On October 31, 2010, 22-year-old Michael Frietas (pictured left), took Ecstasy, also known as Molly or MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) while attending a Bassnectar show at the Aragon theater in Chicago‘s Uptown neighborhood.
That Halloween night, police were called to the venue for several overdose related 911 calls. At 1:25 a.m., police would receive their final drug-related call for the night at the Aragon.
Michael Frietas was taken out of the ballroom on a stretcher and rushed to Weiss Memorial Hospital at 4650 N. Marine Drive, where he later died .
Frietas’ mother told Chicago News Report that her son died of acute renal failure after taking the drug, Ecstasy.
“He died before I got there. He had renal failure, his core temperature was 108 degrees, his heart eventually stopped. I will miss my son forever and my heart will always be broken I fear,” said Susan Olson.
Susan asked me to do a follow-up story on her son’s tragic death to warn others of the dangers of recreational drugs.
"...as a nurse, this drug (Ecstasy) is down right scary and far from safe. But the information on the internet states otherwise. There are sites like TheDEA.org which I fear young people think are legit," said the heartbroken mom.
Susan is right. There are countless websites claiming that Ecstasy is safe. Some of these sites offer advice on how to use the drug “safely”, and blame Ecstasy related deaths on the improper use of the drug or “drinking too much water”.
yeah, so, where is the science behind that nurse's claims? Because guess what? MDMA as a chemical isnt even considered neurotoxic if used properly.
ReplyDeleteIf people were educated on how to consume the drug, instead of told they cant (because they will, believe me) the rate of harm would reduce, greatly.
Also, if the gov't regulated and sold PURE MDMA there would be a lot less adulterated (not just MDxx) substances around on the streets. However, many of these uneducated folks think its their job to tell others what they do to their own bodies. Lawmakers feel as if they are capable of telling us what we can, and cannot, do to ourselves (as if they have partial ownership of our will power and physical form).
Keep the nation ignorant, and the misuse and adulteration of such substances will continue. Inform the masses, and let them do as they are going to do regardless of your laws and whiny parents, the misuse and harm will be reduced, guaranteed.
what this article says, when read between the lines:
ReplyDelete"There are websites out there that tell people this drug is safe. Legitimate lab studies, done over the course of years on primates, rats, and humans alike, that show MDMA is relatively safe, are "brainwashing" our children into believing scientific evidence holds more weight and value than our concerned, uneducated minds do. As a mother, and as a nurse, regardless of my experience with chemicals, what i say is more important than what a scientist, or chemist, could ever say! How dare our children try to educate themselves on how to properly use substances like MDMA? I'd rather they go out there, like this guy, and have no clue that drinking 8-12oz of water per hour SLOWLY, and making sure to replenish the lost sodium in their bodies (as to insure they don't experience Hyponatremia), and taking breaks every so often to avoid hyperthermia.
These conditions have nothing to do with the actual chemical, and would be exactly as dangerous to those participating in these behaviors without MDMA in their system.
Remember the mother who drank 2 gallons of water to win an Xbox on the radio a few years back and died of Hyponatremia? Same thing happens to people who say "if you take MDMA, you have to continuously drink water the entire night or you will overheat and die!"
The truth: when you do or DON'T take MDMA and go to a dance party, you should stay hydrated by drinking water slowly and occasionally throughout the night, as well as take breaks as your body temperature can get very elevated by standing amidst thousands of people in a dance club moving around for hours on end (especially whilst consuming alcohol which dehydrates your body).
But i mean, you're right, some random nurse says its really bad for you and some mom is upset has way more "proof" that ecstasy is bad for you than the years upon years of legitimate studied done with the chemical. This is what makes our government and society feel so draconian. Check out how many MDMA deaths there are per year compared to alcohol....
This is what happens when the DEA takes away all of our good clean LSD. Kids start taking MDMA instead. Then the DEA does what they can to take away all the kids MDMA, so now the market is flooded with phony MDMA, most of which is extremely dangerous. That's what happens when you fight an unwinnable war against an invisible enemy, you lose even when you are "winning".
ReplyDeleteI know it sucks the kid died, but maybe he should take some of the responsibility for his own actions? It's the Ecstasy(which I took voluntarily)'s fault.
Also, final point here, Bassnectar really sucks. And if this Mom knew that her son was listening to Bassnectar, and did not do anything to stop him from listening, it really is her fault.