West Point Cadets Overdose in Wilton Manors

[Becket]

I noticed the story last night.  In south Florida six or seven spring breakers all overdosed on Fentanyl laced coke. The police were dragging the students out onto the lawn of the rented vacation house and administering narcan.  Four students overdosed after taking the drug.  Two more overdosed after trying to revive their housemates via CPR. (Shows how dangerous is fentanyl.) Most if not all the students are still hospitalized, critically ill.

As it turned out, almost all of the students were Cadets from the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY.  And the vacation house was located in Wilton Manors, a neighborhood of Ft. Lauderdale which we all know is a gay and gay friendly community.  

The most important parts of the story are that some young people are critically ill.  I hope they all get well and recover.  And it seems kinda shallow of me to think about anything else.  But the gossipy gay in me can't help but be curious as to the fact that these were WEST POINT CADETS who were doing drugs in the gayest part of Ft. Lauderdale. Can't help but ask WHAT THE HELL? I want some more details. 

Edited March 13, 2022 by Becket
addition

[+ Lucky]

NY Post: "“Four cadets were taken to hospital. Of the six people involved, one person was not taken to hospital, and one was not a cadet. Five USMA cadets in total were involved. Two of the cadets remain hospitalized,” a West Point spokesman told The Post Saturday."

What does this say about our military today if the best ones rush to do drugs once on break? What does it say about the people running West Point? I hope that the cadets are expelled. The two still hospitalized are reportedly in critical condition, and I hope that they recover.

Not everyone who lives in Wilton Manors is gay! It appears that this house is an Airbnb rental.

[+ azdr0710]

I only got as far as "west" before google suggested "west point cadets overdose"!......

https://nypost.com/2022/03/12/alleged-florida-drug-dealer-jailed-after-west-point-cadets-od-on-spring-break/

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/12/1086286083/west-point-cadets-fentanyl-spring-break-overdose-florida

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/03/west-point-cadets-overdose-fentanyl-spring-break-florida.html

[+ Lucky]

I can see where an individual might have a drug problem, but a whole group of cadets do it together? That indicates a real problem at West Point. You wonder how many cadets are on drugs.

[Deadlift1]

I hope they recover.  And I hope they are not expelled.  Don't be a Karen.

[Luv2play]

I too thought about the gay angle when I read about this story the other day. It would be nice to think if they are gay, that that wouldn't be cause for dismissal from West Point. I don't know what their policy is about sexual orientation. 

Drug use, though, is another matter. I am old fashioned but think if they have a drug problem, that school is not right for them.

[mike carey]

2 minutes ago, Luv2play said:

I too thought about the gay angle when I read about this story the other day. It would be nice to think if they are gay, that that wouldn't be cause for dismissal from West Point. I don't know what their policy is about sexual orientation. 

Drug use, though, is another matter. I am old fashioned but think if they have a drug problem, that school is not right for them.

There should not be a policy at the Academy about sexual orientation. There would be one on drug use, it could be dismissal if a cadet has a drug problem or it could be one strike and you're gone. It sounds like 18yo experimentation that went wrong, but they would have known the rules.

[Guest]

West Point cadets are held to very high moral standards. I'd be surprised if the recovered cadets were allowed to remain enrolled. 

[MscleLovr]

I was startled to learn (from the longer article in NY Post that I read) that a tiny amount, just 2 milligrams, of fentanyl can prove fatal if inhaled or ingested. 

[+ nycman]

If you’re going to do drugs, always have naloxone (Narcan) around.
You need at least one Narcan rescue kit per person, preferably two. 
Even if you don’t think in a million years the drug you’re doing contains
opiates, there is about a 50:50 chance it does. At least in NY, the kits
are ridiculously easy to get, and they save lives.

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-topics/naloxone.page

Edited March 13, 2022 by nycman

[pubic_assistance]

13 hours ago, Lucky said:

I can see where an individual might have a drug problem, but a whole group of cadets do it together? That indicates a real problem at West Point. You wonder how many cadets are on drugs.

What makes you assume they all have a "drug problem" ?

They were cadets partying late and doing a little coke to keep the party going.

Everyone used to do that back in the 90s.

[+ nycman]

27 minutes ago, pubic_assistance said:

Everyone used to do that back in the 90s.

Not everyone, but I understand your point. 

[pubic_assistance]

Just now, nycman said:

Not everyone, but I understand your point. 

Clearly I don't actually mean Everyone.

I am exaggerating to make the point of how common is was to break out the coke after a long night of drinking, to keep the party going .

[+ WilliamM]

1 hour ago, pubic_assistance said:

What makes you assume they all have a "drug problem" ?

They were cadets partying late and doing a little coke to keep the party going.

Everyone used to do that back in the 90s.

Thanks.also in the 80s

[Rudynate]

14 hours ago, WilliamM said:

I was drafted and spent two years in the Army from 1967 to 1969. West Point cadets are college students.

Some Army officers are assholes. Period. Some are wonderful people.

Don't be too impressed by West Point.

General officers in command positions were almost always West Point graduates -  and they tended to be very impressive men.

[+ WilliamM]

31 minutes ago, Rudynate said:

General officers in command positions were almost always West Point graduates -  and they tended to be very impressive men.

In Vietnam?

[Rudynate]

I spent my entire enlistment in Europe.  But, at that time, any career soldier - officer or enlisted - had done at least one tour in VietNam. It wasn't unusual for someone to have done 2 or 3 tours.

[BSR]

Why do traffickers lace cocaine with fentanyl?  I'm guessing the effects of fentanyl allow traffickers to dilute the cocaine more, but not sure.

[+ Axiom2001]

18 hours ago, Deadlift1 said:

I hope they recover.  And I hope they are not expelled.  Don't be a Karen.

"I hope they recover" and face the consequences.  Why excuse the illicit drug use.

[John]

6 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

What makes you assume they all have a "drug problem" ?

They were cadets partying late and doing a little coke to keep the party going.

Everyone used to do that back in the 90s.

But now I have in my head the idea that "the greatest army the world has ever seen" is commanded by a of strung-out party boys and that the officers, to whom we turn not just for military knowledge but also for moral probity, are a bunch of rules-and-laws-be-damned party boys.

[+ robear]

I never was a drug person, way to cautious.  However, these young people thought they were doing coke on a vacation romp, something their parents and even grandparents may have done to "party" when they were young. That doesn't indicate any kind of drug dependency or "problem," it's kids being kids. The fentanyl is what they didn't know about, or count on. It's the state of affairs with "street drugs" in the US right now. I don't know the solution, but I don't think pathologizing  users that are casual at most is really useful.

 

[+ Lucky]

Just now, robear said:

I never was a drug person, way to cautious.  However, these young people thought they were doing coke on a vacation romp, something their parents and even grandparents may have done to "party" when they were young. That doesn't indicate any kind of drug dependency or "problem," it's kids being kids. The fentanyl is what they didn't know about, or count on. It's the state of affairs with "street drugs" in the US right now. I don't know the solution, but I don't think pathologizing  users that are casual at most is really useful.

 

I think West Point cadets are held to a higher standard.

[pubic_assistance]

28 minutes ago, Lucky said:

I think West Point cadets are held to a higher standard.

Probably true ...but we are talking about doing some Cocaine after a wild night of partying, not shooting up heroin in a subway tunnel.

[+ WilliamM]

20 hours ago, Lucky said:

NY Post: "“Four cadets were taken to hospital. Of the six people involved, one person was not taken to hospital, and one was not a cadet. Five USMA cadets in total were involved. Two of the cadets remain hospitalized,” a West Point spokesman told The Post Saturday."

What does this say about our military today if the best ones rush to do drugs once on break? What does it say about the people running West Point? I hope that the cadets are expelled. The two still hospitalized are reportedly in critical condition, and I hope that they recover.

Not everyone who lives in Wilton Manors is gay! It appears that this house is an Airbnb rental.

I hope they are not expelled. Why?

Many people try grass, acid (back in the day), hash. 

And I served in the Army

Edited March 13, 2022 by WilliamM

[Luv2play]

I don't think we can compare what happened in the 80s and 90s with today concerning the use of coke as a recreational drug. Back then I don't recall the practice of adding fentanyl to it, if it even existed. Today anyone who follows current news knows fentanyl is a scourge that kills thousands and not just drug addicts.

I personally witnessed the rise of cocaine use in the 70s and 80s and wouldn't deny having dabbled ever so slightly at least to the extent of trying it just to see what it was all about. It did nothing for me and that was that. 

Admittedly I was an adult at that time and not a kid, who I consider these cadets to be. So I lament their deaths and injuries from just being kids and exercising poor judgment. 

For the survivors, I'm not sure what should happen to them. I'll leave that up to their supervisors. If they get kicked out of West Point, they will perhaps find another path in life and benefit from their experience.