posted on April 25, 2001 08:26:46 AM new
Very sad case and truly shows the hold drugs can have. He was busted in Culver City yesterday for drugs again.
Any kids that think drugs are cool should use him and Darryl Strawberry as an example of what happens. No matter how much money you have or how many re-habs you go through -it may never work - so don't start. Sadly most kids think they will not be the ones getting addicted - the not me mentality.
The really sad thing is kids today are into X -ecstacy and unlike most drugs it starts to kill brain cells with the first use. Most drugs, coke and meth etc. will kill the brain's natural ability to manufacture dopamine and/or brain cells but it takes prolonged use. Not so with X - short time use severely affects the brain - memory etc.
posted on April 25, 2001 08:43:35 AM new
ypay - I don't know if I agree with your statement because I do believe anyone can get off drugs, if they want to bad enough. Some people have to sink completely to the bottom before they get the message. I think R.D. Jr. just doesn't want to quit right now. I don't think he ever has. If you've got everyone telling you you need to quit doing drugs to stay out of jail, what would you say if you were a drug addict?
The Ecstasy drug is still up for debate, as far as I know. I've heard some doctors recommending it for certain types of depression.
posted on April 25, 2001 08:58:28 AM new
Correct me if my memory is faulty, but I seem to remember reading that Robert Downey Jr. was first exposed to drugs when he was very young - by his FATHER.
I feel that after one reaches a certain age it's inappropriate to blame one's bad behavior on one's parents - we, as adults, must be held accountable for our own actions. But in the case of Robert Downey Jr. - and this is just speculation - I think it must run deeper than "simple" addiction. By encouraging the use of drugs in his minor child, I wonder if Downey's father made drug use an approval thing - use drugs, please dad. Reject drugs, reject dad.
posted on April 25, 2001 10:37:09 AM new
I was very sad to hear about his recent arrest. I also heard on the news this morning that he was fired from Ally McBeal. I just love him, wish so much he could clean up his act and get his life back in order.
posted on April 25, 2001 10:53:53 AM new
I know how hard it is to quit smoking and stop drinking coffee and eating chocolate---I can't even begin to imagine what it is like for someone with addictions like Robert Downey jr or Daryl Strawberry
posted on April 25, 2001 11:42:24 AM new
Why feel bad for him? It only seems to help his career. Get arrested, get prime role on Ally McBeal. Get arrested, get your name mentioned in every Leno and Letterman monologue. It's not like he ever does hard time. Not like's ever been treated the same way some black guy would be treated for the same offense. Sympathy for Robert Downey Jr.? Pity? I don't think so.
posted on April 25, 2001 12:36:39 PM new
I now have to amend my above statement, as I just heard on "Inside Edition" that Downey has been fired from Ally McBeal.
My point was that until now there has been no genuine incentive for Downey to get his s*** together. When ordinary people get addicted and self-destructive, they lose their jobs, their homes, their marriages. But Downey just seems to cruise along, like it's nothing more than an inconvenience. Why get clean? There was no reason other than people saying he should, which isn't going to convince anyone, let alone an addict, to change their ways.
posted on April 25, 2001 12:38:39 PM new
I've run out of empathy and/or sympathy for both Downey & Strawberry. Two grown men who are given chance after chance after chance after chance after chance--and given beaucoup bucks as well--who keep throwing everything away. And they'll continue to do so for as long as they get rewarded for doing so.
posted on April 25, 2001 03:33:42 PM new
Spaz,
He spent 6 months in the LA County jail - not a halfway house etc. I am sure it was no picnic. A good friend of ours has been a sheriff there for 20 years and she says he was treated no different than anyone else. This is also a probation violation and LA thinks he is going back to jail. His father did provide his first drugs.
For the other poster - that is my point. If people with all the resources in the world cannot get off - then it is obvious drugs have a far deeper impact than most people who use recreationally think.
I feel sorry for anyone, rich, poor etc. that gets hooked up in that world. Unlike the other poster I do not believe just because you want off you can do it. Some people do not have the mental ability to do so. Just as some are addicted the first time etc.
Darryl Strawberry is also battling prostate cancer - no walk in the park.
Spaz,
You say he was rewarded for the Ally McBeal show. I think not. He did his time - 6 months and then, as a talented actor was given a part. He now cannot keep that part and has been fired. You mentioned that a black man would be in jail. Would you then say when that black man got out of jail he did not deserve to work in the field he knows? You cannot have it both ways.
posted on April 25, 2001 04:47:08 PM new
I believe Downey spent over a year in prison also, not just the six months in county jail.
So he has done hard time. He'll probably be going back to either prison or jail now with this last arrest.
also I believe the major reason the mother of his son ended their relationship was because of his addiction.
So, even though he's a rich actor, he has lost... his job, his primary relationship, and has been in prison because of his addiction. The consequences are there, it's up to Downey to pay attention to them and say he wants the cycle to stop. If he wants to do drugs more than he hates the consequences, he'll still keep doing drugs when he's free to do them.
I had to learn to hate the behavior and the choices made, and not be so judgmental to the person underneath. Addiction is a disease, like it or not, and part of the disease manifests itself through irresponsible and destructive behavior. He's got a real battle on his hands to beat an addiction that strong, and for that part he has my empathy. In no way do I condone or accept his behavior but the person underneath I feel empathy towards.
posted on April 25, 2001 09:36:56 PM new
Hepburn,
I think you miss the point. We are not sympathetic regarding the fact he lost his job. A drug addict who cannot show up for work should lose their job.
But if you think he is a loser because he is a drug addict and you wash your hands - I pity you. Solutions are needed not ignoring the situation. If we all keep ignoring the addicts plight - we will be the ones affected as they will be the next robber, car jacker - bomber etc. and we will all be affected.
posted on April 25, 2001 09:54:30 PM new
Hes a loser because he has a choice and refuses help. He continues to abuse himself and others who love him. I have no sympathy nor empathy for him. Period. Been there, done that with people close to me so I speak from experience. Dont like my opinion. Oh well.
You can keep your pity too. Give it to Downey.
[ edited by HEPburn on Apr 25, 2001 09:56 PM ]
posted on April 25, 2001 10:34:45 PM new
As a clean addict, all I can say is this: they (Downey & Strawberry) had the funds to have virtually unlimited access to narcotics. That being said, they also had the funds to get themselves clean, and could most likely get help from thier "friends". My church assisted me, but I still had to cough up $$ for help...and they make more in a day then I make in a year. I pray they straighten out thier lives, but they truely have to WANT to before it will happen.
Only my 2 cents.
Rick
In the begining, God created the heavens and the earth.
posted on April 26, 2001 06:48:57 AM new
When you have repeadtly tried to help a drug addict. And they continue to use. You cannot help feeling as HEPburn. You would have to live thru it in order to know how she feels.
It is a very frustrating situation to be in. As you watch someone you love or care about ruin their life. Not to mention they will lie to you, steal from you. A family member or mine has stolen thousands of dollars from my father-in-law,his VCR,his wedding ring. Whatever he can get his hands on to sell for drugs. It's pathetic. About ignoring their plight. You cannot help someone who does not want to help themselves.
I watched a program where scientist gave monkey's a total of 8 ecstacy pills over a four day period. It was still showing up in there bodies after a seven year period. These kids don't realize what they are messing with.
[ edited by sideslam on Apr 26, 2001 06:51 AM ]
posted on April 26, 2001 07:46:19 AM new
Sideslam is right about the results of the monkey tests with Ecstacy (MDMA). I found a reference to it on a University of Washington site which cites the study and quotes the researcher as saying, "MDMA-induced [serotonin] neural injury in nonhuman primaes lasts for at least seven years and may well be permanent." However, the article does go on to refer to the flaws in such studies. If you want to read more, it's here:
posted on April 26, 2001 08:09:54 AM new
sideslam,
I do speak from experience. I have been there and done that and that is why I say educate the young.
You can want it all you want - but depending on how long you have used - mentally there are many that will never be clean. If you think it is all a matter of will power you better read up on what todays drugs do to your brain. It is not hardly just a matter of will power. Cocaine, pot, alcohol do not have the affects on the brain that todays drugs do - therefore the addict of today is going to have a very rough ride if they want to be clean.
I have seen a family member with a long term addiction go through it. It is a vicious cycle. So I do speak from experience. I pity those that say say they are all losers and ignore them.
posted on April 26, 2001 08:22:31 AM new
You know where you can stick your pity (see my other response to you). Click that ol' ignore button because here I go again:
posted on April 26, 2001 10:27:20 AM new
Come on Hep,....don't you think you're being a bit harsh? What about people that smoke cigarettes, are they losers?
Robert Downey doesn't want to quit. It's obvious. No drug addict will quit before they want to, no matter what they lose or destroy. When they wake up in the gutter or hopsital a few times, maybe it'll sink in...or maybe they need to almost die before they quit, but nothing anyone says to them, if they don't want to quit, will make any difference.
The drugs don't have a hold on Downey, he has a hold on them.
posted on April 26, 2001 10:34:32 AM new
ypayretail,
What do you think one should do when you have allready tried to help them? You have been there and supported them while they are trying to get off the drugs. You take them to the doctors, you try to get them counseling. You help them in any way you can. Then the next week they rip you off all the while lying to you.There is a point where you say enough is enough, I can't help this person. And if they want to live their life like that and be a loser, then there is nothing I can do. Except throw them out of the house. I don't know the answer. I wish I did.
posted on April 26, 2001 10:36:16 AM new
Maybe I am being harsh to some, but its my opinion on the matter. And my opinion warrants pity because my views are different than someone elses? Like I said..been there done that. And your last sentence, kraftdinner, is correct and well said.
posted on April 26, 2001 10:43:28 AM newkraftdinner:don't you think you're being a bit harsh? What about people that smoke cigarettes, are they losers?
Well, "losers" isn't the first word that comes to my mind (idiots, followed closely by fools, gets there first), but it's not too far off.
My mother smoked more than the city of Los Angeles (& no, that's not an exaggeration). When I was 8 or 9 I said that whenever my Mom died it would be from cancer--and when I was 22 I was proved correct. Much as I loved my mother, I admit than in this area she was a fool, an idiot and, in the end, a loser. I won't be surprised if I, who have never smoked, develop lung cancer later in life--I inhaled enough second-hand smoke from my mother (& to some extent from other smokers) for it to be a real possibility.
posted on April 26, 2001 11:15:21 AM new
My father-in-law worked at the same place of employment for 47 years. Which he almost lost this job, not to mention his pension, insurance, due to his son and drugs. His son was taking his checkbook and signing his name and cashing check up at his place of employment. Hiding his statments when it would come in that the checks had bounced. They pulled me father-in-law into the office and told him. They told him the police were on there way to arrest him. That he was being fired. They assumed my father-in-law had wrote all the checks. These checks had added up to thousands of dollars. He was able to get it straightned out, luckly. All they wanted was their money. Nothing happened to my brother-in-law because my other brother-in-law paid the checks. So nothing was done. And my brother-in-law is still up to the same old stuff. Hasn't had a job in over two years and spends his nights out looking for drugs.
posted on April 26, 2001 12:37:49 PM new
I don't think people that smoke cigarettes are losers (IMHO). What I was trying to point out, was that it's the ACT that is bad, not the person.
What's the difference between a person that smokes cigarettes, and a person that does heroin?
If a person continues to smoke nowadays, after knowing what the final outcome will probably be, what's the difference?
IMO, what makes drugs "so bad" is the fact that they're illegal. I think 75% of the crap related to taking drugs, stealing, lying, etc., is solely because drugs are hard to find and expensive if you do.
If you were able to buy drugs, like you can with cigarettes, I doubt you'd notice much difference with society.
There would still be the ones that go overboard, and O.D., etc., but it wouldn't be much different than it is now.
Downey was still able to hold a job, and in my opinion, is and was a brilliant actor. If doing drugs wasn't such a big deal, I'm sure he'd still be working hard. The only thing different would be that while he was doing drugs, like the cigarette smoker, he would know that he probably wouldn't live as long, and it could affect his career.
Just because society wants you to do something, doesn't mean it's right for you.
