• flyingjake@lemmy.one
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    1 month ago

    It’s often not so simple as a person making a choice and knowing the outcome. There are often many tragic factors that contribute to the situation that resulted in the overdose. One common situation is someone is injured and prescribed opioids by their doctor, perhaps having been influenced by drug companies like Purdue pharma. As they take it they become addicted, eventually the doctor cuts them off and they go to other doctors, then they may find it easier to buy from a dealer, then they may find it more affordable to buy fentanyl, and then maybe they take too much or get a bad batch and od.

    They didn’t start taking drugs knowing it was going to be a bad path, they started because their doctor prescribed it and by the time they figured out they were addicted they were no longer in control and may not have had the resources to get out. It’s often not just a question of willpower but one of support and resources to help you up.

    There are many other scenarios, but it’s rarely a simple result of a few conscious choices and almost always a result of people suffering in bad situations and it’s ok to feel compassion and empathy even if they weren’t completely innocent in it all.

    • Don_Dickle@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 month ago

      Nice write up…no sarcasm. I asked the question because it seems the world has sympathy for the Liam one direction guy. Even though there was coke alcohol and benzos in his system and syringes found in his hotel room. I just don’t get it. Why don’t we get upset for a person who is not famous? Personally and hope this doesn’t get me banned but really do not give a shit about this guy or any others and I say that as a Nurse.

      • Dipbeneaththelasers@lemmy.today
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        1 month ago

        It’s not that Liam or any other celebrity is more important than anybody else. It’s that they are more widely known. You’re not going to see an outpouring of support on social media for a regular person from Chicago because there aren’t that many people that know them or are affected by their death. That doesn’t make them less worthy of empathy, just less well known.

      • FourPacketsOfPeanuts@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        It’s worth continually highlighting that drug use led to death, deliberate or accidental because people have a tendency to overestimate how safe occasional use is or how glamorous the lifestyle is. Reporting the truth now and then is important, this isn’t even “anti drug” propaganda. It’s just what happened.