Come on over, we'll get high as a blimp. I have enough dextromethorphan to give all of us out-of-body experiences. I tried to buy a large enough supply of a cold remedy with DXM recently to treat sniffles, but I hit a roadblock at a drugstore. I was stymied at the cash register, while out in the car, my very sick granddaughter had a fever and her Grampie waited for headache relief. Loaded with over-the-counter potential cures, I was caught like a crook. [continues 587 words]
This was like interviewing a candidate for a Miss Teen USA competition. Mindi Nuner, 17, spoke of maturity, inner beauty, intelligence and success. Talk about the emergence of a swan. Hardly a model teen, when Mindi ran away from home at age 14 to live at a downtown Everett drug house, her parents were terrified of getting a call from the police, or the coroner. Mindi began smoking marijuana in the fifth grade. Three years ago, Mindi did every kind of drug except acid and heroin, she said. She was expelled from her Snohomish school for fighting and ran away to live with an older boyfriend. [continues 688 words]
Tucking a car into the garage, turning on the ignition and sucking deep breaths until carbon monoxide sapped life from her lungs sounded good to Jerri Christopherson. Ah, the sweet release of the grave. I couldn't fault her emotions. The Camano Island woman has suffered indescribable pain for more than 40 years. At some point, it's a no-brainer that she would believe only death could end stabbing headaches that make her curl on the ground and scream. She's been tossed from doctor to doctor like a dinghy in a hurricane with no consensus formed about what causes her disabilities. They've mentioned a cornucopia of ailments including chronic fatigue syndrome, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, immunodeficiency diseases, cerebral meningitis, multiple sclerosis and chemical sensitivity. [continues 722 words]
