How many people, that you know personally,have died from drugs or alcohol?

[Chicago Democrat]

Poll question: How many people, that you know personally,have died from drugs or alcohol?

How many people, that you know personally,have died from drugs or alcohol?

[LiberalVoice]

1. 2...

One shot himself cuz he was an alcoholic and the other over dosed on heroin.

[MnFats]

2. are you including people that died driving drunk or..

..otherwise loaded? A crash, I mean.
..If so, put me down for three. no, four.
...no excuse for it...

[Chicago Democrat]

5. YEs, car crashes of addicts count...

My friend Paul, the crack made him insane and he drove straight into a truck after driving on Lake Shore drive in the wrong side. His widow and 2 children struggle to this day...


Such tragedy in this world. I'm glad I 'won' this contest. I wouldnt wish my experience on anyone.

[Chicago Democrat]

3. 8 here

(crying sounds)

[Chicago Democrat]

6. I miss my dead freinds!

Dad
Paul
Fred
Mamalon
Chuck
Rob
Rich
Mike

[rawtribe]

4. Uncle died at 48

so what, his children are all Mormons, making life miserable for all of us. 6 billion plus people on the planet, the hero's know when to check out early!

:nuke:

[madrchsod]

7. several people i knew used to be drug addicts

died from alcohol later in life and others their years of drug use just killed them. but the biggest killer of my generation is hepatitis c,i`m watching several of my close friends slowly dieing from this disease. it`s a slow silent killer that takes years to develop and once you know you have it it`s to late....

[Chicago Democrat]

9. My brother just caught it...or its too late.

The world is exploding and I can hardly handle it. Sadly he is now in jail and I doubt they will give him the best care. Everthing is becoming so medieval...

[Clark2008]

8. I voted zero, but I should take it to one

My gran'pa died years and years later of liver problems. Way much later after he quit drinkin'.

Now.. 'ere's a question/

How many people do you know who have died of smokin'?

[Skittles]

15. nicotine=drug-included in original question

nt

[Clark2008]

19. Tomatoes have nicotine in them. Chocolate is a drug.

I'm just trying to clarify here.

Sorry.

Wasn't meaning to start a war.

[Skittles]

22. no war

nicotine has killed members of both sides of my family, and I struggle with that addiction. Haven't smoked this year but DAMN I always want to. :o

[Radical Activist]

10. None

But I do know several people having a very hard time getting their lives back together because its hard to get a job with a felony drug conviction on your record and it also prevents you from getting federal student financial aid for college. The drug laws in this nation are stupid.

[Chicago Democrat]

12. Everything should be legal..

if drugs are so bad then the consequences alone should be punishment enough!

[ernstbass]

35. so true!

and nobody gives a damn.

[maveric]

11. My brother for one, but definately more than 20.

A lost generation from my old neighborhood.

[henrik larssonisking]

26. a lot

a lot of people in my old neighbourhood have died from heroin, either due to using to high a purity or from complications.

[freeplessinseattle]

13. 3 too many

One drunk driving, one accidental od, one intentional od.


I can only hope that they have found some peace.

[Skittles]

14. brother, aunts, uncles, cousin, grandfathers, etc

too f***ing many

[Jack_DeLeon]

16. Where is the "not enough" option...

Actually I dont personally know anyone who has died of drugs. Although there are a few druggies that I wouldnt mind if they died.

Sadly I think my grandfather will probably be the first person I know to die, he is an old school alcoholic. At this point it wouldnt even be worth it to try to get him off of it. But its his life, and I wouldnt ever force anyone to live a certain lifestyle.

[Chicago Democrat]

17. Rather cold but understandable... All humans are precious

including drug addled fools

[rawtribe]

18. Humans are a cancer

on this planet... In the grand scheme of things none of us will be missed.

:boring:

[Chicago Democrat]

20. Harsh!

I salute you!

[aquart]

21. Oh, if you include the victims, then two.

My cousin technically died of a heart attack. He was clean. He was putting his life back together the hard way. He finally got the opportunity he'd been negotiating years for. He died in Dallas, in the hotel. He missed the meeting where he would have signed the contract and when they called to check, the maid found him.

Years of alcohol and heroin and any other damn drug abuse wore out his body. When he was ready to move on, it couldn't go with him. We buried him on my birthday, a year and a half ago.

The victim I knew, so briefly, was 27 months old, killed by a drunk driver while on his way to Disney World. He was born to a classmate a month after we started graduate school. The class named him. He teethed on my fingers and flopped on my chest to nap. He charmed me out of my potato chips before he could even talk. The last thing he did, was open his eyes and smile at his mother. Then he closed them and died. She gave his eyes to another child.

[Suziq]

27. Oh - I Am Cyring

The paragraph about the 27 month old child brought tears to my eyes. How sad! I cannot read some posts here at work.

:cry:

[Piperay]

23. 2...

uncles who died from alcoholism.

[chefgirl]

24. Three... all young

One person I knew in school died in a head-on collision because he was driving drunk.

Another person I knew in school was so loaded she was walking down the middle of a highway and got hit by a truck.

Another person I knew, my nephew's best friend, OD'd on heroin. Passed out in his bed, fell off onto the baseboard heater, and his face was a mass of blisters when his parents found him, not breathing.

-chef-

[sweetheart]

25. of those deaths, how many per each cocktail?

My guess is most are from alcohol.

I couldn't blame "drugs" for a hepatitis or AIDS death, as in truth,
the death is from the drugs war, not the drugs themselves, as were
they legal, clean needles and supplies would prevent overdose, poisoning
and disease deaths.

I wonder if any deaths at all in that list are related to cannabis.

How many for cigarettes outright.. "he smoked himself to death" or
rather lives shortened by the attendent sicknesses of smoking.

How many people just wanted to committ suicide and used the drug
of convenience.

How many people were killed by cars, which however drunk driving can
be blamed is really not an alcohol death, but a traffic death.

Your profile whets my curiousity for the beef.

One would think in a puritain society that herald's its silly drugs
war, that after 7 decades of that stupid war, we would not read
such sad storiess.... obviously denial and criminalization are not
solving the american drugs/alcohol problem.

[hollowdweller]

28. 2 from drugs 0 from guns but both should be legal.

[Bridget Burke]

29. "Bad news from Houston, half my friends are dyin'"

From "White Freight Liner Blues" by Townes van Zandt (1944-1997). His death was not the direct result of an OD--but his body was worn out by years of hard living. "The Late, Great Townes Van Zandt" was released in 1972. The title was a joke, sort of...

OD's, heroin and/or coke? Several. (Would getting shot by a bigger dealer count? Not counting the other gun deaths--self-inflicted & otherwise.)

Crashing your car/bike while drunk/stoned? Several.

Lung cancer from cigarettes? Two.

And I'm wondering at the "natural" deaths (mostly cancer) occurring in friends who'd wrestled with demons in early years. And uncles who returned from the Good War to spend too much time drinking & smoking at the NCO Club, Officers' Club or corner bar. Everybody goes sometime, but some of these seemed a bit too early.

[spinbaby]

30. An aunt an uncle

They were always a heavy-drinking couple. Then they retired and moved to Florida and took up drinking seriously. Both died of liver failure. He spent months imagining bugs crawling under his skin but kept drinking until the day he died.

[Danmel]

31. Three immediately come to mind

Someone I went to college with was killed in a drunk driving accident. Both he and the driver were quite tanked and he was backed over by his friend. I suspect had he not been plastered, he'd not have chosen to stand right behind the car as it was backing up. His name was Jerry and he was 22.

Another person I went to college with OD'd. Her name was Alita. She was a beautiful girl, she had the most gorgeous complexion, and I have to tell you that is the one think you just cannot fake. She was a gymnast too. She hooked up with this asshole guy- I still remember him so well- he was VERY controlling. I had gone to see The Who at Madison Square Garden in 1979 and she asked me if I could pick up a button for her (one of the local radio stations used to hand out event buttons at concerts) I picked one up for her and went to give it to her and found out she had died of an OD the day before. Such a total and complete waste- she was a special person. It's been 26 years and I still think of her often. I wonder what happened to her boyfriend and if he even cared.

My piano teachers son also died of an OD. HIs name was Lou. I knew him sort of peripherally but I was pretty friendly with his sister. Both of them were devastated and were never the same again.

If you want to count tobacco as a drug- well at least 15 or 20, mostly parents of friends, co workers etc. I'm 44 so the smoking deaths of my contemporaries haven't started yet, but unfortunately, will likely start pretty soon.

[noonwitch]

32. More than 8

I have to qualify that by stating that most were clients and I have been working as a children's service worker in Detroit for almost 18 years.

I know people from high school who died in drunk driving accidents, and I'm surprised when I look back at my college years that none of my friends (particularly my sorority sisters) died of alcohol poisoning.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

33. Too many.

As an Employee Assistance counselor, I dealt with many drug/alcohol addicts and their families. The devastation caused by addiction is overwhelming.

[Jose Diablo]

34. More than 8

[ArkDem]

36. Unfortunately, everyone I know is dying.

[funkybutt]

37. I voted 6 but I'll probably think of more as the day goes on

:( RIP

"Tall Paul" (killed himself with a shotgun in his car after several years of extreme drug use. He was 22)

"Dude" (good boyscout I knew from childhood, he may have been murdered over drugs but his death is listed as a suicide. His body was found in the river weeks after his dissappearance. He was in grad school and was 27)

Michelle (spent around half her life using drugs..I think an OD of Delaudid did her in)

Sarah (family member who after months of decline and alcoholism following the death of her daughter in a car accident, she lost control of her vehicle, which flipped, killing her instantly. She was in her late 40s)

Steven (I grew up going to sunday school with him.he was "recovering" from a drug addiction. He drowned in his own vomit after visiting a methadone clinic after a night of heavy coke use. He was 22)

"Gentle Giant" (He just died about a month ago. Drank about a fifth of vodka and then took a bunch of muscle relaxors. He was 22)

[Festivito]

38. 0. 1-alc, 1-drug. But, n/a: 3 smoking (2 family, 1 friend)

One family member, long ago, they think drank cleaning fluid to quell pangs the prohibition prohibited alcohol.

One married-into-family son of a Baptist minister, more conservative than the Southern Baptists, fed himself to death getting off drugs.

Smoking is a drug, but, one would include it explicitly if wanted, right?

The others managed to kill themselves because of alcohol and drugs but not by them.

So, zero.

[yardwork]

39. More than I can name

Close family members who died from drinking or smoking. Friends killed in drunken driving accidents. A teacher who died of a heroin overdose.

I'm still fairly young, too. I have friends and family members who are currently drinking or drugging themselves to death. Most of them will die earlier than they otherwise would.

I think there is a lot of overlap between deaths due to unrecognized and/or untreated mental health issues, addictions, and suicides.