to get even harsher imo.
SepticeyePoe
Hall of Famer
That's kind of the same thing, isn't it?
Also not to take away from how dangerous drugs can be, but google tells me the top 3 causes of death were heart disease, cancer, and covid.
JoeyFlex5
Hall of Famer
My father who I loved dearly as a kid, became a heroin addict around 99 when I was 7, he remains one to this day and is a shell of himself. Also my best friend died a few months after relapsing a year ago, he was clean for years and I never even knew he had relapsed. I hated drug addicts for years because of my dad and the various people both parents brought into my life, but when my mental health spiraled in 2018 I gained a new outlook, nobody wants to be a drug addict, nobody wants to destroy their lives and relationships, 99% of the time these people at some point were victims of something that caused them a lifetime of mental anguish, that is the root of it, addressing mental health.
Biff Tannen
Practice Squad
Hate to hear these things pal; hopefully your father can become clean one day. And I had a friend pass away a couple years ago myself due to a heroin overdose. Same thing: She acted like everything was fine and seemed to not be doing drugs anymore but it was all a front to appease the people in her life.
And you hit the nail on the head: Nobody wants to be strung out, get shunned by their families, etc etc but for a variety of reasons it happens. And yeah mental health is a part of a lot of it for sure. We get a lot of people who say they started doing drugs to help them deal with bouts of depression(Saying drugs calmed them down and their depression went away for just that little bit). Only problem of course with that is the high only lasts a certain amount of time and then it is right back to feeling low and needing a pick me up and the cycle just keeps on going around and around.
Mental health in general as far as the public perception of it is, is really not as addressed as much as it needs to be. We need(Especially in my area) way more mental health/drug rehab clinics, information for people to find the right avenue to get clean, etc.
Its tough friend no doubt, but all we can do is to hope some day that things will get better, try to help any loved ones who are dealing with an addiction as best we can, and make sure our own mental health is as good as it can be.
JO_75
Hall of Famer
I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that he was at OTAs/Mini-Camp days prior then suddenly doing drugs that ends up killing him. I can't imagine nobody on the team didn't notice anything wrong or if he was on something or had any drug abuse problems before.
SaltyDog
MVP
The 40 year war on drugs is little more then a myth. What war have they really waged? I read somewhere that they have spent about $1 trillion since 1971 fighting illegal drugs. Compare that to the trillions spent over the past 2 years. They need to get serious about securing our borders and offering up some real consequences to the ones who are dealing this shit illegally.
SaltyDog
MVP
Well when you say “war on drugs” that pretty much means to me ALL illegal drugs. I’m talking about a specific substance that’s killing people in large numbers.
Also I should have specified that in 2021 it was the leading cause of death among ages 18-49.
there was a report the day he died that he texted that he was gonna get 'xannied up' or something like that
idk why he would - but worth noting he'd just got injured... idk if that contributed at all
whatever it is - some of us here have already discussed how easy it can be to miss the signs of addiction because addicts can be really good at hiding stuff
BoredMarine13
Ravens Ring of Honor
I’m sure plenty of the team knew. Drug use is likely an every day event for pro athletes . From weed to adderall to cocaine.
I dnt agree with this… rapists and child molesters get less time than drug dealers..
cobrajet
Hall of Famer
Rapists and child molesters should never see the light of day. The psychological damage they do to their victims often lasts a lifetime. It is a horrible crime.
drjohnnyfever
Pro Bowler
The sad fact is that anything that's available from the street - that means from Pennsylvania Ave to Main Street Westminster and all points between and beyond - has the very high likelihood of somehow being tainted with fentynyl. The shit doesn't only come thru the borders in the traditional ways, it comes directly from China via UPS, FedEx and others. Pops up in news feeds every few months. Horrifyingly huge amounts of it. The Chinese, where most of it is coming from, couldn't give two shits... or even one. They likely appreciate the damage it does here.
I was lucky, I guess, and had the shit scared out of me regarding drugs by the death of Len Bias - not that anything was tainted in that instance. But it just scared me away from coke and "harder" drugs. You have to presume now that anything you get outside of pharmaceuticals, might be tainted and could kill you. That's a lot different world than a kid buying a dime bag of weed a few years ago. It scares me for my kids - one starting HS this year. Continue to talk about that and never returning to drinks left anyplace at parties. The world is a dangerous place.
I was lucky, I guess, and had the shit scared out of me regarding drugs by the death of Len Bias - not that anything was tainted in that instance. But it just scared me away from coke and "harder" drugs. You have to presume now that anything you get outside of pharmaceuticals, might be tainted and could kill you. That's a lot different world than a kid buying a dime bag of weed a few years ago. It scares me for my kids - one starting HS this year. Continue to talk about that and never returning to drinks left anyplace at parties. The world is a dangerous place.
Biff Tannen
Practice Squad
Well yes that obviously needs to be addressed too pal. Sex offenders are the sickest of the sick. The legal/justice system needs to be improved in a lot of different areas for sure. If you rape someone one, molest children etc, then you need to be put away for a long time. I know some states are harsher than others but really needs to be a general consensus to put those kind of people away for a long time.
BoredMarine13
Ravens Ring of Honor
Brittney Griner: What we know about WNBA star’s arrest, conviction in Russia - Sports Illustrated
The Mercury center, in custody since mid-February, was sentenced to nine years in prison.
www.si.com
Very interesting that people continue to travel to places like Russia, China, Central Africa … etc. They are going to take advantage of every opportunity to exploit the US government through stupid citizens. The only way we get her back is trading a legitimate Russian criminal for …. A basketball player. At some point natural selection needs to run its course.