Mother Seeks Justice In Changing Law

Admin Number of posts : 95 Registration date : 2008-11-06

Updated: Friday, 24 Apr 2009, 7:50 PM CDT
Published : Friday, 24 Apr 2009, 3:53 PM CDT

Evan Perrault

OSHKOSH - It was a tempered celebration of sorts for Debra Hensch and her family.
"You got the justice, not what we wanted, but you got justice and it was served today in the courthouse," Hensch said as she toasted a picture of her son.
Hensch's son Brian died about two years ago from taking the prescription drug Suboxone, after obtaining it from Patrick McCarthy. A law called the Len Bias law charges people with reckless homicide who give drugs to someone who dies after taking them. But the only drugs included in the law are ones like cocaine and heroin, legally known as schedule 1 and 2 drugs. Not included are schedule 3 drugs, like Suboxone. Because of that McCarthy was charged and convicted of a lesser felony, and Friday sentenced to two years in jail.

"The law needs to be changed. The Len Bias law has to be updated," said Hensch.
She started a petition, and reached out to state representative Gordon Hintz to get the law changed to include drugs like Suboxone. Hintz says a bill has now been drafted and is ready to be introduced.

"You're really seeing a big increase of the abuse and distribution of prescription drugs out there and I think we need to send a message this won't be accepted in our community," said Rep. Hintz.
But he says the bill isn't a slam dunk.
"There are some people who are concerned about lumping drugs with a legitimate medical use in with drugs where there is no medical use," said Hintz.

Hintz says the bill is being vetted for possible concerns. Hensch says if the bill becomes law, her family will have even a larger celebration than the one today. And even though a change won't bring her son back, she wants to make sure future families don't have to go through the fight for justice she had to.

Mother Seeks Justice In Changing Law Commen10

How do you feel about the article? Do you feel like the person who gave her son the Suboxone should spend his life in prison? Suboxone is a Schedule III Controlled Substance where Methadone is a Schedule II. I really don't see where it should make any difference in the medication. If you ask your friend to give you the Suboxone and He gives it to you, I believe both parties are just as guilty as the other.

I understand if you leave your medication out where children have access to it and they accidentally take it and die then I believe the parents or whomever was watching the child is responsible and should serve time in prison. Do you believe it is totally wrong if one of you give me one of your Suboxone 8 mg tablets because I am in withdrawal and I personally ask you for it. If I should happen to die from the ingestion of it, do you feel you should be held responsible for my death?

I believe all of this is really getting out of hand. We all know friends share with their friends but no one is making anyone take the medication. It would be totally different if someone is standing there with a gun commanding you to take the medication or He is going to kill you...then of course He should go to prison. If you are out together with your friends one night and you have some Suboxone and maybe some of the group hasn't tried it and they ask you for one. It is very difficult for me to understand how anyone could overdose on Suboxone alone but then they didn't really say by what method the Suboxone was ingested.

I may be totally wrong and I would appreciate your feedback on the issue but if the person is sixteen years or older then He is certainly mature enough to know how to say, "No!" if He /She is offered any kind of drug. If they ask you for the drug and you give it to them, they had a choice...they didn't have to take the medication but they chose to and I am sure most of them are educated enough to know what the drug is going to do. I believe parents aren't wanting to accept the fact their child was actually using drugs and they want to blame the person who gave them the drug because they lost their son or daughter.

I can tell you this much even if the friend had said,"No," your son or daughter would still have acquired the medication if they really wanted it. They would have asked another person until they found a supplier. It is time parents wise up and quit blaming everyone else because your child asked for the drug and took it. Can you not see your child shared the blame? What is it with parents? Can they not accept the fact that just maybe their child is partially to blame? They either want to blame the medication and have it banned or they want to blame the person who gave it to their child and have them put behind bars for the remainder of their life.

Do they actually believe this is going to stop what is happening? Prohibition didn't work with alcohol. Prison sentences haven't stopped people from using drugs and it has been proven. Why do we continue to keep beating our heads up against the same door knowing it will not solve the problem...where there is demand, there will be a supply.

I've shared what I believe and would like to hear from all of you. How about some feedback?

Subject: Re: Mother Seeks Justice In Changing Law Fri 08 May 2009, 9:45 pm

Good evening, Deborah,

There are several sides to this coin. If someone asks me for my medication, for my own responsibility I'll tell them no. If they want to go find it somewhere else after I have gave them a talk about the laws and chances they are taking, then it's off my head. No, I should not spend my life in prison if I did give them one of my pills. Then again, I should face some sort of recourse because I'm told under contract with my doctor not to share, sell or whatever with my medication. I feel so badly for people who cannot afford their medicine when it's the only way they can save themselves. What is the matter with our government? Polititions can fly around the country on our dime having the time of their lives and living it up while we are suffering to get to a doctor. All will pay in the long run and all the people who suffered will be repaid. This will probably be eons from now, but untill the laws and money is changed, we are going to do whatever we have to do to get what we need for our recovery. If not for my employer and union I'd be in the same spot a lot of us are in...out of luck and in the cold.

This is all I can think of at this moment. It sickens me to think of how things are. I'm in hopes things will change, but I don't think it will come true untill it effects the upper crust. They are the ones who should be charged with murder cause people are dying because they can't get treatment.

Yours in the struggle,
Barbara

Subject: Re: Mother Seeks Justice In Changing Law Fri 08 May 2009, 10:43 pm

If the coin was flipped and this woman's son was the person that gave the drug to someone and that person died, would she feel the same? Probably not.
She is a parent and a parents first instinct is going to be to protect their child.
As for me, I don't give away my medications. It is too much of a risk just to help someone that may be in withdrawal, or wants to get high. If I have a friend that is in withdrawal I will do what ever I can to help them find the resources they need to get help. But that does not include giving away my medication.

Yes, I think that if someone gives away a drug and the person that takes it dies, then the person that gave it to them should be punished. But I don't think that spending the rest of his life in prison is going to help the situation.
I've seen more hideous crimes committed and the person that commits the crime walk away with a slap on the wrist.
Where is the justice in that?
In the long run it is up to the parents to educate their children on the dangers of taking drugs. Step up to the plate, don't leave it up to the schools or media.
Yours,
Dee

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