Phillip Seymour Hoffman

[Garriga]

If someone steps in front of a car on purpose--and jumps out of the way over and over and over and then not be fast enough---what would we say? What an idiot? What a moron? What do you expect with such behavior. But instead because he is a celebrity we say "So sad." Why do we romanticise the stupidity of celebrities just because they are famous? I liked his acting too but he was no different than a a junkie in the street--bad choices, bad choices. SK said as much in On Writing.

I understand your view and value your opinion. But Just hear me out.

I don't understand why people feel the need to speak ill of the dead. This is something I learned a long time ago. The dead are to be respected no matter what crimes they committed on this earth. No one deserves to die before his time. The person you call "a junkie on the street" is someone's child, mother, sister, daughter, father or friend.

Think of his family and what they are going through and how they feel when they read these harsh judgement.

People are free to say what they want. But there is a way to do it with a little class.

 

[Lepplady]

I understand your view and value your opinion. But Just hear me out.

I don't understand why people feel the need to speak ill of the dead. This is something I learned a long time ago. The dead are to be respected no matter what crimes they committed on this earth. No one deserves to die before his time. The person you call "a junkie on the street" is someone's child, mother, sister, daughter, father or friend.

Think of his family and what they are going through and how they feel when they read these harsh judgement.

People are free to say what they want. But there is a way to do it with a little class.

Agreed. Whatever dues they owed for their actions, they're paid now.

 

[Christine62]

Why do so many think I am condemning the man. I'm not. If we gloss over everyone's mistakes how can we learn from them? There for the grace of God go I is my motto. I never tried to understand the mentally ill but avoided them and made the same crazy jokes as everyone else--until it happened to me. We must try to understand why this actor with unbelievable gifts and talents chose this path because no one can say they will never end up there--least of all me. I will never say--oh that will never happen to me again.

 

[Garriga]

America's drug problem is out of control. Cory Haim, Michael Jackson, and Phillip Seymour died because they were unable to receive proper medical treatment for their sickness. I appreciate programs like AA and NA. I admire Bill W and I think the 12 steps are great. There is a reason treatment programs have only a 25% success rate. A person can change behaviors but he can't will away his genetic code. Treatment programs only treat the behavioral factors of drug addiction. Obviously drug addiction specialist haven't read Yan Sun's latest study. Genotypes and alleles are involved in all stages of this disease. This includes relapse.

This disease is a medical condition and a public health epidemic. Most people think drug addiction is a choice and that psychiatry is the only way to treat drug addicts. This is great for the behavioral factors, but it ignores the physiology. Drug addiction is not the same as gambling addiction. You can treat sex addiction and gambling addiction with psychology. You can will away theses urges. People don't withdraw from gambling or wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweet because they need an adrenaline fix. I don't care what anybody says, adrenaline isn't that powerful.

It is a loss cause because people are brain washed to believe drug addiction is a mentality. Sorry to say, but they are ignorant. Some drug users display behaviors that twelve steps programs can successfully treat. They can change "insane thinking" . Discipline and routine is the best way to rehabilitate and change behavior flaws. The problem is not all drug addicts have a criminal mentality.

There needs to be laws passed that control drug addiction. And I don't mean opium huts or whatever nor do I think drugs should be legal. However I do think the law should allow drug addicts to be treated probably. Methadone clinics are very helpful for patients who can't do it on will alone. I believe there is a answer to this growing problem. But I don't think America wants to fix this. People feed off hate and discrimination. Unfortunately, drug addiction is a way for people to discriminate against a certain class of people. Subsequent drug offender enhancements are the perfect tool for this discrimination. People have no clue what is really going on. It is corrupt and almost fascist.

 

[doowopgirl]

I agree somewhat with what you say. The one flaw is that the addict needs to acknowledge that they have a problem.

 

[Lepplady]

There are a lot of flaws that come with addiction. No two sets of flaws are the same with any two addicts, or any two people, for that matter. Nobody has a checklist of characteristics that can be crossed off when it comes to what makes them tick.

 

[kingricefan]

I agree somewhat with what you say. The one flaw is that the addict needs to acknowledge that they have a problem.

'My name is Dan and I am a Kingaholic.' (just interjecting alittle humor into this thread)

 

[Garriga]

I agree with @Lepplady. But I think a lot of those flaws are learned behaviors. Not all convicts are drug addicts and not all drug addicts are convicts. Most people think all drug addicts are thieves, peddlers, and liars, "a junkie from the street". A majority of people refuse to differentiate between drug use and drug addiction.

Remember those after school specials where little Susie sneaks out to a party. She wants to fit in. So she is forced to hit a joint out of fear of social humiliation. It took only one hit of the devil's smoke. A week later she's a prostitute pissing in a 5 gallon bucket in some crack house on the south side of Chicago. Anybody who thinks a person can turn into a crack head over night needs to wake up. They blame peer pressure, and the evil dealer for little Susie's drug addiction. Its the devil"s fault she is a low class derelict. Crack mentality is a learned behavior, I believe. And in reality Little Susie never even tried crack. She probably went on to college partied a little, but eventually grew out of her desire to follow widespread and hug trees.

It is easy to label Phillip Seymour as a "junkie" or "crack head" but this is a quick judgement, which doesn't justify his death.I doubt there were any signs of his abuse. Though he'd been to rehab and people were aware of his drug addiction, he probably did every thing he could to hide it. If there were sighs and his family knew he was using again, they probably didn't know how to handle it. There wasn't anybody to monitor is dosage, no laws to regulate his consumption, or a doctor with a medical alternative. The reason people hide drug addiction is because of the social and legal consequences that arise from the label, "He's weak and pathetic" and lets not forget that harsh prison sentence. Once the knowledge of a person's drug use becomes a matter of public record, the world uses it against him with police harassment and social rejection.

There is a solution. These deaths could stop. But it is easier to just disregard a person's life because they were nothing but a "junkie" who didn't deserve life, which is un-american and shallow.

 

[Neesy]

'My name is Dan and I am a Kingaholic.' (just interjecting alittle humor into this thread)

Welcome Dana - have a cookie


psst - me too - My name is Neesy and I am a Kingaholic

 

[Srbo]

Garriga, my dear friend...what is this need with pushing America forward as the only country that has a problem with drug(addicts)?
The problem is everywhere in the world, PSH, Jim effin Morrison or an unknown from the street...
The problem is world wide, and I understand you, you live here, so you write what you know, as SK would say..but it`s really not only the USA.

 

[Christine62]

One of my greatest moments of clarity in my life is every moment we have a choice--a moment we decide to go left or right--to pick up a needle or pick up the phone and call a friend or take the meds or to stay up when sleep would calm our mind. I told my kids that when they were teens--there are no
"oops I just got caught up in the moment and cheated on my boyfriend' or "oops I just got carried away at a party" every day we are tested by these choices--we glory in our liberty but often act like the power to choose is up to the fates.

 

[MadamMack]

A painting

 

[Dana Jean]

A painting

That is so crazy real.

 

[Agincourt Concierge]

A painting

very striking .... when I found out about his death, I told my oldest son who also happens to be a big fan of his ... and he was so upset, he told me he had just been talking about Mr. Hoffman the night before with a friend from college .... he couldn't believe it ....

 

[Garriga]

Garriga, my dear friend...what is this need with pushing America forward as the only country that has a problem with drug(addicts)?
The problem is everywhere in the world, PSH, Jim effin Morrison or an unknown from the street...
The problem is world wide, and I understand you, you live here, so you write what you know, as SK would say..but it`s really not only the USA.

I don't know how other countries deal with drug addiction. I'm aware that Portugal has decriminalized possession. I don't know if I agree with this. But I don't think a harsh prison sentences is the answer either and twelve step programs have a low success rate. I think the answer lies in medical science. This is a public health issue that needs to be addressed with an open mind. The world needs to differentiate between mentality and genetics. Many drug users aren't criminals. Phillip Seymour Hoffman wasn't a convict. He had a sickness. But the amount of narcotics the police found was ridiculous. That amount should have never been available for him to buy. That fact that 50 bags of heroin can be bought and sold on any street corner by anyone is a problem. Regulation is needed and this war on drugs is obviously not getting rid of the supply.It is no longer a matter of choice. People are dying.

 

[Lepplady]

I hate to keep harping on a theme, but Cannabis oil is the best thing a person can use to detox. And, despite claims to the contrary, the plant itself is not addictive. The behavior of smoking it can be addictive in nature, but the plant itself is not.

 

[Lepplady]

Rapper Drake apologizes for ranting about being replaced on Rolling Stone cover by a tribute for Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

After taking a beating on social media for complaining that he was bumped from the cover of Rolling Stone in favor of a tribute to late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, Drake took to his blog Friday to explain himself. Translated: He tried some damage control with an apology he didn't mean so that people would stop yelling at him.

 

[kingricefan]

Rapper Drake apologizes for ranting about being replaced on Rolling Stone cover by a tribute for Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

After taking a beating on social media for complaining that he was bumped from the cover of Rolling Stone in favor of a tribute to late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, Drake took to his blog Friday to explain himself. Translated: He tried some damage control with an apology he didn't mean so that people would stop yelling at him.

All I hear from 'celebrities' anymore is: mememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememememe and me!

 

[MadamMack]

I don't know how other countries deal with drug addiction. I'm aware that Portugal has decriminalized possession. I don't know if I agree with this. But I don't think a harsh prison sentences is the answer either and twelve step programs have a low success rate. I think the answer lies in medical science. This is a public health issue that needs to be addressed with an open mind. The world needs to differentiate between mentality and genetics. Many drug users aren't criminals. Phillip Seymour Hoffman wasn't a convict. He had a sickness. But the amount of narcotics the police found was ridiculous. That amount should have never been available for him to buy. That fact that 50 bags of heroin can be bought and sold on any street corner by anyone is a problem. Regulation is needed and this war on drugs is obviously not getting rid of the supply.It is no longer a matter of choice. People are dying.

If you have the funds you can buy any amount of drugs, it's been that way for a very long time. Drugs are going to always be at the ready, but we must reach deep within ourselves to fight our own addictions. I hate to say this but I think it was suicide. It's possible that he didn't buy all of the heroin at once. He stayed clean for years . . .or he hid it very well.

I'm not trying to piss on your parade but I think as upstanding adults with families, --especially children that look up to us, we must take a stand for our own well-being. Hoffman had resources that many won't ever have.

 

[rockpharm]

Well..a lot to digest. Been to rehab. Twice. Don't want to go back. Still dealing with issues that put me there but that's another forum. I was the last one to believe the whole addiction is a disease, blah blah......to me that was a cop out. It's a little different for me now and PSH is a good example. Addiction is a disease. Much like cancer, it can come back and kill you. Even after 20 years of remission aka clean time. Fact.