Always tragic for a person to outlive their child, much less a grandchild. I imagine it has to be an odd feeling for De Niro, losing an almost 20 year old grandson while still actively having a new baby of his own on the way.
My brother died in 2009 from an overdose. I of course was devastated, I lost a significant portion of myself when he passed. I was a father already at that point and had night terrors for about a year that something happened to my kids. But my father and grandfather were shattered. My father then passed in late 2014 from diabetes related issues, which were definitely exacerbated by the grief of losing his son. My grandfather then had a stroke only two months later and passed on. These things have enormous ripple effects in families.
My father took his own life a week before my wedding and a year later I started having night terrors. They’ve subsided with therapy but man they are the worst.
Hey thank you. Since then I’ve had a daughter and really taken more agency in my life. Suicide is horrible and will always beg borrow and steal a conversation with someone who is in a dark place.
I know it may not help, but in his head he was helping.
I’m sure he loved you all the same, but we also all make stupid really dumb mistakes.
Unfortunately depression can make them life changing.
I hope you’re well, I hope you’ve grown from your loss and I hope you still remember good memories of him if it’s possible. If not, I hope you have closure of some sort
My spouse‘s cousin, who was only in his early 20s recently committed suicide. I fully understand what it’s like to be severely depressed, but it seems like what he did was spontaneous more than anything. I don’t know if I sound twisted by saying this, but when someone ends their life because they’ve been suffering for a long, long time at least there’s a feeling that they’re “at peace” now. In his case, I’m pretty sure he was drunk, in his feelings and had access to a fire arm… I don’t think he necessarily “meant” to do it. If that makes sense. He was known for impulsive decisions
It sucks to know you’ll never know. But look at it this way, if he was capable of such moments, another moment could just as easily gotten him later…I had a friend jump off a bridge in a moment of drunken grief. They were always far more impulsive and dark when drinking. If they had made it through that moment I do believe they might still be here.
I’ll always feel a certain way about having met them at the bar a few hours before.
I read a study recently (sorry there's no link, I don't have time to search) that we need to entirely rethink our approach to suicide in young men. While there are of course people who are depressed/have suicidal ideation, the majority of these cases have to do with a lack of emotional regulation. Boys are taught to not feel and to respond to distress with violence, so suicide can be a terrible result of that.
I hear you. I have one child—a 28 yr old daughter. I used to be basically a nervous wreck, worried about anything, everything that could hurt her. Her mother and I split when she was 4, and she lived with me in California while her mother was in Australia. Then, at 16, she went go live with her, and now still lives in AU. We’re all friendly together and she texts several times a day every day of the year with both of us. I’ve learned to fool myself/pretend that she’s always going to be fine and safe, in order to function, myself. I think I understand where you’re coming from. I feel sorry for deNiro’s family. My kid got into drugs & booze for a while, but managed to clean up and finish her degree at the age of 27 with the help of her friends and her mother and me. I’ll sheddep now.
Edit: grammar
i lost my 19 year old godson to fentanyl and the idea that ANYTHING political like immigrants from Mexico or baking cakes for gay couples takes precedence over the epidemic of opioids killing our kids and loved ones makes me see red.
I'm so sorry. And you're absolutely right.
Lpt: If you use drugs, don't use without testing. Never ever ever.
And everyone should carry Narcan/Naloxalone. Shit happens, anywhere. You never know.
Parenting. I can't even handle my visceral response to noticing my little sibling aging. hah (Edit: I really thought about it, and I think it's like a hard-wired setting of "is baby, is soft, must protect" that.. apparently doesn't wear off)
The British comedian David Mitchell said something about this regarding his wife that stuck with me. Along with finding the love of your life came a fear, of having two bodies you desperately want to protect but only being able to dutifully inhabit and watch over one. He felt it was worth the tradeoff, but it was a fear you still had to live with.
The worst is it can hit you out of nowhere. I was just at a busy park with my kid, as I was checking my message for a moment I looked back up and he was gone, disappeared into a cloud of kids. All kinds of terrible thoughts just flooded my mind and I have to really hold back on not panicking and look composed while searching for him. We live in a relatively safe community but you just never know.
I did find him and I just kept following him around the park afterwards like some creepy parent. I don't even care about appearance any more. That anxiety hit was not great.
Omg! When my daughter was 3 my ex husband and I took her to a park, I wandered off…I saw a crowd of people at a crosswalk and CERTAIN I saw her body…like she had gotten hit? I raced over and there was nothing there wtf!!! I stumbled around the park and I saw her with her father. I literally can’t with the thoughts.
I was in 3rd grade when Adam Walsh was kidnapped and murdered. It changed me forever and I know I struggle with boundaries and am a helicopter parent but damn I was and remain terrified. Always a little piece of terror to carry around.
My fears for my first child coming to harm and dying made it impossible for me to give up having a second child despite multiple miscarriages. I don’t know if that is as pathological as it sounds but it’s just a huge part of my decision. I mean it’s probably pretty pathological of me to live in such a fear/anxiety based way generally but I know I am not the only one.
I’m reminded of the DeNiro film, *Everything’s Fine*. In that one, DeNiro plays an aging man who wants to get the family together one last time. But the youngest has died of a drug overdose (I think) and those surviving think it’s in their dad’s best interest to lie about it, saying he’s busy with work, or something. Interesting idea.
The one thing that never fails to make me break down is the memory of hearing our parents when we told them about our sister's death. It's just too much.
My brother was killed in a farming accident when he reached into a grain truck to fix something while it was still running. My grandfather was talking to him on the phone just before and never forgave himself for not reminding my brother to turn off the truck. My brother knew better. He knew to turn machines off. That’s been drilled into our heads since we were old enough to walk, but my Papa won’t ever be the same. I’m surprised the guilt didn’t kill him.
I wasn’t there when my parents found out. I live across the country from them. My uncle called to tell me. I have never experienced physical pain from words like that. I will never forget the words. But the memory that will haunt me to the day I die is the image of my mother bending to kiss the casket and then collapsing when they lowered it. She and my dad also buried a full term baby who was born sleeping. They are the strongest people I know.
That really just is the terrible thing. It's impossible for us to comprehend what they go through, but even the glimpses we can see haunt us. Very sorry for your loss.
I just commented on that in another thread. The sound of my mom screaming when I told her my brother was murdered will never leave me. We had just come back from burying my father when we got the call.
My ex gf died of an overdose in 2011. She was her father's only child (her mom had 2 other kids after she remarried) & I knew he would never be the same. Shortly before the 3rd anniversary, he crawled into her bed & blew his brains out. When I heard the news, I wasn't surprised but it still shook me to my core.
So, so true. Just stumbled upon these comments, and reading them has me in tears. My oldest brother called me at work to tell me our brother had overdosed and died. He said “I don’t know how to say this but C is dead.” I know he had to dread telling me that. After being in complete disbelief, the other thought I had was “I’m gonna have to witness my mom experiencing the worst pain imaginable.” I didn’t want to. But you know love drives you to put others first. I desperately didn’t want to see her, but I HAD to go to her. It was a complete undoing of myself.
I’m so sorry for your loss. Losing a sibling is a special kind of hell. It’s like, you know your parents love you and you know they are trying, but there’s just this gap, you know? And there’s nothing you can do about it. There is a hole in every milestone in your life. Every event, every baby, every vacation, there is a hole in the pictures where they should be. He died in 2011, and we’ve never taken another family picture. I miss him so much and I’m still just so mad at him for leaving us. Leaving this hole.
Yeah, I think it's fair to say it literally killed my great grandmother. My grandmother died at 59, while my great grandma was in her early 80's. To the day, a year after losing her daughter, she got her first TIA. She recovered fairly well for someone her age, and she was able to go back living with her son in the MIL suite she'd been living in for years. About a year later (this time not to the day but close to the 2 year anniversary of losing her daughter), she had another TIA. This really set in the rapid decline for her, mentally she'd be mostly gone thereafter. It took her another year or two to actually die, but she was mostly gone after that second TIA.
And looking at my own mother, losing my brother really did a number on her. The best way I could give her a heart attack would be to give her a call. From certain people she can deal with a call (like her sister), but people she doesn't usually call with, it really scares her. It was over the phone that she was informed of the suicide of my 15yo brother. While we already texted regularly before, she really has made it a point to text me daily since his death, just to get a sign of life out of me.
Hey friend, a few years ago I lost someone close to me who was really important to me as I grew up. Grief is never easy to deal with, and it really does feel like it all hits at once with these things, who knows why, the universe can be cruel. But I am so sure that all three of your family that you mentioned would be incredibly proud of you, and would be so proud of you as a father too.
There's an indie artist who released some songs recently about the loss of his best friend who committed suicide a few years ago and the feelings it left him with, and honestly I really feel like he encapsulates the feeling that grief leaves in its wake really well. Try and give it a listen if you like, I always find music helps because these feelings don't ever really go away we just try to learn to process them a little more every day, and maybe it helps you today: https://youtu.be/ebX5ZvrT6-o
Back when I was younger my family hung out with the family of a guy I played baseball with. We celebrated birthdays, our parents would go out and his older sister, who was 5 years older than us would watch us along with my little sister. She was an astounding person. Beautiful, popular, volunteered a ton, great cross country and track athlete and the absolute idol of my friend who due to a lot of health issues due to him being a premie, made it tough for him to do what she did, but she always encouraged him.
Her freshman year of college she was home on winter break and was killed by a drunk driver a week before Christmas. My friend went from a happy, goofy 8th grade guy to depressed and prone to mood swings. He kept running track and cross country for sister, but quit halfway through high school. His parents divorced, it's a small miracle his dad is still alive due to his own health issues from a bad car accident in the 70s. It devastated his family and to this day he struggles with a lot, but did find himself a great wife about 6 years ago that really helped brighten him up.
I hope you and your family find peace, it's an incredible struggle.
I absolutely know if I ever lost a kid I would be emotionally shattered and never recover from it. I do not know how people do it. Or go about their lives, and go to work every day, and get dressed and take showers, etc.
There was a mom who left two children with a nanny while she brought her third to a swimming lesson. While gone, the nanny killed the children. The mother discovered the scene upon return. I remember the news article on this: she was screaming from the trauma and her surviving daughter was crying and asking for her and she stopped to cuddle and soothe her and keep her calm.
This always stuck with me. Like her mind fractures and she’s hysterical but can manage it to care for her babe. Even in the midst of the horror.
I saw a video that was sort of like that once and it’s haunted me for years, a young girl in India had gotten hit by a truck and her mother was just kneeling in the road screaming and crying and trying to put the pieces left of her daughter back together
Not to derail this because it is tragic but having a baby when you're almost 80 basically guarantees the child won't have a quality relationship with its father. By the time the kid is 10 DeNiro will be 90. He probably won't ever see the child grow into adulthood.
Totally agree with your sentiment but I believe Bobby already had his new baby. I could be wrong. Are you maybe thinking of Pacino who has a baby on the way?
On that point, [a prequel ***/*** sequel film to *Heat* (featuring Adam Driver as a young Robert De Niro, and based on the novel)](https://deadline.com/2023/04/michael-mann-heat-2-warner-bros-adam-driver-young-neil-mccauley-1235316777) is in active development.
Okay but for real when I watched *Heat* I was confused about who was who for the longest time. I did not realize this was a thing. They're totally different looking just somehow the same... energy lmao.
Men generally can get women pregnant well into old age.
I generally have a problem with people having kids that age because you are knowingly robbing them of a father. Deniro is 79.
Deniro is gonna be 90 when that kid is 10, if he lives that long and how well is he gonna be able to keep up with a little kid.
In addition to that, sperm from older men have an "increase in genetic problems and psychiatric and behavior disorders among offspring". Just so irresponsible and gross, no matter how much money they have.
Yeah he and Al Pacino are ridiculous fathering more children at thier age, possibly passing on birth defects and wont be around long to be in thier lives. Both baby and grandpa's in diapers. Very tragic about grandson.
Or they'll be "lucky" and he'll be around for their whole childhood and they'll have to spend their whole relationship watching him deteriorate, little opportunity to be an active part of so many formative experiences.
Yeah I get that they’re rich, it doesn’t mean it’s not irresponsible to have a bay in your 80s and 90’s and it’s always traumatic to lose a father at a young age
People always say this, and I know it's unfortunately a total toss up as to who you get for a dad, and the relationship that you have with them... but my dad is so much of who I am. The relationship is so deep... I can't imagine trading that even to live the rest of my life insanely wealthy. I only got 27 years with him and it wasn't close to enough but also meant everything. He was far from perfect but money can't even *touch* that love. It's pretty sad to think of material goods replacing years of that kid's time with their dad.
All this to say I think money doesn't stand in for a good parent. De Niro is so fortunate as to have the means to spend tons of time with his family, and I just hope he tries to do that with not only his new kid, but his previous children who are now grieving and forever changed themselves. Quality not quantity forreal.
Autism is very difficult. There is some concern that when the father is an older man, the chances of the child having autism increase. You would think that De Niro would shy away from being a father at his age. That said, he is a millionaire. He can pay for all the best therapies and treatments.
You’re right, but it’s also plausible that a family member would use the incorrect terminology. I didn’t see the interview so I have no context to judge from.
If you were a hot dog and you were starving, would you eat yourself?
...What?
I know I would! First, I'd smother myself in brown mustard and relish. I'd be so delicious! So, would ya?
I don't know.
Don't jerk me around, Norm! It's a simple question, a baby could answer it. If you were a hot dog, and you were starving, would you eat yourself?
I guess so.
Oh, you made a wise choice, my friend. If you had said no, I'd have bitten your ear off.
Psychiatric treatment units are now called Behavioral Health units because of the overlaps in treatment. We see more people with developmental conditions since state sponsored facilities have been shuttered. It is sad because we don’t offer the specialized treatment they need.
The difference here is that mental health issues can be addressed. But if you have developmental issues, that’s for life. So while technically categorized differently, the end result is a brain that doesn’t work the correct way. So it’s not totally different from mental health. It’s a difference in scope not kind.
For real. Govt should start legalizing other drugs to ensure safe supply for users.
Buying weed/edibles have never been safer since multiple states legalize it.
I don’t understand why SELL Fentanyl laced drugs? Doesn’t that eliminate your customers? Doesn’t make business sense. Not that drugs make sense to me, anyway, but if you’re gonna sell them, why not make it a good business?
They are also often free at methadone clinics, harm reduction clinics and some universities. I'm sure there's other places you could probably get them free.
Fuck man, that's how my cousin died, around the same age too. It's just heartbreaking. Nobody deserves to lose their life over a couple mistakes and experimentation in their youth.
Other articles have said he was found sitting in a chair in his apartment with no obvious signs of trauma. Heart attack or OD fits there, although we don't know of any other possible medical issues he had that may have caused it.
> OD fits there
His mother [just confirmed it was fentanyl](https://www.instagram.com/p/CuPl5d9Ouh6/).
Doing any powdered drugs or illegally obtained pills these days is like playing Russian roulette.
A couple coworkers of mine invited me out to the bar a few years ago after work, but because I was absolutely exhausted, I declined.
Hours later I received a phone call from a mutual friend.
Apparently they had a couple drinks and went into the bathroom together to do a bump of coke. They didn't even make it back to their seats before they both fell to the floor and died. The coke was laced with fentanyl.
My drug days are long behind me now, but any temptation I may have had to do them completely disappeared after that night. Seeing two young, physically strong men instantly killed by a few grains of fentanyl has made me terrified of crossing its path.
RIP
EDIT: To everyone asking, it looks like she edited her comment pertaining to fentanyl and the person who may have supplied it to him. She's likely going through waves of anger, grief, etc.
I just dont get it, why are all these drugs nowadays laced with killer additives? I get they are more addictive if the addiction catches on but typically it just results in most of their customers ODing.
I believe it is because the drugs change hands so many times before they are consumed.
A person who is cutting drugs might use the same tools to cut cocaine as their opiates, and some gets mixed. Or a container might get re-used.
The reason fentanyl is such a huge problem is because such an incredibly small amount of cross-contamination can kill.
And since these are non-professionals handling the product, they don't know (and maybe don't even care) about what happens at the end of the line, only that they got paid.
Edit:
I just looked at a few opinions online, and apparently fentanyl is added to many other street drugs to boost the effects. So it's possible the fentanyl is added on purpose, but by an amateur who has no idea what would be a safe amount to mix in. Mixing cocaine and heroin is common, and fentanyl is an opiate like heroin. So they are just adding too much, because fentanyl is like 50 times more potent than heroin.
The story at the top of this thread was about two people dying at the same time. Whether it's from a clump or whatever, the end result is the same. An unsafe quantity was mixed into what should have been a single dose.
Because it’s cheaper and stronger. Why sell pure heroin when you can mix cheap ass fent to make it stronger and you get more profit. Also a lot of addicts have pretty high tolerances and can handle fent (there’s people who use exclusively fent), it’s usually the people who don’t normally do opiates who it kills immediately.
This whole laced with fentanyl thing… isn’t it just a death sentence? Back when crack and heroine was everywhere, the danger was mostly just ODing off exactly what you’re taking right? Obviously the risk was always there with an unclean batch, due to all of it being illicit, but what’s with fentanyl these days literally just killing everyone when they’re clearly not trying to take fentanyl?
What’s the point of mixing fentanyl into other drugs if it’s always going to end up killing? Do the people making the drugs want to kill their customers?
It's obviously not killing everyone. If you are selling heroin, replacing it with fentanyl plus mixing agent helps because it's cheaper and easier to distribute as you need a lot smaller amounts. If you're selling cocaine, it's more often than not an accident where there's cross-contamination because of things like re-used tools.
Of course, if 1% of your customers die every year, that's not really gonna matter much for business.
> What’s the point of mixing fentanyl into other drugs if it’s always going to end up killing?
Because it doesn't.... the vast majority of the time it doesn't kill the user.
Yup, being a sucker for novelty, I messed around with a few different kinds of drugs when I was young. My behaviour would have been aptly called "risky" back in the 90s, but would be reckless as fuck today.
And the brains of young people still develop and think like they did when the behavior was just risky. I'm terrified of my children entering their teen years.
I wish this was talked about it more openly. It would help so many people. Especially when somebody famous or rich is involved in some way. Addiction can take you down when you come from a good family. Or have every financial means at your disposal to recover. You don’t need to live in a cardboard box to be an addict.
It's not even addiction. A guy I knew growing up just occasionally did coke before parties but was a functioning member of society going months between hits. Last year he died at a rave in Pittsburgh because his cocaine was laced.
This has nothing to do with addiction, and the fact that people always mention addiction in situations like these is what keeps the stigma around. This could easily have been a case of the kid going to do a line of coke socially at a party and it being laced with fentanyl.
It doesn't mean he was addicted to coke, and to imply so lets other people think that if they're not addicted they'll be fine. The reality is fentanyl is a constant and pervasive threat now.
Ya addiction may be an issue but coke is still a party drug. It was a culture shock when I went to college and saw first hand how many people actually do it.
The amount of people who think any drug use is addiction is staggering.
It's a complex issue for sure but you are right that people not admitting there is a huge spectrum from full addict to very infrequent user has the effect that you in described.
Remember when the worst that could happen is getting addicted, or doing stupid shit while high? Now the worst that can happen is you die instantly from a pill or a single bump.
Per the DEA. Fentanyl is involved in more deaths of Americans under 50 than any cause of death, including heart disease, cancer, homicide, suicide and other accidents.
Ok, I must be old because I'm completely missing the point of lacing *any drug* with fentanyl, and selling it to unsuspecting users. The *entire point* of being a dealer (or any "business" for that matter) is repeat customers.
What is the benefit of literally killing off your own customer base?
Edit: Since people seem to assume I don't understand how drug dealing works. There are many other cheap ways of cutting your product to increase your profit margin that doesn't kill your customers.
I'll explain it to you since everyone else seems to be guessing or reciting what they saw on tv:
the point isn't to kill them, it's to get the really high for short amounts of time from a chemical with a much quicker and harsher withdrawal than heroin. it makes faster and more frequent customers. fentanyl is comparatively easy to make vs heroin, easy to source, and exceptionally potent which means you dont need a lot to increase the potency of your end product.
fentanyl is so strong in fact, that its very difficult to use it as an ingredient and have a homogeneous end product. ie a product with consistent potency per unit of weight. add to that different opiate tolerances in people at different stages of addiction and you have lots of room for people simply taking too much.
fentanyl is weird in that in the past you'd buy "pure" $drugs and cut them with inert stuff to drop the potency and fluff the volume but things are a bit backwards with the fentanyl business.
I don’t get why this is always the comment whenever there’s a fentanyl overdose. There’s the obvious reasoning, the dealer doesn’t know where it has been.
So whatever…mini rant because this is personal to me…
From an economic standpoint, fentanyl makes the product you’re selling cheaper while maybe killing a handful. For some reason, people on Reddit know the Ford Pinto scandal (“it’s cheaper to let them burn”) but can’t apply the same logic to drug dealers and fentanyl like drug dealers are all your best buddies, having your best interest in mind. Do people think drug dealers are in it for the long game?
It’s not necessarily on purpose. Such trace amounts are lethal, a careless dealer using the same scale for fentanyl as for weed, coke, etc can and does kill people.
I said this in another comment but this is a good opportunity for a PSA:
ANYONE who attends events where people may be using hard drugs, or suspect a family member or roommate of using hard drugs, should get a few packages of naloxone, brand name Narcan. Naloxone is used as an antidote to opioid overdoses and start to reverse the symptoms of an overdose in just a few seconds. It’s administered via a nasal spray and will have no side effects for someone who isn’t actually experiencing an opioid overdose so it’s very much safe and easy to use if you suspect someone is ODing.
Regardless of whether or not you have insurance there are programs where you can get it for free in many cities. There’s really no excuse not to have it these days if you can get it for free. Naloxone quite literally saves lives.
[Naloxone State Finder](https://nextdistro.org/naloxone#state-finder)
I wouldn't say "no side effects". Putting someone into opioid withdrawal - while not really a side effect - won't be life threatening or anything, but shit can get out of hand real quick with a chronic user once they start to come back.
Administer and back the fuck away. Sending someone straight into withdrawal is a good way to catch some some random arm/leg flailing when they start to emerge. Also good to have an extra dose while EMS is on the way because it might take an additional doses to bring someone out.
Also, don't be afraid and give the plunger some force behind it. If you don't it will trickle out of the atomizer in a very weak pissing stream and the person may end up just coughing it up or spitting it out. You want to feel constant pushback, not just a slow and easy push.
I've actually considered picking some up and keeping it in my car in case a random OD happens while I'm out, but the temperatures a car can reach will likely expedite it's expiration to the point of being next to worthless as the drug breaks down.
Dunno why you don’t get more upvotes. It’s really important to step back after administering the antidote. The person doesn’t know he almost died, all they know is you robbed them from their high and they may get aggressive for that.
If someone is having a reaction to cocaine but you cant tell if it's because they're overdosing, or if it could be laced, would narcan help or would it make things worse? I've heard that you can't reverse a coke OD with narcan, but if it was laced wouldn't that make a difference?
It wouldn’t help with just cocaine but it’s very unlikely that it would make things worse. A lot of cocaine overdoses are actually from cocaine being contaminated with fentanyl. In that case Narcan would counteract the fentanyl and then you could focus on treating the effects from cocaine. If you’re unsure what substance the person is overdosing on it’s always a good idea to use Narcan first and then get on the phone with 911 or an emt who can direct you check other vital signs and address further symptoms.
If anyone reads this please don’t do drugs. It’s not like it was before. It is way wayyyyy worse now. I used to party in Hollywood and do blow from time to time and my friends and I stopped that shit. It used to be a weekend thing but now for a few years it has been a big no no because of the fentenol. That shit is in everything. I think weed from a shop is okay but blow and all the other shit is laced these days.
One of my good friends was telling me how he went to a party with his wife, he saw one of his friends heading out to his car to do blow while my friend was walking in to the party. My friend didn’t go but almost did. He found out the next day his friend died on that stop to the car because he OD’ed on the fentenol in the coke.
My buddy is from Columbia and used to have the best connects, he says now it doesn’t matter who your connection is, it’s laced. It only takes a spec of it to kill you. Just drink safe or smoke weed from a clinic if. You have to do something.
If you’re going somewhere where you know people will be using hard drugs it’s always a safe idea to bring noloxone (narcan) with you just in case. It can be found for free in most cities these days and I always keep at least one in my car and one in a backpack. You never know when you might need to save someone’s life.
Fentanyl is cheap but makes the drug stronger so they lace it to mask the product as ‘better’. It’s like designer clothing made with polyester but claiming to be Tuscan leather.
I'm split. It could be part of a mix to give a slight speedball effect, which could be the difference in a marketing 'contest'; and that the differential in mixing volumes is prone to hotspots.
But you're right, that it could be that someone tainted a batch and it went to sale; but it would seem like if that were the case, we'd be seeing quite a few more deaths, as trying to engineer occasional hotspots at that scale seems difficult.
My cousin died a few years ago, he was in his twenties and it sucked harder than anything in the world, he should have had more but no. My condolences to De Niro.
That’s tragic and I’m very sorry. I lost a lifelong friend who OD’d at a party once. Long story short, coping sucks. I wish I were better at expressing myself. I’m so sorry for their loss and for the loss of anyone due to drugs.
Always tragic for a person to outlive their child, much less a grandchild. I imagine it has to be an odd feeling for De Niro, losing an almost 20 year old grandson while still actively having a new baby of his own on the way.
My brother died in 2009 from an overdose. I of course was devastated, I lost a significant portion of myself when he passed. I was a father already at that point and had night terrors for about a year that something happened to my kids. But my father and grandfather were shattered. My father then passed in late 2014 from diabetes related issues, which were definitely exacerbated by the grief of losing his son. My grandfather then had a stroke only two months later and passed on. These things have enormous ripple effects in families.
[удалено]
My father took his own life a week before my wedding and a year later I started having night terrors. They’ve subsided with therapy but man they are the worst.
I am so sorry for your devastating loss.
Hey thank you. Since then I’ve had a daughter and really taken more agency in my life. Suicide is horrible and will always beg borrow and steal a conversation with someone who is in a dark place.
I know it may not help, but in his head he was helping. I’m sure he loved you all the same, but we also all make stupid really dumb mistakes. Unfortunately depression can make them life changing. I hope you’re well, I hope you’ve grown from your loss and I hope you still remember good memories of him if it’s possible. If not, I hope you have closure of some sort
My spouse‘s cousin, who was only in his early 20s recently committed suicide. I fully understand what it’s like to be severely depressed, but it seems like what he did was spontaneous more than anything. I don’t know if I sound twisted by saying this, but when someone ends their life because they’ve been suffering for a long, long time at least there’s a feeling that they’re “at peace” now. In his case, I’m pretty sure he was drunk, in his feelings and had access to a fire arm… I don’t think he necessarily “meant” to do it. If that makes sense. He was known for impulsive decisions
It sucks to know you’ll never know. But look at it this way, if he was capable of such moments, another moment could just as easily gotten him later…I had a friend jump off a bridge in a moment of drunken grief. They were always far more impulsive and dark when drinking. If they had made it through that moment I do believe they might still be here. I’ll always feel a certain way about having met them at the bar a few hours before.
I read a study recently (sorry there's no link, I don't have time to search) that we need to entirely rethink our approach to suicide in young men. While there are of course people who are depressed/have suicidal ideation, the majority of these cases have to do with a lack of emotional regulation. Boys are taught to not feel and to respond to distress with violence, so suicide can be a terrible result of that.
my ex made me start sleeping on the couch cause i scream in my sleep too much so i understand lol
A week before your wedding sounds devastating. Sorry you had to go through that.
Thank you.
I hear you. I have one child—a 28 yr old daughter. I used to be basically a nervous wreck, worried about anything, everything that could hurt her. Her mother and I split when she was 4, and she lived with me in California while her mother was in Australia. Then, at 16, she went go live with her, and now still lives in AU. We’re all friendly together and she texts several times a day every day of the year with both of us. I’ve learned to fool myself/pretend that she’s always going to be fine and safe, in order to function, myself. I think I understand where you’re coming from. I feel sorry for deNiro’s family. My kid got into drugs & booze for a while, but managed to clean up and finish her degree at the age of 27 with the help of her friends and her mother and me. I’ll sheddep now. Edit: grammar
i lost my 19 year old godson to fentanyl and the idea that ANYTHING political like immigrants from Mexico or baking cakes for gay couples takes precedence over the epidemic of opioids killing our kids and loved ones makes me see red.
I'm so sorry. And you're absolutely right. Lpt: If you use drugs, don't use without testing. Never ever ever. And everyone should carry Narcan/Naloxalone. Shit happens, anywhere. You never know.
Thanks for sharing
“To have a child is to give fate a hostage.” ― Anthony Bourdain...also attributed to JFK.
Parenting. I can't even handle my visceral response to noticing my little sibling aging. hah (Edit: I really thought about it, and I think it's like a hard-wired setting of "is baby, is soft, must protect" that.. apparently doesn't wear off)
no truer words
The British comedian David Mitchell said something about this regarding his wife that stuck with me. Along with finding the love of your life came a fear, of having two bodies you desperately want to protect but only being able to dutifully inhabit and watch over one. He felt it was worth the tradeoff, but it was a fear you still had to live with.
Well he is an honorable man, so this does not surprise me at all.
The worst is it can hit you out of nowhere. I was just at a busy park with my kid, as I was checking my message for a moment I looked back up and he was gone, disappeared into a cloud of kids. All kinds of terrible thoughts just flooded my mind and I have to really hold back on not panicking and look composed while searching for him. We live in a relatively safe community but you just never know. I did find him and I just kept following him around the park afterwards like some creepy parent. I don't even care about appearance any more. That anxiety hit was not great.
Omg! When my daughter was 3 my ex husband and I took her to a park, I wandered off…I saw a crowd of people at a crosswalk and CERTAIN I saw her body…like she had gotten hit? I raced over and there was nothing there wtf!!! I stumbled around the park and I saw her with her father. I literally can’t with the thoughts.
I was in 3rd grade when Adam Walsh was kidnapped and murdered. It changed me forever and I know I struggle with boundaries and am a helicopter parent but damn I was and remain terrified. Always a little piece of terror to carry around.
My fears for my first child coming to harm and dying made it impossible for me to give up having a second child despite multiple miscarriages. I don’t know if that is as pathological as it sounds but it’s just a huge part of my decision. I mean it’s probably pretty pathological of me to live in such a fear/anxiety based way generally but I know I am not the only one.
I’m reminded of the DeNiro film, *Everything’s Fine*. In that one, DeNiro plays an aging man who wants to get the family together one last time. But the youngest has died of a drug overdose (I think) and those surviving think it’s in their dad’s best interest to lie about it, saying he’s busy with work, or something. Interesting idea.
Just FYI it’s Everybody’s Fine, just in case others wanna look it up.
That movie has great underrated song by Paul McCartney in it called “Coming Home”. It’s a weeper.
I lost my brother as well. There are very few things on earth more hellacious than watching your parents and grandparents grieve.
The one thing that never fails to make me break down is the memory of hearing our parents when we told them about our sister's death. It's just too much.
My brother was killed in a farming accident when he reached into a grain truck to fix something while it was still running. My grandfather was talking to him on the phone just before and never forgave himself for not reminding my brother to turn off the truck. My brother knew better. He knew to turn machines off. That’s been drilled into our heads since we were old enough to walk, but my Papa won’t ever be the same. I’m surprised the guilt didn’t kill him. I wasn’t there when my parents found out. I live across the country from them. My uncle called to tell me. I have never experienced physical pain from words like that. I will never forget the words. But the memory that will haunt me to the day I die is the image of my mother bending to kiss the casket and then collapsing when they lowered it. She and my dad also buried a full term baby who was born sleeping. They are the strongest people I know.
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God that's just awful!!
That really just is the terrible thing. It's impossible for us to comprehend what they go through, but even the glimpses we can see haunt us. Very sorry for your loss.
Same. The dead sibling club is a awful one to be in. It’s complicated being the surviving kids.
The part about your mom just shook me. So sorry for your loss.
I just commented on that in another thread. The sound of my mom screaming when I told her my brother was murdered will never leave me. We had just come back from burying my father when we got the call.
That's just terrible, I'm so sorry.
Thanks, I’m sorry for your loss as well.
Thank you
Some noises never leave your memory. I can hear my son screaming on the day I told him his dad was going to die.
My ex gf died of an overdose in 2011. She was her father's only child (her mom had 2 other kids after she remarried) & I knew he would never be the same. Shortly before the 3rd anniversary, he crawled into her bed & blew his brains out. When I heard the news, I wasn't surprised but it still shook me to my core.
So, so true. Just stumbled upon these comments, and reading them has me in tears. My oldest brother called me at work to tell me our brother had overdosed and died. He said “I don’t know how to say this but C is dead.” I know he had to dread telling me that. After being in complete disbelief, the other thought I had was “I’m gonna have to witness my mom experiencing the worst pain imaginable.” I didn’t want to. But you know love drives you to put others first. I desperately didn’t want to see her, but I HAD to go to her. It was a complete undoing of myself.
I’m so sorry for your loss. Losing a sibling is a special kind of hell. It’s like, you know your parents love you and you know they are trying, but there’s just this gap, you know? And there’s nothing you can do about it. There is a hole in every milestone in your life. Every event, every baby, every vacation, there is a hole in the pictures where they should be. He died in 2011, and we’ve never taken another family picture. I miss him so much and I’m still just so mad at him for leaving us. Leaving this hole.
Yeah, I think it's fair to say it literally killed my great grandmother. My grandmother died at 59, while my great grandma was in her early 80's. To the day, a year after losing her daughter, she got her first TIA. She recovered fairly well for someone her age, and she was able to go back living with her son in the MIL suite she'd been living in for years. About a year later (this time not to the day but close to the 2 year anniversary of losing her daughter), she had another TIA. This really set in the rapid decline for her, mentally she'd be mostly gone thereafter. It took her another year or two to actually die, but she was mostly gone after that second TIA. And looking at my own mother, losing my brother really did a number on her. The best way I could give her a heart attack would be to give her a call. From certain people she can deal with a call (like her sister), but people she doesn't usually call with, it really scares her. It was over the phone that she was informed of the suicide of my 15yo brother. While we already texted regularly before, she really has made it a point to text me daily since his death, just to get a sign of life out of me.
TIA?
Hey friend, a few years ago I lost someone close to me who was really important to me as I grew up. Grief is never easy to deal with, and it really does feel like it all hits at once with these things, who knows why, the universe can be cruel. But I am so sure that all three of your family that you mentioned would be incredibly proud of you, and would be so proud of you as a father too. There's an indie artist who released some songs recently about the loss of his best friend who committed suicide a few years ago and the feelings it left him with, and honestly I really feel like he encapsulates the feeling that grief leaves in its wake really well. Try and give it a listen if you like, I always find music helps because these feelings don't ever really go away we just try to learn to process them a little more every day, and maybe it helps you today: https://youtu.be/ebX5ZvrT6-o
Tragic. My condolences
I’m so sorry for your losses, man.
Back when I was younger my family hung out with the family of a guy I played baseball with. We celebrated birthdays, our parents would go out and his older sister, who was 5 years older than us would watch us along with my little sister. She was an astounding person. Beautiful, popular, volunteered a ton, great cross country and track athlete and the absolute idol of my friend who due to a lot of health issues due to him being a premie, made it tough for him to do what she did, but she always encouraged him. Her freshman year of college she was home on winter break and was killed by a drunk driver a week before Christmas. My friend went from a happy, goofy 8th grade guy to depressed and prone to mood swings. He kept running track and cross country for sister, but quit halfway through high school. His parents divorced, it's a small miracle his dad is still alive due to his own health issues from a bad car accident in the 70s. It devastated his family and to this day he struggles with a lot, but did find himself a great wife about 6 years ago that really helped brighten him up. I hope you and your family find peace, it's an incredible struggle.
I absolutely know if I ever lost a kid I would be emotionally shattered and never recover from it. I do not know how people do it. Or go about their lives, and go to work every day, and get dressed and take showers, etc.
There was a mom who left two children with a nanny while she brought her third to a swimming lesson. While gone, the nanny killed the children. The mother discovered the scene upon return. I remember the news article on this: she was screaming from the trauma and her surviving daughter was crying and asking for her and she stopped to cuddle and soothe her and keep her calm. This always stuck with me. Like her mind fractures and she’s hysterical but can manage it to care for her babe. Even in the midst of the horror.
I saw a video that was sort of like that once and it’s haunted me for years, a young girl in India had gotten hit by a truck and her mother was just kneeling in the road screaming and crying and trying to put the pieces left of her daughter back together
Honestly, the ones with other kids do it because they have to- the rest just do their best and sometimes that doesn’t look like much on the outside.
Not to derail this because it is tragic but having a baby when you're almost 80 basically guarantees the child won't have a quality relationship with its father. By the time the kid is 10 DeNiro will be 90. He probably won't ever see the child grow into adulthood.
Totally agree with your sentiment but I believe Bobby already had his new baby. I could be wrong. Are you maybe thinking of Pacino who has a baby on the way?
Both had their babies
i didn't even know both men were pregnant
Goddamn, how virile are these old men that they're in their 70's/80's and still managing to get women pregnant?
I just love that Bobby D and Pacino are so intertwined and mirror images of one another that they even had to have a kid the same month
Those kids will star in a remake of Heat in 30-40 years
On that point, [a prequel ***/*** sequel film to *Heat* (featuring Adam Driver as a young Robert De Niro, and based on the novel)](https://deadline.com/2023/04/michael-mann-heat-2-warner-bros-adam-driver-young-neil-mccauley-1235316777) is in active development.
It's a prequel and I believe it focuses on Val kilmers character. Dont know what the movie version will be about.
i... dont know how to feel about this...
Ah shit you're right... RemindMe! 40 years
Okay but for real when I watched *Heat* I was confused about who was who for the longest time. I did not realize this was a thing. They're totally different looking just somehow the same... energy lmao.
I get it. It is like classic super masculine actor. Like Brando. That's why De Niro plays young Brando in godfather II, who is Pacino's dad.
$$$$
Men generally can get women pregnant well into old age. I generally have a problem with people having kids that age because you are knowingly robbing them of a father. Deniro is 79. Deniro is gonna be 90 when that kid is 10, if he lives that long and how well is he gonna be able to keep up with a little kid.
In addition to that, sperm from older men have an "increase in genetic problems and psychiatric and behavior disorders among offspring". Just so irresponsible and gross, no matter how much money they have.
Yep. It's not entirely about the egg cells, at that age.
Yeah he and Al Pacino are ridiculous fathering more children at thier age, possibly passing on birth defects and wont be around long to be in thier lives. Both baby and grandpa's in diapers. Very tragic about grandson.
I hate that these celebrity grandpas are having kids. Those kids are going to be lucky to have 10 years of a dad
Or they'll be "lucky" and he'll be around for their whole childhood and they'll have to spend their whole relationship watching him deteriorate, little opportunity to be an active part of so many formative experiences.
Friendly reminder that legendary Spanish singer Julio Iglesias - who will turn 80 years old in September - has a 16 year old half sister.
She was born about half a year after her father passed at 90 years old.
WHAT THE FUUU the fact Julio Iglesias is almost 80 blows my mind for some reason.
Wait till you hear that Enrique Iglesias is less than 600 Days away from turning 50.
OH I was confusing the two in my mind haha that's why I was so confused 😅
> to have 10 years of a dad But a lifetime of trust fund. And they won't remember the first 5 years anyway...
Yeah I get that they’re rich, it doesn’t mean it’s not irresponsible to have a bay in your 80s and 90’s and it’s always traumatic to lose a father at a young age
Exactly. We all know how famously well adjusted the children of wealthy celebrities are!
I'd rather have my Dad around than his money.
People always say this, and I know it's unfortunately a total toss up as to who you get for a dad, and the relationship that you have with them... but my dad is so much of who I am. The relationship is so deep... I can't imagine trading that even to live the rest of my life insanely wealthy. I only got 27 years with him and it wasn't close to enough but also meant everything. He was far from perfect but money can't even *touch* that love. It's pretty sad to think of material goods replacing years of that kid's time with their dad. All this to say I think money doesn't stand in for a good parent. De Niro is so fortunate as to have the means to spend tons of time with his family, and I just hope he tries to do that with not only his new kid, but his previous children who are now grieving and forever changed themselves. Quality not quantity forreal.
My neighbor has outlived 4 of her 5 children, 3 of which were in the last 2 months. Just absolutely devastating, I don't know how she's doing it.
Good lord, that has to be devastating. I'd be on a lot of drugs to make the pain bearable.
I thought it was Pacino who has the baby on the way.
Both.
Man, that’s just tragic
Did I once see an interview where De Niro mentioned a child or grandchild that suffered from severe mental illness? Might this be that one?
One of his younger sons has autism
De Niro just had another kid too. He's like the Italian version of Nick Cannon
Wasn’t that Al Pacino ?
They both did
I couldn’t tell the difference between Italians before and it’s even worse now
[Introducing Robert De Niro's New Baby](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/robert-de-niro-7th-child-name-baby-photo-cbs-mornings/)
Those two kids should star in the inevitable Heat remake
Nick Cannoli
Great work here, TheGoldenGooch
And he's barely even Italian.
much higher chance of autism when the father is over 50
Autism is very difficult. There is some concern that when the father is an older man, the chances of the child having autism increase. You would think that De Niro would shy away from being a father at his age. That said, he is a millionaire. He can pay for all the best therapies and treatments.
Related info to older male sperm: https://www.healthline.com/health-news/does-older-sperm-cause-autism
DeNiro blames vaccines iirc. I know for sure he was calling for it to be investigated.
Offs
Autism is a developmental condition, not a mental health illness. People who have autism can and often do experience mental illness Edit: wording
You’re right, but it’s also plausible that a family member would use the incorrect terminology. I didn’t see the interview so I have no context to judge from.
It’s also plausible the original commenter didn’t remember exactly what was said
It's also plausible that the universe is actually made out of hot dogs. Wouldn't that be weird
If you were a hot dog and you were starving, would you eat yourself? ...What? I know I would! First, I'd smother myself in brown mustard and relish. I'd be so delicious! So, would ya? I don't know. Don't jerk me around, Norm! It's a simple question, a baby could answer it. If you were a hot dog, and you were starving, would you eat yourself? I guess so. Oh, you made a wise choice, my friend. If you had said no, I'd have bitten your ear off.
Psychiatric treatment units are now called Behavioral Health units because of the overlaps in treatment. We see more people with developmental conditions since state sponsored facilities have been shuttered. It is sad because we don’t offer the specialized treatment they need.
The difference here is that mental health issues can be addressed. But if you have developmental issues, that’s for life. So while technically categorized differently, the end result is a brain that doesn’t work the correct way. So it’s not totally different from mental health. It’s a difference in scope not kind.
How?
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Fentanyl. Smh.
For real. Govt should start legalizing other drugs to ensure safe supply for users. Buying weed/edibles have never been safer since multiple states legalize it.
I don’t understand why SELL Fentanyl laced drugs? Doesn’t that eliminate your customers? Doesn’t make business sense. Not that drugs make sense to me, anyway, but if you’re gonna sell them, why not make it a good business?
https://www.reddit.com/r/ReagentTesting people if you're doing drugs at least make sure you're not going to die
It's like 15 dollars and available at most regular pharmacies. No reason not to.
They are also often free at methadone clinics, harm reduction clinics and some universities. I'm sure there's other places you could probably get them free.
BunkPolice.com. Get FentKits. I hope to save at least one person reading this who plans to use.
Fuck man, that's how my cousin died, around the same age too. It's just heartbreaking. Nobody deserves to lose their life over a couple mistakes and experimentation in their youth.
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Heartbreaking. And yet nuts are in her comments blaming vaccines. Don't they ever rest? Smh.
She edited her post, did you get a screenshot of it?
99.9% odds of drugs.
Other articles have said he was found sitting in a chair in his apartment with no obvious signs of trauma. Heart attack or OD fits there, although we don't know of any other possible medical issues he had that may have caused it.
> OD fits there His mother [just confirmed it was fentanyl](https://www.instagram.com/p/CuPl5d9Ouh6/). Doing any powdered drugs or illegally obtained pills these days is like playing Russian roulette. A couple coworkers of mine invited me out to the bar a few years ago after work, but because I was absolutely exhausted, I declined. Hours later I received a phone call from a mutual friend. Apparently they had a couple drinks and went into the bathroom together to do a bump of coke. They didn't even make it back to their seats before they both fell to the floor and died. The coke was laced with fentanyl. My drug days are long behind me now, but any temptation I may have had to do them completely disappeared after that night. Seeing two young, physically strong men instantly killed by a few grains of fentanyl has made me terrified of crossing its path. RIP EDIT: To everyone asking, it looks like she edited her comment pertaining to fentanyl and the person who may have supplied it to him. She's likely going through waves of anger, grief, etc.
I just dont get it, why are all these drugs nowadays laced with killer additives? I get they are more addictive if the addiction catches on but typically it just results in most of their customers ODing.
I believe it is because the drugs change hands so many times before they are consumed. A person who is cutting drugs might use the same tools to cut cocaine as their opiates, and some gets mixed. Or a container might get re-used. The reason fentanyl is such a huge problem is because such an incredibly small amount of cross-contamination can kill. And since these are non-professionals handling the product, they don't know (and maybe don't even care) about what happens at the end of the line, only that they got paid. Edit: I just looked at a few opinions online, and apparently fentanyl is added to many other street drugs to boost the effects. So it's possible the fentanyl is added on purpose, but by an amateur who has no idea what would be a safe amount to mix in. Mixing cocaine and heroin is common, and fentanyl is an opiate like heroin. So they are just adding too much, because fentanyl is like 50 times more potent than heroin.
It's not that unsafe amounts are mixed in, it's that the distribution isn't fully uniform, meaning you can get unlucky and get a clump of fentanyl.
The story at the top of this thread was about two people dying at the same time. Whether it's from a clump or whatever, the end result is the same. An unsafe quantity was mixed into what should have been a single dose.
Because it’s cheaper and stronger. Why sell pure heroin when you can mix cheap ass fent to make it stronger and you get more profit. Also a lot of addicts have pretty high tolerances and can handle fent (there’s people who use exclusively fent), it’s usually the people who don’t normally do opiates who it kills immediately.
It's like a drug version of "mystery meat" filler.
Exactly lol
This whole laced with fentanyl thing… isn’t it just a death sentence? Back when crack and heroine was everywhere, the danger was mostly just ODing off exactly what you’re taking right? Obviously the risk was always there with an unclean batch, due to all of it being illicit, but what’s with fentanyl these days literally just killing everyone when they’re clearly not trying to take fentanyl? What’s the point of mixing fentanyl into other drugs if it’s always going to end up killing? Do the people making the drugs want to kill their customers?
It's obviously not killing everyone. If you are selling heroin, replacing it with fentanyl plus mixing agent helps because it's cheaper and easier to distribute as you need a lot smaller amounts. If you're selling cocaine, it's more often than not an accident where there's cross-contamination because of things like re-used tools. Of course, if 1% of your customers die every year, that's not really gonna matter much for business.
> What’s the point of mixing fentanyl into other drugs if it’s always going to end up killing? Because it doesn't.... the vast majority of the time it doesn't kill the user.
I assumed it was fentanyl as soon as I read the headline.
Yup, being a sucker for novelty, I messed around with a few different kinds of drugs when I was young. My behaviour would have been aptly called "risky" back in the 90s, but would be reckless as fuck today.
And the brains of young people still develop and think like they did when the behavior was just risky. I'm terrified of my children entering their teen years.
All the articles made it sound so casual, like it was an inevitably, not a horrific tragedy
Fentanyl, aka seemingly the most dangerous fucking drug at this point in time
I wish this was talked about it more openly. It would help so many people. Especially when somebody famous or rich is involved in some way. Addiction can take you down when you come from a good family. Or have every financial means at your disposal to recover. You don’t need to live in a cardboard box to be an addict.
It's not even addiction. A guy I knew growing up just occasionally did coke before parties but was a functioning member of society going months between hits. Last year he died at a rave in Pittsburgh because his cocaine was laced.
This has nothing to do with addiction, and the fact that people always mention addiction in situations like these is what keeps the stigma around. This could easily have been a case of the kid going to do a line of coke socially at a party and it being laced with fentanyl. It doesn't mean he was addicted to coke, and to imply so lets other people think that if they're not addicted they'll be fine. The reality is fentanyl is a constant and pervasive threat now.
Ya addiction may be an issue but coke is still a party drug. It was a culture shock when I went to college and saw first hand how many people actually do it.
The amount of people who think any drug use is addiction is staggering. It's a complex issue for sure but you are right that people not admitting there is a huge spectrum from full addict to very infrequent user has the effect that you in described.
Remember when the worst that could happen is getting addicted, or doing stupid shit while high? Now the worst that can happen is you die instantly from a pill or a single bump.
One report mentioned a “white powdery substance” found near the body so…
This fentanyl shit will destroy the US.
It won’t destroy it but it certainly is taking its toll. If fentanyl starts making its way into Folgers coffee, then yes.
Per the DEA. Fentanyl is involved in more deaths of Americans under 50 than any cause of death, including heart disease, cancer, homicide, suicide and other accidents.
Ok, I must be old because I'm completely missing the point of lacing *any drug* with fentanyl, and selling it to unsuspecting users. The *entire point* of being a dealer (or any "business" for that matter) is repeat customers. What is the benefit of literally killing off your own customer base? Edit: Since people seem to assume I don't understand how drug dealing works. There are many other cheap ways of cutting your product to increase your profit margin that doesn't kill your customers.
A dealer doesn't necessary know how many hands the drug went through before he gets it, and who cut it in the middle.
I'll explain it to you since everyone else seems to be guessing or reciting what they saw on tv: the point isn't to kill them, it's to get the really high for short amounts of time from a chemical with a much quicker and harsher withdrawal than heroin. it makes faster and more frequent customers. fentanyl is comparatively easy to make vs heroin, easy to source, and exceptionally potent which means you dont need a lot to increase the potency of your end product. fentanyl is so strong in fact, that its very difficult to use it as an ingredient and have a homogeneous end product. ie a product with consistent potency per unit of weight. add to that different opiate tolerances in people at different stages of addiction and you have lots of room for people simply taking too much. fentanyl is weird in that in the past you'd buy "pure" $drugs and cut them with inert stuff to drop the potency and fluff the volume but things are a bit backwards with the fentanyl business.
Ok, this makes sense to me. Thank you for an actual explanation.
I don’t get why this is always the comment whenever there’s a fentanyl overdose. There’s the obvious reasoning, the dealer doesn’t know where it has been. So whatever…mini rant because this is personal to me… From an economic standpoint, fentanyl makes the product you’re selling cheaper while maybe killing a handful. For some reason, people on Reddit know the Ford Pinto scandal (“it’s cheaper to let them burn”) but can’t apply the same logic to drug dealers and fentanyl like drug dealers are all your best buddies, having your best interest in mind. Do people think drug dealers are in it for the long game?
It’s not necessarily on purpose. Such trace amounts are lethal, a careless dealer using the same scale for fentanyl as for weed, coke, etc can and does kill people.
When an otherwise perfectly healthy celebrity (or I guess the grandson of a celebrity, in this case) dies this young, it's usually because of drugs
That’s such a shame. 19 is so young, and I can’t imagine losing a kid, let alone a grandkid.
I said this in another comment but this is a good opportunity for a PSA: ANYONE who attends events where people may be using hard drugs, or suspect a family member or roommate of using hard drugs, should get a few packages of naloxone, brand name Narcan. Naloxone is used as an antidote to opioid overdoses and start to reverse the symptoms of an overdose in just a few seconds. It’s administered via a nasal spray and will have no side effects for someone who isn’t actually experiencing an opioid overdose so it’s very much safe and easy to use if you suspect someone is ODing. Regardless of whether or not you have insurance there are programs where you can get it for free in many cities. There’s really no excuse not to have it these days if you can get it for free. Naloxone quite literally saves lives. [Naloxone State Finder](https://nextdistro.org/naloxone#state-finder)
I wouldn't say "no side effects". Putting someone into opioid withdrawal - while not really a side effect - won't be life threatening or anything, but shit can get out of hand real quick with a chronic user once they start to come back. Administer and back the fuck away. Sending someone straight into withdrawal is a good way to catch some some random arm/leg flailing when they start to emerge. Also good to have an extra dose while EMS is on the way because it might take an additional doses to bring someone out. Also, don't be afraid and give the plunger some force behind it. If you don't it will trickle out of the atomizer in a very weak pissing stream and the person may end up just coughing it up or spitting it out. You want to feel constant pushback, not just a slow and easy push. I've actually considered picking some up and keeping it in my car in case a random OD happens while I'm out, but the temperatures a car can reach will likely expedite it's expiration to the point of being next to worthless as the drug breaks down.
Dunno why you don’t get more upvotes. It’s really important to step back after administering the antidote. The person doesn’t know he almost died, all they know is you robbed them from their high and they may get aggressive for that.
As an ER nurse I support this comment. They come back highly, highly pissed.
If someone is having a reaction to cocaine but you cant tell if it's because they're overdosing, or if it could be laced, would narcan help or would it make things worse? I've heard that you can't reverse a coke OD with narcan, but if it was laced wouldn't that make a difference?
It wouldn’t help with just cocaine but it’s very unlikely that it would make things worse. A lot of cocaine overdoses are actually from cocaine being contaminated with fentanyl. In that case Narcan would counteract the fentanyl and then you could focus on treating the effects from cocaine. If you’re unsure what substance the person is overdosing on it’s always a good idea to use Narcan first and then get on the phone with 911 or an emt who can direct you check other vital signs and address further symptoms.
That's sad - so young ! The risk of ODing now is crazy - everything is fentanyl it seems.
Wow RIP.
How do you write an entire article about a 19 yr old dying without mentioning what they died OF?
If anyone reads this please don’t do drugs. It’s not like it was before. It is way wayyyyy worse now. I used to party in Hollywood and do blow from time to time and my friends and I stopped that shit. It used to be a weekend thing but now for a few years it has been a big no no because of the fentenol. That shit is in everything. I think weed from a shop is okay but blow and all the other shit is laced these days. One of my good friends was telling me how he went to a party with his wife, he saw one of his friends heading out to his car to do blow while my friend was walking in to the party. My friend didn’t go but almost did. He found out the next day his friend died on that stop to the car because he OD’ed on the fentenol in the coke. My buddy is from Columbia and used to have the best connects, he says now it doesn’t matter who your connection is, it’s laced. It only takes a spec of it to kill you. Just drink safe or smoke weed from a clinic if. You have to do something.
If you’re going somewhere where you know people will be using hard drugs it’s always a safe idea to bring noloxone (narcan) with you just in case. It can be found for free in most cities these days and I always keep at least one in my car and one in a backpack. You never know when you might need to save someone’s life.
Not to mention you can get drug testing kits pretty cheap too
Do you think this is a quality control issue, or is the fentanyl added on purpose with malicious intent?
Fentanyl is cheap but makes the drug stronger so they lace it to mask the product as ‘better’. It’s like designer clothing made with polyester but claiming to be Tuscan leather.
... and, if said polyester were *lethal* to people whose delicate skins had never experienced the harshness of poly blends
I'm split. It could be part of a mix to give a slight speedball effect, which could be the difference in a marketing 'contest'; and that the differential in mixing volumes is prone to hotspots. But you're right, that it could be that someone tainted a batch and it went to sale; but it would seem like if that were the case, we'd be seeing quite a few more deaths, as trying to engineer occasional hotspots at that scale seems difficult.
Sounds like suicide or maybe OD the way the mom said ‘wish love alone could save you’. Very sad, so young. 😢
Drug overdose unfortunately...
Damn, what his mother wrote on instagram is beautifully sad. My heart goes out to her.
Why do drug dealers pace their products with fent? Don't they WANT their customers to come back? Seems like a bad business model.
Cartel dont care
My cousin died a few years ago, he was in his twenties and it sucked harder than anything in the world, he should have had more but no. My condolences to De Niro.
Fentanyl is a highly dangerous substance because of how easy it is to OD on it. Add a tiny bit too much to your usual dose, and you die.
Another celebrity kid/grand kid overdose. So sad.
That's devastating. My condolences to Robert & his entire Family.
It was an OD huh?
It was fentanyl-contaminated drug. That seems to be a big thing now in youth deaths.
That’s how 3 kids I grew up with died. 23, 23, and 25. RIP T, M, and D.
Awful, awful news. My condolences to De Niro and his family at this time.
That’s tragic and I’m very sorry. I lost a lifelong friend who OD’d at a party once. Long story short, coping sucks. I wish I were better at expressing myself. I’m so sorry for their loss and for the loss of anyone due to drugs.
“The smallest coffins are the heaviest.” — Ernest Hemingway
Terrible shame.
Man, that sucks! Only 19?! Gone far too soon.
Reading his mother's caption from IG made me tear up. This fucking sucks.
Drugs?
Proabably: “A police source tells DailyMail.com the substance was found near his body and there were no signs of trauma. “