Two days before last Christmas, Beth Stephens was full of plans and promise. The brilliant, 39-year-old scientist who had studied in Paris, completed a Ph.D. in microbiology and had worked as a researcher for the federal government seemed to be getting her life back together.
The slim, fun-loving brunette who enjoyed outdoor concerts, afternoon chats over strong coffee with friends and showing off her soccer moves to her 9-year-old nephew, Lincoln, was determined to move out of a dark place.
“I’m out of the shelter now. Plan to put in a few online job apps and follow up w another,” wrote Stephens in a series of texts to a friend, studded with exclamation points, happy faces, and chatter about plans for Christmas Eve.
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She was a dumbell; destined to be a drain on society. The best way to stop the illegal use of drugs is to let these dumbells continue to kill themselves.
ReplyDeleteJoe, did you happen to see the 60 minutes interview that revealed how Congress and drug companies worked together to cripple the DEA's ability to fight opioid abuse?! Shocking stuff. Marsha Blackburn was a key player in this and is running for Bob Corker's seat in the Senate. We can't let these monsters continue to profit off the hardships of our country
ReplyDelete4:57. I hope you feel the same way about all choices that people make that can damage their health. Same should go for people who abuse food, sex, alcohol and cigarettes.
ReplyDelete8:15 I kind of get what you are saying except besides some alcoholics those you mention aren't out robbing people and homes to pay for their addictions. They are on the lower rung of being a drain.
ReplyDelete8:53. Lol. You have no idea what you are talking about. Drain....look at the welfare system.
ReplyDelete4:57:
ReplyDeleteI respectfully completely disagree with you - when it comes to opioids.
I do feel the way you do about many other drugs. Put a spike in your arm - you sorta know where you're heading. Do crack - same thing.
There is absolutely no sympathy here for those individuals.
Opioids are a different story.
Yes, a large percentage is taken for social reasons, but another large percentage is taken by people inadvertently addicted. People that actually needed to control pain, and got grabbed by this amazingly addictive drug.
I could mention a name here - a name that most readers would instantly recognize - that became addicted to Oxy. A family man, a pillar of the community, a church-going conservative.
He finally went to a rehab center as an in-patient for three weeks. His wake-up call was when he got into his car at midnight to try and find heroin on the streets when his prescription ran out.
This drug is some very bad news, and will prove very quickly to be the downfall of many urban - and even suburban - areas. Crack is nothing compared to this.
For those people accidentally becoming addicted, I do have sympathy.
It was good to hear that our government is getting involved.