October 5, 2016

7-year-old girl tells bus driver she dressed herself and left for school on her own because she couldn't wake up her parents.

The parents — Christopher Dilly, 26, and Jessica Lally, 25 — had been dead in the house house for at least a day with the girl and her 3 younger siblings, the youngest only 9 months.
[Lally's Facebook] profile... said she was the “mom of 4 beautiful children” and “engaged to my love Chris.” The last post, from Aug. 30, showed smiling portraits of each of the children.
Cause of death: heroin.

103 comments:

Big Mike said...

This is what happens when you lose the war on drugs.

Brando said...

And yet we keep making it difficult and expensive for stable couples to adopt.

Great society we have.

Molly said...

"Police speculate that the couple may have committed suicide when they realized, during their planning for an upcoming wedding, that their hyphenated married name would be Dilly-Lally." (Pittsburgh post dispatch)

Sebastian said...

Yeah, but were they Dem or GOP? If the latter: deplorable.

CJ said...

Most likely heroin cut with fentanyl or carfentanil by some shithead dealer. Horrible stuff, hope they find the dealer that cut the dope and throw them under the prison.

David said...

Neighbors? Family?

The "war on drugs" was made into a joke. Bad joke.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Globalization and immigration are killing white people. Poor whites have reliably voted against their economic interests for thirty six years and are now reaping the fruit of those votes. For poor English/Scots/Irish, unions were a pillar of their social and economic lives. The war on unions kicked out that pillar and reduced them to widgets that can be easily replaced with cheaper asian or Mexican models.

MayBee said...

Molly......!

MayBee said...

David- the family was trying to get custody of the kids, but are concerned that pushed her even further away from them.

Ron Snyder said...

Good, some more negatives culled from the herd. Sorry for the kids though.

traditionalguy said...

What? Do you mean that self medication of depression to death is not a glamorous way of life after all.

But at least the faith, hope and love of Christianity did not damage their minds during their shortened lives.

MayBee said...

She started having babies at 18, apparently unmarried. Went on to have 3 more babies. Delayed gratification not a big value these days, but it would change a lot of lives.

CStanley said...

The family members of the "mother" apparently were trying to get the kids out of her "care."

Have heard a couple of stories like this (which is just anecdotal but stats for heroin are horrific so it seems likely to be happening with some frequency.) I hope that more families will pay attention, and if there are legal barriers (making it hard to get kids out of homes where there is reasonable suspicion) then I hope those are also addressed.

Brando said...

"The family members of the "mother" apparently were trying to get the kids out of her "care.""

Our laws are too far in favor of biological parents to the detriment of what's best for the kids. Once it's clear the parents are abusive or neglectful, get the kids the hell out of there, pronto. Delaying it only makes it worse and passes on a legacy of destruction.

Meantime, a decent family with a clean record will have to spend years and tens of thousands of dollars to adopt a child (a bit faster if the child is older or suffers disabilities, but still difficult). Our system is favoring scenarios where children continue to be subject to terrible parenting.

Robert Cook said...

So sad.

James Pawlak said...

Of course,, this supports the DNC position that low-level dealing in illegal drugs is not a dangerous offense.

tim in vermont said...

Poor whites have reliably voted against their economic interests for thirty six years and are now reaping the fruit of those votes - ARM

Yeah, but in Venezuela, they voted FOR their own economic interests and they too are reaping the fruit of those votes. One in three admitted to a hospital die.

But you know what would be in the economic interests of poor whites? More immigration! That's what! More competition for scarce jobs! And Hillary will give it to them good an hard!

Curious George said...

Thanks Obama.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Terrible story; those poor children.

Etienne said...

If I was a Mayor, and I had a basket of deplorables, the first thing I would do, is become a sanctuary city and bring in the MS-13 gangs from Central America.

Let the gangs use chemical warfare on the deplorables and force the retired people to sell their property and flee.

Laslo Spatula said...

"Mom? I can't find my socks!"

"Just a minute, honey -- your Dad and I are shooting up."

"What is 'shooting up' Mommy?"

"It's when Daddy and Me take our medicine."

"Medicine, Mommy? Are you and daddy sick?"

"Your Daddy and me have an illness, baby, but it's nothing to worry about. The medicine makes us all better."

"Is the medicine why you guys get so sleepy all the time?"

"Yes, honey. It's powerful medicine. When I take my medicine I don't have that feeling."

"What feeling, Mommy?"

"The feeling where I want to drown you and your siblings in the bathtub."

"You want to drown us, Mommy?"

"Or set the house on fire. Mommy wishes she could start over."

"Mommy, why would you drown us or set us on fire?"

"Because then you would be safe in Heaven, sweetie, and Mommy and Daddy could then do whatever we felt like doing, anytime we they wanted to."

"I wish you could do that, Mommy. I want you to be happy."

"Thank you, sweetie. Do you want Mommy to help you take a bath? You can play 'Underwater Mermaid'...

"No, Mommy. I think I want to do my bath by myself..."

Laslo would know where to go from here.

I am The Replacement Laslo.

David Begley said...

Why don't we close the Mexican border. It will decrease the supply of heroin and increase the cost. Fewer incidents as blogged by AA.

If Hillary really cared about kids, she would close the border.

I always think about 21 year old Sarah Root killed in Omaha by a drunk illegal alien. This only gets way worse if Hillary wins.

rhhardin said...

The heroin needle over the mantel goes off in the third act.

MadisonMan said...

Really can't make a joke about this so I won't try.

The oldest kid has been being mother to her siblings for a long time, I expect.

There's nothing good in this story, except the kids' survival. I hope more good comes out of it.

Rocketeer said...

Heartbreaking for those children.

gspencer said...

If there's any good at all in this story it's that those two won't reproduce again and that their now four orphaned children will receive better care.

Laslo Spatula said...

I realize my 8:27 post might be unfair to many heroin-addicted parents who don't want to kill their children.

Wheat and Chaff.


I am The Replacement Laslo.

FullMoon said...

Goddamn the pusher man....

Ann Althouse said...

But don't say they were not strong.

AllenS said...

The harsh reality of this situation where both parents ended up being heroin addicts, is that they most likely started their drug curiosity with marijuana. You know, the drug that should be legal because it isn't harmful. Right?

John Christopher said...

My God this is sad.

This is anonymous enough to say that I regularly drank myself stupid until my twins were born and just had to quit entirely to not end up like the couple here someday. I was a decade older so the habits were more ingrained but maybe so was the ability to move on. It could have gone a different direction for me and I have some sympathy for the couple. My first year sober would have been impossible if I wasn't already so busy with the children.

viator said...

“We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.” — Barack Obama, October 30, 2008

“We are going to have to change our conversation; we’re going to have to change our traditions, our history; we’re going to have to move into a different place as a nation.” — Michelle Obama, May 14, 2008

National overdose deaths - heroin

Brando said...

"But don't say they were not strong."

What's this reference?

MayBee said...

But don't say they were not strong.

Heh.

Guildofcannonballs said...

You don't know how you met me
You don't know why
You can't turn around and say goodbye
All you know is when I'm with you
I make you free
And swim through your veins like a piss in the sea
I'm singin'

Follow me everything is alright
I'll be the one to tuck you in at night
And if you
Want to leave I can guarantee
You won't find nobody else like me

I'm not worried bout the ring you wear
'Cause as long as no one knows than nobody can care
You're feelin' guilty and I'm well aware
But you don't look ashamed and baby I'm not scared
I'm singin'

Follow me everything is alright
I'll be the one to tuck you in at night
And if you
Want to leave I can guarantee
You won't find nobody else like me

Won't give you money
I can't give you the sky
Your better off if you don't ask why
I'm not the reason that you go astray and
We'll be all right if you don't ask me stay

Follow me everything is alright


\n I'll be the one to tuck you in at night
And if you
Want to leave I can guarantee
You won't find nobody else like me

You don't know how you met me
You don't know why
You can't turn around and say goodbye
All you know is when I'm with you
I make you free
And swim through your veins like a piss in the sea
I'm singin'

Follow me everything is alright
I'll be the one to tuck you in at night
And if you
Want to leave I can guarantee
You won't find nobody else like me

Follow me everything is alright
I'll be the one to tuck you in at night
And if you
Want to leave I can guarantee
You won't find nobody else like me

Follow me everything is alright
I'll be the one to tuck you in at night
And if you
Want to leave I can guarantee
You won't find nobody else like me

Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/uncle-kracker/follow-me-lyrics/#MdTvQrgKoj1hYtAs.99

Michael K said...

Poor whites have reliably voted against their economic interests for thirty six years and are now reaping the fruit of those votes.

Even Thomas Frank figured it out finally.

But not ARM.

With his trademark sardonic wit and lacerating logic, Frank's Listen, Liberal lays bare the essence of the Democratic Party's philosophy and how it has changed over the years. A form of corporate and cultural elitism has largely eclipsed the party's old working-class commitment, he finds. For certain favored groups, this has meant prosperity. But for the nation as a whole, it is a one-way ticket into the abyss of inequality.

MayBee said...

Guild- It's not "fish in the sea"?

Bob Boyd said...

"But don't say they were not strong."

That's what the dealer said when people complained his dime bags were killing his customers.

damikesc said...

This is one of the most depressing stories I've read.

AllenS said...

If the two of them weren't strong, they would have overdosed last month.

damikesc said...

Our laws are too far in favor of biological parents to the detriment of what's best for the kids. Once it's clear the parents are abusive or neglectful, get the kids the hell out of there, pronto. Delaying it only makes it worse and passes on a legacy of destruction.

My mother worked, for years, as a head nurse as an adolescent psych unit. Her stories of them watching parents come by and take their children, when they KNEW they'd abuse them or horribly mistreat them (because they did so regularly and social workers always let them "try again") were horrifying to me throughout my childhood. I will never even have more than one beer (and that is exceedingly rare) with my kids around, because I both hate drinking as is and I'm not going to be one of those parents who are drunk around their kids a lot. There is heat with the family because the last time my in-laws watched our kids, they got drunk with them and went driving. I informed them that my kids will never be left alone with them ever again until I die. They are bitching at my wife about it, but so be it. They forfeited any semblance of trust I ever had in those idiots.

The nurses were always infuriated that girls who finally kicked a drug habit were sent back to their parents who got them hooked in the first place. And then a few months later, they'd be back with the same problem. The boys were normally just beaten until they became horribly violent as they got older, so the parents got them less and less often.

"But don't say they were not strong."

What's this reference?


Trump's comments about PTSD and how some troops think they're "Strong enough" to handle it and don't seek the help they need when they just aren't. Because most people who go thru hell really aren't "strong enough" to handle all of the repurcussions alone.

Laslo Spatula said...

"Mommy?"

"Yes honey?"

"Do you really want to kill me?"

"Only when I don't take my medication, dear."

"I'm afraid to sleep, Mommy."

"Oh, honey. There aren't any monsters in the house."

"I'm not afraid of monsters, Mommy. I'm afraid that Dad is going to come into my room and put the pillow over my face again. Then he cries."

"That's because he loves you so much he wishes you were in a better place."

"I like this place, Mommy. Do you think you and Daddy can get help?"

"That's what our medicine is for, honey. Now get some sleep. Daddy's going to come in and say good night."

"Angel?"

"Hi, Daddy."

"Does my Angel want to play Pillow-Buddy? Pillow-Buddy wants to smother you with kisses."

"I don't want to play Pillow-Buddy, Daddy."

"But Pillow-Buddy misses you. Pillow-Buddy is Sad."

"I just want my teddy bear tonight, Daddy."

"But Pillow-Buddy could push down on both you and your Teddy Bear's faces. You'd all be playing together."

"No thank you, Daddy."

"Okay, my Angel..."

"And Daddy?"

"Yes, my dear?"

"No Surprise Pillow-Buddy in the middle of the night: please?

"Okay, baby. No Surprise Pillow-Buddy in the middle of the night."

"I love you, Daddy."

"I love you, my Angel..."

Laslo would know where to go from here.

I am The Replacement Laslo.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Ann Althouse said...
But don't say they were not strong.


Apparently it is now OK for privileged wealthy Republicans to openly mock poor whites. Good luck holding that coalition together.

Birches said...

I just finished Hillbilly Elegy. This fits right in. My spouse is afraid his sibling's kids are going to end up like this. No proof yet, but the slumming around with scum is happening.

bagoh20 said...

From what I gather, heroin feels really good, but injecting things into your body that you acquired off the street is very dangerous. Some people make poor decisions even with all the info, and huge things at risk. They also vote.

bagoh20 said...

Please, no weak shaming.

Birches said...

I was going to post something political on fb yesterday (which I never do), but when I logged on I saw my friend's 4month old had died and politics didn't seem important anymore.

I feel the same way after reading this story. I'm going to be sick all day thinking of those poor children and the poor family that feels like their intervention contributed to this (it didn't).

Wince said...

Video from a confidential Clinton campaign strategy meeting:

"They're 'deplorables' anyway, so let them loose their souls".

Ignorance is Bliss said...

AReasonableMan said...

Apparently it is now OK for privileged wealthy Republicans to openly mock poor whites. Good luck holding that coalition together.

You've got your parties confused. It was a Democrat who called them deplorables.

SukieTawdry said...

I'm currently reading Hillbilly Elegy. From what I'm reading, heroin has become the scourge of the poor white working class. It's both sad and infuriating.

Bad Lieutenant said...

The first and only thing I wanted to say is that this is terrible. Poor dear child! Poor family! Poor benighted parents who ended up this way!

But now I must add:

AllenS said...
The harsh reality of this situation where both parents ended up being heroin addicts, is that they most likely started their drug curiosity with marijuana. You know, the drug that should be legal because it isn't harmful. Right?

10/5/16, 8:46 AM


AllenS, I daresay their entry into the realm of altering their states was through alcohol, the drug that we tried to outlaw and failed, and not because it wasn't harmful.

If soft and hard drugs were legalized and commercialized, they would probably be, net net, much safer, cheaper, and less promoting of bad effects. No doubt terrible things would still happen, but terrible things happen or are done even to/by the perfectly clean and sober.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Ignorance is Bliss said...
You've got your parties confused. It was a Democrat who called them deplorables.


You should get out a little more. Kevin Williamson and Bret Stephens took their shots first. It is disgraceful to attack American citizens who are struggling, no matter what their race, ethnicity or financial worth.

MadisonMan said...

I just finished Hillbilly Elegy.

It's an awesome book. But very depressing at the same time. Highly recommended.

Etienne said...

I thought it was telling, how the girl complained about having to dress herself, but had no thought to her brothers and sisters who couldn't fend for themselves.

She decided to go to school and have a nice day. Piss on them.

She should be arrested for felony child endangerment and tried as an adult.

Scott M said...

I could have gone my whole life without reading this post.

Michael K said...

There have been several examples of parents passing out from drug OD in the past week or two. One was in a car and that photo was all over. Another was a mother collapsing in a store.

My own experience with heroin overdoses is not recent and things seem to be changing. We used to assume that most heroin ODs followed a period in jail when the addict lost the tolerance for high drug levels and OD'd the first time he or she "shot up."

Now, the problem seems to be the addition of new drugs like fentanyl which may be mixed with heroin. This is extremely dangerous as the cocktail may be a combination of unknown chemicals. Some street drugs now are made up of stuff we can't even determine.

On the matter of abused children, I have some discussion of this in my second book. When we were on pediatric wards years ago, we could quickly tell which kids had good homes and which were neglected or abused. The neglected kids liked the attention from the doctors and nurses, especially the little kids. The kids from good homes hated us as we were sticking needles, etc.

eric said...

I keep hearing from libertarians that drugs don't hurt anyone but the people who take them. Therefore, we should legalize all drugs.

Then facts keep getting in the way of this narrative.

So freaking sad.

Bob Boyd said...

Libertarian Presidential candidate Gary Johnson was found brain dead in television studio this morning. Authorities suspect abuse of illegal drugs.

Birches said...

Yep, MM. I Think Hillbilly Elegy should be required reading.

I'm just a few years older than Vance and though I didn't grow up in hillbilly country, I did grow up poor. I recognized so much from my neighborhood and some of my family in his book. Not the Jerry Springer stuff, but the poor people mentality, like Christmas. We were very lucky, my mom and Church is what gave us the tools to get out.

buwaya said...

That heroin overdose death chart is horrible, I didnt notice the trend before. That thing is almost asymptotic.
This is a disaster.
I will add it to my charts, thank you. It is of course a social statistic, an indicator of something.
I think maybe I wasnt considering the reality of, for instance, the scale of the Philippine meth (shabu) situation. The local press certainly wasnt indicating anything out of the ordinary (ordinary as of the last three-four decades) but it may indeed have been trending like this and affecting politics under the radar. Or of course that social breakdown was proceeding so rapidly and that this is just a visible symptom. Something like that curve certainly would explain Duterte by itself.

Rick said...

eric said...
I keep hearing from libertarians that drugs don't hurt anyone but the people who take them. Therefore, we should legalize all drugs.

Then facts keep getting in the way of this narrative.


Luckily making drugs illegal prevented this tragedy.

tim in vermont said...

Pretty funny that the Republican rank and file have soundly rejected the neocons at National Review, who seem to be for Hillary this cycle, but here is ARM quoting the never Trumpers to smear Trump.

OK.

tim in vermont said...

Besides, Kevin Williamson isn't running for president, Hillary is. A minor point, I know. Since Trump is responsible for everything said by anybody that can be pinned on him on the thinnest of grounds. But that's how "reasonable" people think!

tim in vermont said...

Neocons are all in for Hillary. I think there was a letter from 100 of them supporting our new Caesar. "We came! We saw! He died! [chortle, guffaw!]" - HRC

Neocons can't get enough of that kind of shit.

Jay Vogt said...

Coincidently, the owners of Purdue Pharma (Ray & Beverly Sackler of Stanford CT) remain incredibly wealthy for unleashing this horror on the planet. As does, Roger Kimmel, the New York based Chairman of Endo Pharmacuticals. As I understand it, much of the new opium that is killing people (mainly in Appalachia and New England) is made in Mexico, but bluntly it started with wonton reckless domestic big pharma. J&J has much to answer for as well. Others do too.

As to libertarians who suggest legalizing these weaponized opiates: Single. Stupidest. Idea Ever. These substances were designed to rob human beings of their freedom, not to enhance it. Kinda the opposite of libertarianism dontcha think?

holdfast said...

"Now, the problem seems to be the addition of new drugs like fentanyl which may be mixed with heroin"

Fentalyl and its derivatives/cousins are so strong, you could argue that it's heroin mixed in with fentanyl, not the other way around. I have a good buddy who is an EMT, and he says the situation on the streets in just a horror show these days -and he works in a city that has always had a large heroin problem. And he served as a medic in Afghanistan, so I take his description seriously.

The fentanyl and corfentanyl coming out of China (and probably other places, but mostly China) is so strong that the dealers don't really know how to cut it properly, and even a small mistake can lead to a massive OD. Couple this with the massive over-prescription of opiod-based pain killers over the last decade or so, and now a recent pullback in such prescriptions creating a huge demand for opiods, and you have the perfect storm.

One of the few bright spots in this mess is Narcan, but a lot of police forces don't have the budget or training for it.



holdfast said...

@Jay - let's not forget the doctors who came up with the theory that pain, in and of itself, was the worst thing ever and should be beaten down at all costs. And I do mean at all costs.

https://news.vice.com/article/the-cdc-just-told-american-doctors-to-rethink-pain-treatment-and-opioid-addiction

Brando said...

"Trump's comments about PTSD and how some troops think they're "Strong enough" to handle it and don't seek the help they need when they just aren't. Because most people who go thru hell really aren't "strong enough" to handle all of the repurcussions alone."

Thanks--I recall the Trump quote but didn't connect it to Althouse's comment.

"The nurses were always infuriated that girls who finally kicked a drug habit were sent back to their parents who got them hooked in the first place. And then a few months later, they'd be back with the same problem. The boys were normally just beaten until they became horribly violent as they got older, so the parents got them less and less often."

Those stories infuriate me as much as they depress me, because you can easily see what it'll lead to. With a cycle of abuse and neglect it stacks the deck pretty badly against those kids.

Jay Vogt said...

@ Hold fast: Yes, and dirty pharmasists as well. Many down the chain got chump change or Mercedes money for selling their souls. I'm interested in who scammed out billions.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

They should turn the house into a museum so Al Roker can do a story on it for the Today show.

DR Judge said...

So, drug use is a victimless crime. Leftists and libertarians should be ashamed.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

At least it wasn't creepy clowns.

Yancey Ward said...

I keep hearing from libertarians that drugs don't hurt anyone but the people who take them. Therefore, we should legalize all drugs. Then facts keep getting in the way of this narrative. So freaking sad.

Eric,

I don't actually find many libertarians who say that specifically, however, any time a person dies it hurts those they leave behind. If the logic is that drugs should be banned because of the damage it does to others, then why heroin and not alcohol? Where do you draw the line? In addition, there are a lot of life-endangering pursuits one could think about banning if one is logically consistent in wanting to ban heroin for the hurt it does to third parties.

I would say the libertarian position is more along the lines of the prohibition, not only being unjustifiable from the perspective of personal liberty, is also actively destructive over the alternative. It will likely be found that the Pennsylvania couple died from particularly over-potent combinations of heroin with fentanyl (which is trivial to make). I would hope full legalization would minimize such deaths, even if I suspect it might increase the number of addicts overall.

Jay Vogt said...

@Yancy,

"Where do you draw the line?": I know that you know this, but we do this all the time. It's a societal necessity. Think abortion, tax code, speeding laws, property rights . . . . . . It's just a part of being a member of civilization . Drawing the line on a synthetic, freedom-robbing set of chemicals is highly preferable to lowering the speed limit, or raising the top marginal rate.

". . . . is actively destructive over the alternative".: No it's not. This is the reason for the opium wars - a war where everyone lost. Legalization (among its many horrors) would lead to an addict class who would be wholly beholden to the state and a reliable source of income for it - libertarian nightmare. Although I really don't like them much, the Matrix movies may offer you some insight.

damikesc said...

I would say the libertarian position is more along the lines of the prohibition, not only being unjustifiable from the perspective of personal liberty, is also actively destructive over the alternative. It will likely be found that the Pennsylvania couple died from particularly over-potent combinations of heroin with fentanyl (which is trivial to make). I would hope full legalization would minimize such deaths, even if I suspect it might increase the number of addicts overall.

Don't see how full legalization of everything is remotely preferable to the current situation. People abuse legal prescription meds like there's no tomorrow. Does anybody think making more potent drugs in that vein will reduce the problem?

damikesc said...

I don't actually find many libertarians who say that specifically, however, any time a person dies it hurts those they leave behind. If the logic is that drugs should be banned because of the damage it does to others, then why heroin and not alcohol? Where do you draw the line?

If you want a situation to change, providing an explanation how it makes things better seems more logical than explaining why things are as they are.

They are as they are due to decades and decades of discussions and negotiations. Legalize heroin? Make the argument. Don't just say "Well, THAT stuff is legal and look how bad it messes people up". Because the problems of alcohol aren't that it is easily available at all.

For all of its faults, prohibition did reduce alcohol related deaths.

Rick said...

damikesc said...
Don't see how full legalization of everything is remotely preferable to the current situation. People abuse legal prescription meds like there's no tomorrow. Does anybody think making more potent drugs in that vein will reduce the problem?


Legalizing drugs is not intended to reduce the number of people taking drugs. It's intended to reduce the number of people killing each other to sell those drugs.

Brando said...

"Don't see how full legalization of everything is remotely preferable to the current situation. People abuse legal prescription meds like there's no tomorrow. Does anybody think making more potent drugs in that vein will reduce the problem?"

It won't reduce the use of those drugs--ending alcohol prohibition didn't reduce alcohol consumption either--but it will reduce the incentives for criminals to engage in that trade and focus law enforcement on non-vice crimes. Plausibly it may make it easier for those suffering drug dependency to seek treatment, and make it more likely most users will have safer options.

But regardless of that, the more fundamental issue is whether people should have the freedom to use these substances responsibly just as they do with alcohol or guns.

jr565 said...

Cause when the smack begins to flow
And I really don't care anymore
Ah, when that heroin is in my blood
And that blood is in my head
Then thank God that I'm as good as dead
And thank your God that I'm not aware
And thank God that I just don't care
And I guess I just don't know
Oh, and I guess I just don't know

JLScott said...

coupe said:
I thought it was telling, how the girl complained about having to dress herself, but had no thought to her brothers and sisters who couldn't fend for themselves.

She decided to go to school and have a nice day. Piss on them.

She should be arrested for felony child endangerment and tried as an adult.


I hope you're joking. The girl is seven!

Ignorance is Bliss said...

JLScott said...

I hope you're joking. The girl is seven!

Coupe is what I would call a humor troll. He says intentionally provocative and offensive things, intended for humorous effect.

So yes, he's joking.

And no, he's not funny.

Joe said...

Our laws are too far in favor of biological parents to the detriment of what's best for the kids.

Who's to say what's best for the kids?

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Joe said...

Who's to say what's best for the kids?

The parents, as Laslo made clear @8:27 and @9:33

tim in vermont said...

If we are going to take the libertarian position of legalizing drugs, then we will be forced to take the libertarian position that those who abuse them and find themselves destitute are out of luck, let them die in the gutter, children with them, good riddance to bad genes.

Guess what? We won't take the latter position, so the former position is therefore impossible. Sometimes I think "libertarian" is an alternate term for somewhere on the autistic spectrum.

viator said...

Laughing crowd gathers to WATCH as married drug addicts slowly lose consciousness in the street after overdose

Daily Mail

Etienne said...

JLScott said...I hope you're joking. The girl is seven!

You know how legislatures make everything a felony now, and judges make the children adults? It's all a racket.

It's kind of funny, that if a teacher has sex with a 17 year old, the guy is a child, but if the 17 year old murders a teacher, all of a sudden he's an adult.

It's a conundrum...

FullMoon said...

Ignorance is Bliss said... [hush]​[hide comment]

JLScott said...

I hope you're joking. The girl is seven!

Coupe is what I would call a humor troll. He says intentionally provocative and offensive things, intended for humorous effect.

So yes, he's joking.

And no, he's not funny.


Umm, someone upstream commented how the girl was taking care of her siblings, and probably had been for quite awhile. Coupe was only wrong about the criminality. BTW, no doubt seven year old expected Mom and Dad to wake up soon.

FullMoon said...

Decriminalizing drugs would lead to quality control. Parents probably hit the usual volume of heroin, but it was more potent than normal.Would be interesting to see comparisons of OD on legal drugs vs. illegal.

David said...

Inject H a few times and it does not matter if you are strong or weak. H is stronger.

David said...

Joe said: "Who's to say what's best for the kids?"

Certainly not these parents. Under that circumstance an alternative is needed.

David said...

MayBee said...
David- the family was trying to get custody of the kids, but are concerned that pushed her even further away from them.


If they were convinced that the kids needed a change of custody, why were they not checking every day? Or even more often?

tim in vermont said...

Decriminalizing drugs would lead to quality control.

Sure, and those addicted will trundle off to work each weekday, earn a paycheck honestly to not only buy their own drugs, but to pay for their food and shelter, then and only then will they zone out on heroine in a perfectly safe manner. Is that your fantasy?

I really am wondering if you think that people with easy access to heroine are going to lead productive lives as anything but artists and performers, work that is remarkably scarce.

HT said...

Has anyone seen Lonesome Jim?

Anonymous said...

Thank God the oldest left and told adults. Yes, it would have been better if she'd told people in the morning that her siblings needed help instead of when faced when going back home -- but they didn't starve to death the way they would have if the oldest was two, and might have if the oldest was five.

wildswan said...

It's a sad, sad story. And no one has an idea or a plan to prevent these young people from dying.

Allison said...

What a terrible world where people would rather get high than function making a living and being sober for their children.

What does it take for us to stop this? To demand more of ourselves, that we become morally centered to do our duty for our children, not to escape into our selfishness?

If any candidate talked about THIS, this ROT in our moral world, where we do not see a point in the absolute beauty of knowing our children, or working hard for their welfare, that candidate would be winning hearts and minds and elections.

Why do they not? Are they so addicted to the drug money they have lost any humanity?

Moneyrunner said...

You can't "fundamentally transform" without breaking a few eggs. These kids and their parents are the collateral damage of the war against racism and inequality, against global warming and the despicables clinging to bibles and guns. We can euphemize them away. After all, it was a government employee who discovered the truth and rescued the children. Government is the thing we do together, the village that it takes to raise our kids. This was not the end of a bad story but the beginning of a great and glorious one.

JCC said...

This isn't so much of a tragedy as it is a crime of child abuse and neglect by the parents, who finally succumbed to their lack of impulse control. According to other family members, all of the children are suffering from both health issues and developmental disorders brought on by the parents' lifestyle.

Look at the photos of the house from this link. If the parents weren't already dead, they should have been shot.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/inside-house-horrors-heroin-overdose-8983146

Known Unknown said...

"I really am wondering if you think that people with easy access to heroine are going to lead productive lives as anything but artists and performers, work that is remarkably scarce."

How hard do you think it is to get heroin in these places now?

How do you think Portugal does it?

Brando said...

"Who's to say what's best for the kids?"

Often that's a difficult question, and we should avoid putting ourselves in a position to answer it. But there are cases where the answer is objectively obvious. Heroin junkies overdosing while they have children in the house is one of those objectively obvious cases.

Should we look at a case where parents are repeatedly beating their children and scalding them with water because the kids refuse to be drug mules, and say "sorry, who are we to judge how you raise your kids"?

"Sure, and those addicted will trundle off to work each weekday, earn a paycheck honestly to not only buy their own drugs, but to pay for their food and shelter, then and only then will they zone out on heroine in a perfectly safe manner. Is that your fantasy? "

Your example applies to those addicted to heroin. What about a casual marijuana user, who wants to toke a bit on weekends just as the rest of us enjoy a glass of bourbon? Why are we lumping them in with junkies?

Largo said...

"The harsh reality of this situation where both parents ended up being heroin addicts, is that they most likely started their drug curiosity with marijuana. You know, the drug that should be legal because it isn't harmful. Right?"

AllenS, don't you think it is more likely that they started it with alcohol?

Brando said...

"AllenS, don't you think it is more likely that they started it with alcohol?"

Or cigarettes, for that matter. The fact is a lot of people use lesser drugs and never graduate to the heavy stuff, and certainly never get abused by it. I'm fine with trying to deal with those who have a real problem (addiction) while still allowing those who don't to go about their lives without us trying to control them.

richardsson said...

As sad as this is, its probably better that it happened sooner rather than later. Hopefully, these children can regain some of their childhood back.