An Unwinnable War
A 40-year-old Alberta man, incarcerated at Drumheller Institution to serve out a two-year sentence after having been convicted of selling cocaine, and with a lifelong record of crime and drug addiction was the subject of an inquest after he had overdosed on drugs while in prison. He was found unconscious in his cell by guards who checked on him after he hadn't responded to a page for his scheduled urine test.
He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. He had ingested drugs smuggled into the prison, although he was participating in sobriety programming in prison. An autopsy found morphine, ecstasy and marijuana in his bloodstream. All of which evidently led to his death, since he was suffering from broncho-pneumonia. The drugs in his system suppressed his central nervous system, according to the toxicology report.
The enquiry into Kory Stewart Mountain's death led to the conclusion by Justice Les Grieve that society's struggle to eliminate illegal drug use was a failing game, one that "cannot be won". "Society does not seem committed to this battle, as can be seen by sports heroes and other celebrity role models who use drugs, even smuggle them, yet are still revered by the masses. It may be that all we can hope for in this war is to keep the casualties to a minimum", wrote Justice Grieve.
He is, of course, quite correct. Unbounded admiration for celebrities and their lifestyles and their adopted values is endemic within society, particularly among the young and the impressionable. Who see the sport and entertainment and society figures whom they idolize as beyond reproach. They equate being famous and even infamous with respect and living an enviable lifestyle, whatever it includes.
It certainly isn't all of society that is vulnerable to the urge to replicate what they can of the lifestyle of well-known public figures. There will always be those who succumb to the allure of risky behaviour even while they're aware that this will impinge on their health and their futures, because they reject that acknowledgement, feeling others may be endangered but they're somehow immune, protected.
We're all capable of rejecting what we know will be inimical to our health and our future. For some, however, there are roadblocks, prior experiences that make it infinitely more difficult for rational judgement to overcome emotional need. And for Kory Stewart Mountain that indeed seemed to be the case.
While some people have an indomitable will to succeed in life which enables them to surmount all difficulties and forge ahead to live well, others are bereft of that will. Despite coming from families which misfortune has visited, where social failure is common and a squalid lifestyle leads to disaster, some people can rise above these situations. Most cannot.
From the report issued on this man it appears that most of his family members died equally sordid and sad deaths, reflecting sordid and sad lifestyles, replete with violence, suicide and addiction.
He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. He had ingested drugs smuggled into the prison, although he was participating in sobriety programming in prison. An autopsy found morphine, ecstasy and marijuana in his bloodstream. All of which evidently led to his death, since he was suffering from broncho-pneumonia. The drugs in his system suppressed his central nervous system, according to the toxicology report.
The enquiry into Kory Stewart Mountain's death led to the conclusion by Justice Les Grieve that society's struggle to eliminate illegal drug use was a failing game, one that "cannot be won". "Society does not seem committed to this battle, as can be seen by sports heroes and other celebrity role models who use drugs, even smuggle them, yet are still revered by the masses. It may be that all we can hope for in this war is to keep the casualties to a minimum", wrote Justice Grieve.
He is, of course, quite correct. Unbounded admiration for celebrities and their lifestyles and their adopted values is endemic within society, particularly among the young and the impressionable. Who see the sport and entertainment and society figures whom they idolize as beyond reproach. They equate being famous and even infamous with respect and living an enviable lifestyle, whatever it includes.
It certainly isn't all of society that is vulnerable to the urge to replicate what they can of the lifestyle of well-known public figures. There will always be those who succumb to the allure of risky behaviour even while they're aware that this will impinge on their health and their futures, because they reject that acknowledgement, feeling others may be endangered but they're somehow immune, protected.
We're all capable of rejecting what we know will be inimical to our health and our future. For some, however, there are roadblocks, prior experiences that make it infinitely more difficult for rational judgement to overcome emotional need. And for Kory Stewart Mountain that indeed seemed to be the case.
While some people have an indomitable will to succeed in life which enables them to surmount all difficulties and forge ahead to live well, others are bereft of that will. Despite coming from families which misfortune has visited, where social failure is common and a squalid lifestyle leads to disaster, some people can rise above these situations. Most cannot.
From the report issued on this man it appears that most of his family members died equally sordid and sad deaths, reflecting sordid and sad lifestyles, replete with violence, suicide and addiction.
Labels: Health, Human Fallibility, Life's Like That, Society
posted by Pieface | 6:09 PM
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