Congressman Bill Janklow Improves Congressional Ethics

Leonard Fehskens wrote:
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Perhaps. Perhaps not. Look at the case of Robert Downey Jr., for example. He was tried and convicted more than once, but I believe it was more because of "being a danger to self and others" than his simply using drugs. I think in Rush's case (and I'm not a fan of his by any stretch), the fact that he didn't cause any harm to himself or others, is, in MY mind, a major reason why it isn't 'necessary' to charge him with anything AT THIS TIME.
David Erbas-White

David Erbas-White wrote:
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You'd think he'd see the light and start arguing for relaxation of the silly anti-drug laws. Dependency on pain medication should be considered a bio-medical predicament, not a criminal matter.
I don't think anyone deserves to be "caught" and treated as a criminal for that... what I do feel scornful of Rush for, is that he was advocating "strict punishment for 'drug law violators'" while he was in the same damn situation himself. (I guess that "an anti-drug stance" was what he thought his audience expected of him - it's a Good Conservative Position, don't ya know...)
-dave w

I'm still waiting for "soma"
- iz :)
David Weinshenker wrote:
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Silly me, I must have misunderstood when you said:
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...apologies for the misunderstanding. ;O)

On Tue, 09 Dec 2003 20:18:34 GMT, "BB"
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My parents would have had more sense. A friend of mine with severe Crones disease got himself into a special program. As soon as the problem cropped up, he got help. He didn't go doctor shopping. He corrected the problem. He didn't buy drugs from his housekeeper.
He got help because he saw he needed it. Not because someone went to the press with a story about him.
Zooty

writes:
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I'm not aware of treatments for Crones that involve narctics.
    Bob Kaplow    NAR # 18L    TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD"         >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD! <<< Kaplow Klips & Baffle:    http://nira-rocketry.org/LeadingEdge/Phantom4000.pdf www.encompasserve.org/~kaplow_r/ www.nira-rocketry.org www.nar.org
Save Model Rocketry from the HSA! http://www.space-rockets.com/congress.html

On 10 Dec 2003 11:51:17 -0600, kaplow snipped-for-privacy@encompasserve.org.TRABoD (Bob Kaplow) wrote:
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I don't have it, and I'm not all that familiar with it. A quick web search turned this up:
http://members.aol.com/paratbweb/letters/congress/agcomm_whatiscd.htm
Moreover, the emotional damage created by Crohn's disease can be nearly as destructive and devastating as the physical damage. Depression is very common in Crohn's disease patients. Patients often become dependent upon narcotics for pain management, further complicating the emotional dynamics involved. Learning to deal with the ravages of the disease can be overwhelming for adults of any age, but is especially difficult for children, adolescents, and young adults who are suddenly faced with the harsh reality of a lifetime of pain and suffering.
Zooty

On Tue, 09 Dec 2003 20:18:34 GMT, "BB"
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Some are, the way they handle narcotics.
That's one thing I never understood. Some doctors can get away with prescribing tons of heavy-duty painkillers to people who don't have significant problems.
Other doctors who treat terminal patients have the government go after them for treating pain properly in people dying from agonizing diseases.
Mostly, it seemed to do with how much money and how important the patient was. If you were rich and powerful enough, you could get what you wanted, even if you didn't need it. I'd say "Especially if you didn't need it" but that would be cynical. Oh, wait. I'm cynical.
(BTW: In case there's a narc reading this a) I already reported this to the police years ago - they yawned and b) limitations - my info's too old to do any good.)
Zooty

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The ones more interested in pushing pills than actually finding out what is wrong with paitents certainly are. I've had encounters with a few of them recently. They hand out pills and prescriptions like candy on Haloween.
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I've bought syringes and needles for the past 12 years, and the only question I've ever been asked is if I'm using them on farm livestock. [mixing epoxy doesn't seem to be on their short list of applications]
    Bob Kaplow    NAR # 18L    TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD"         >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD! <<< Kaplow Klips & Baffle:    http://nira-rocketry.org/LeadingEdge/Phantom4000.pdf www.encompasserve.org/~kaplow_r/ www.nira-rocketry.org www.nar.org
Save Model Rocketry from the HSA! http://www.space-rockets.com/congress.html

On 10 Dec 2003 11:49:00 -0600, kaplow snipped-for-privacy@encompasserve.org.TRABoD (Bob Kaplow) wrote:
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Be careful. I know of one person who was arrested for possessing syringes without a script. There were no needles - the syringe was in an airway wrap he was sewing and left in his car. The syringe was for inflating pilot balloons on endotracheal tubes, and he had th syringe to make sure he got the size right for the pocket. Thankfully, he didn't have the laryngoscope or any endotubes.
They tried to get him for the stylet, but eventually they declined to prosecute.
This was back in the mid '80s, so things might have changed. The cop involved was out for blood. The cop was having an affair with another paramedic's wife. The cop thought the medic had ratted him out to the other medic.
It was the chief of police who dropped the dime....
Zooty

Leonard Fehskens wrote:
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Now there's a weird case... I don't think anyone would have held it against him nearly as much, that he was dependent on opiates for relief of chronic pain, if he hadn't been making such a fuss about how "drug addicts ought to be in jail"...
I guess he was playing for cheap respectability points by "taking an anti-drug position", and it worked to his embarrassment when it became evident that he was preaching something different from what he practiced!
-dave w

On Tue, 09 Dec 2003 17:22:52 -0800, David Weinshenker
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In Rush's defense, it is easy to get trapped, especially when the medicine is prescribed originally for a legitimate reason.
I can't say I understand it. I have a weird problem that opiates don't seem to work on me - Motrin's far more effective. But in talking with drug addicts, the stuff seems to screw with your ability to reason. The drugs become important. Once you're addicted, missing a dose hurts, and you get some rapid Pavlovian training. The brain lies to itself, making excuses, confabulating, doing whatever it takes to justify the next dose.
I don't really want to see Rush thrown in jail. I just want him to face that he's as much of a drug addict as the dude lying in the weeds by the river breathing once or twice a minute (if he's lucky).
Unless he confronts it, Rush will wind up back in the spin-dry. If he doesn't wind up lying in the weeds breathing once or twice a minute (if he's lucky).
Look, I've seen too many medical professionals screw up their lives because of drugs. They all seemed to think they could handle it. Well, they handled it all right. Two of them that I know did such a great job "handling it" that they're dead. A couple others might as well be.
Freaking waste. And it will be a freaking waste if Rush dies, too. I don't like the guy and I disagree with him a whole lot, but at least he's trying to rub the neurons together to generate a spark.
We'll all agree that attempting to think is too damn rare. It honks me off.
Just guessing, but I figure it's going to take at least one or two more rounds in the spin-dry before he gets off drugs for good. I hope I'm wrong.
Zooty

Len wrote: << You mean, like Rush Limbaugh? >>
I'm not a Limbaugh fan, but there's really NO comparison between his situation and Ted Kennedy's -- or even Bill Janklow. The latter two intentionally broke the law, resulting in the death of an innocent person (and one of them fled the scene to boot). Rush was taking doctor-prescribed medication for treatment of an injury and became addicted to it. Obtaining and using that drug illegally was definitely wrong but not even in the same category as Kennedy or Janklow's crimes.

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (RayDunakin) wrote in
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The intent of my comparison was with the knee jerk liberal smearing, not Kennedy specifically. I think Kennedy-worship is an embarassment to liberalism.
len.

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Back to our discussion in the past about bike accidents, the way that guy got killed was a truly scary scenario. Blowing a stop sign at that kind of velocity where you can't see the other road...it must have seemed a bullet from nowhere to that poor fellow on the bike.

On Tue, 9 Dec 2003 08:45:02 -0500, Kurt Kesler
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I was thinking about it.
Some things can get you, no matter how hard you try.
Zooty

says...
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Yep. That guy that got killed would have to have been driving a dumptruck to escape without death/serious injury.
Good thing caddys aren't usually blowing stop signs at 70+ mph. The chances of cashing in like that are about like winning the lottery...not very likely.

On Wed, 10 Dec 2003 11:23:05 -0500, Kurt Kesler
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A personal, totally irrational prejudice I have is that all Cadillac drivers are to be considered menaces to life and limb.
And yes, when I drive a Caddy, this applies to me.
I'm sure there's good Caddy drivers out there. I'd bet that Caddies aren't terribly statistically over-represented in MVAs.
If anything, it may have more to do with the age of Cadillac drivers and the adequacy of their vision and reflexes at that age. I'm sure not being able to see over the steering wheel has something to do with it.
The concept of a Caddy SUV, however, strikes fear into my heart.
Totally irrational. It's one of my quirks, like watching airplanes as they fly by so that I can see the crash when it happens.
Zooty

BB wrote:
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Naaah. He wasn't DRINKING and driving, now, was he?
David Erbas-White

On Mon, 08 Dec 2003 22:29:23 -0800, David Erbas-White
Despite his fake "hypoglycemia" defense, no.
Janklow was perfectly sober and thinking clearly when he thoughtlessly ended the life of a motorcyclist.
He knew what he was doing.
Zooty