[lbo-talk] opium deaths? Reply to Kelley

[jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net]

> Perhaps it is my personal experience.  I was in a rut many times, yet each
> time I was able to get myself out of it.  First, there was opium addiction -
> nasty home made easily available stuff that killed thousands in Eastern
> Europe.  After three or so years of shooting up and seeing my druggie
> friends disappearing, some turning up dead other in jail still other just
> dropping out of the picture, I decided to quit.  I bought a stash just to
> have it around (knowing that you do not have it can be really nasty) and
> suffered through two weeks of excruciating joints pain, chills, shivers and
> diarrhea (ok I killed some of it with barbiturates, but it was really
> nasty).  
> 
> Wojtek

How does one get killed by a non-toxic substance like opium? Did they die of 
septicemia caused by dirty needles? Was there some harsh impurity in the 
home extraction method used? Did they overdose? It is possible to overdose if 
you inject the stuff but almost impossible to do so with oral ingesting or 
smoking of opium. I'm curious how so many could die from such a benign 
substance.

John Thornton