PhDs' illicit drug use leads to tragedy

[pumpkin65]

<p>I thought this was worth sharing.</p>

<p>The irony of such young, talented PhD’s doing this is inconceivable. It reminds me in a way of the 1991 movie “Rush”, which was based on fact.</p>

<p>My heart goes out to the parents and friends who were completely unaware of the secret life this couple led. The article alludes to using random drug testing in research environments as a prevention mechanism. </p>

<p>[Two</a> lives behind a curtain – baltimoresun.com](<a href=“http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-md.mccracken22nov22,0,7456404.story?page=1]Two”>http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-md.mccracken22nov22,0,7456404.story?page=1)</p>

<p>

Why, given the obvious perils, would they use opiates when they knew exactly how the drugs affect the brain? And why risk injecting themselves with drugs bought online? The federal government says online drug marts are part of a global network peddling dangerously unreliable goods.</p>

<p>When did these two start using opiates? And how did they hide it behind the drawn blinds of their Dover Street house? McCracken was open about his pot-smoking, but friends thought that was it.

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[sunnyflorida]

<p>So sad. Two brilliant but stupid scientists. Too smart for their own good. They thought they could control the recreational use of narcotics. They were pharmacologists and neuroscientists. They thought they could trust the illegal purchase of said drugs from online pharmacies in the Philippines and other locations. </p>

<p>They thought they were God.</p>

[soozievt]

<p>Drug addiction and abuse knows no boundaries and even those in the health professions use illicit drugs. Not truly shocking, but very tragic.</p>

[pumpkin65]

<p>This story unfolded to me in pieces because it is our local paper…first the very impersonal reporting of the event, then a little more detail in the next story, and now, all the background detail about family and friends.</p>

<p>Some of the comments on the web edition criticize the Sun article because someone dies in Baltimore daily because of drug addiction and those stories never gets coverage. So what’s the news? </p>

<p>The news is that many of the people that die of drug addiction in Baltimore had no hope, no life, no parenting, no education, little future…little to live for. The story is the astonishing irony…</p>

<p>The gift of incredible intelligence that was squandered, the potential in both human beings to do good with their gifts…the outcome is a catastrophe.</p>

[nysmile]

<p>“The news is that many of the people that die of drug addiction in Baltimore had no hope, no life, no parenting, no education, little future…little to live for.”</p>

<p>This is a very generalized assumption. While some may feel that the life of these two well educated people has more value than the life of other drug addicts, I beg to differ. A life is a life–whether poor or rich, black or white, illiterate or highly educated.</p>

[pumpkin65]

<p>I never said that their lives had more value, never implied that. A life is indeed a life.
They aren’t deserving of more humanized treatment or press coverage than anyone else, for certain.</p>

<p>They were given the gift of intelligence and fine education. They probably chose this lifestyle as mature adults, not young kids with nothing else to do, or no where to go, with no means of support or guidance.</p>

[soozievt]

<p>The abuse of drugs is a disease. It is not about what sounds logical or that they should have known better or “chose this lifestyle.” I know lawyers who have drug problems and they know the law. I know doctors who have addictions and they understand health implications.</p>