Rick James, A Pharmacy Within

I'm sorry to hear that Rick died with so damned many drugs in his system (Wellbutrin, Celexa, Valium, Vicodin, Digoxin, plus methamphetamines and cocaine). I doubt it eased the heart attack they say ultimately killed him.

I have no idea what meth does; never tried it and I don't think I know anyone who has. But I've seen friends do coke, and it always seemed like a single snort was like a descent into hell. That's no way to die (or to live).

I've always been grateful that I had no interest in coke or anything like that - and there was a time in my 20s when I was a lot more experimental than I've been anytime since. Watching perfectly great smart people do coke and turn into nasty skunks just didn't pique my interest.

Now, even up here in the tiny towns of bucolic Vermont where it can be hard enough sometimes just finding a quart of milk and loaf of bread, we're seeing terrible things happen with heroin. For a lot of them, hopefully, it's just experimentation that will disappear. It's the ones who don't see this as a phase that I worry about.