Greg Giraldo died today of a drug overdose. The two albums of his I own are consistently hilarious, and I can always count on him being the funniest part of any situation he's in. It's a bummer that he won't be around to make short sections of comedy central specials watchable anymore.
I'm off to listen to Good Day to Cross a River and feel a bit sad.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
to note: accidental drug overdose, not abuse, not a suicide.
Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
Good point. Wasn't intending to make or imply any judgments about his personal life, as I know next to nothing about it. But as a comic he was top-notch, and I'll miss him.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
I was so shocked when I saw this! I always found him to be hilarious. He's the only comic I've ever seen live.
He was so young. What the hell is up with so many middle aged and young people dying from accidental drug overdoses lately?
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
Wow, I always hoped he was exagerating the drug jokes.
Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
This is very similar to Mitch Hedberg's death.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: What the hell is up with so many middle aged and young people dying from accidental drug overdoses lately?
Over-prescription of extremely dangerous and addictive prescription medications due to an over-saturation of the prescription drug market with upwards of 4 times the legitimately useful quantity of drugs. As it is, estimates put the amount of prescription benzodiazapines and opiates which reach the black or grey market at 50% of total volume, while legitimate uses for these drugs even in the legal market accounts for only a fraction of the total consumption.
That, and a culture which celebrates addiction and compulsive and erratic behaviors in celebrities who are also those most likely to die accidentally while living a lifestyle we find fascinating.
The prescription drug market is just too big and too seller-driven for public safety. The pharma companies push their wares on doctors and hospitals, who get bonuses and other incentives for prescribing the damned things, and by routinely prescribing more than is needed. I don't know how many times I've been given twice the number of painkillers as was necessary for some injury or an ear infection or surgery. Everybody has vicodin and percs and muscle-relaxers laying around in their cabinets. I'm not an addict- but I can only imagine how easy it would be to get them- there are people who doctor shop for 40, 50, even 100 pills a day.
If we were just to commit medical records to a national database, with prescription information included and each health care patient issued a number and ID for that system, we could eliminate hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud in the prescription market alone, and stop the sale of billions of pills to young people and addicts who die every day using them. It's horrifying that our health care "system" has come to this kind of destructive greed.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
Let's face it: comedians, as a group, are not happy people. I liked Giraldo and it really sucks that he died.
On the other hand, it's not that surprising to me.
Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :