posted on December 27, 2000 09:58:02 AM new
Whats your thoughts on his situation? IMHO, he is no different than anyone else and should serve his time, celebrity or not.
posted on December 27, 2000 10:10:07 AM new
I agree with you, Maui. Wasn't he just released after serving a year-long sentence for failing court-ordered drug-tests, which were a parole condition?
posted on December 27, 2000 10:11:27 AM new
I don't think anyone should go to jail for simply using drugs. Selling would be a different matter, or endangering the public, but he was alone in his hotel room. I don't see the crime in that. (Yes, yes... I know it's illegal.)
posted on December 27, 2000 10:12:38 AM new
maui...I agree he should go through the punishment phase as would anyone else.
He is a very talented guy and like many artists, seems to have trouble controlling his demons. While not all that unusual to fall many times during recovery, it's a shame he does not use his resources to get himself completely out of the Hollywood loop so he can get well. It won't happen until HE is ready to have it happen though.
posted on December 27, 2000 10:13:24 AM new
I find him likable as an actor. Regarding his present situation, I feel both pity and contempt.
His major offense to society appears to be a dependency on drugs that he is either unwilling, or unable, to control. I don't think incarceration will solve his problem. It may only serve to make a bad situation worse.
OTOH, he knew the consequences and got caught. Too bad.
posted on December 27, 2000 10:19:29 AM new
I agree with you, too, Rainybear, but I think that's a separate issue.
As long as there is a penalty for possession, I think it should be applied evenly. As much as I like him as an actor and feel sorry for his situation, I am just as bothered by the fact that he might receive special treatment.
posted on December 27, 2000 10:25:35 AM new
There may be a penalty (in the judicial books) but very few people do 'hard time' these days for basic possession and personal use of drugs. The jails are too full and the cost is too great to incarcerate every law breaker.
Fines, community service and dependency programs are the norm.
posted on December 27, 2000 10:34:02 AM new
Personally, who is he? I have barely seen anything he is in so can't call him "talented". I know him more for his arrests.
He SHOULD serve his punishment just like any none-famous dude. However, what celebrity does? I thought Tommy Lee was supposed to keep away from alcohol yet they showed his "crib" on that music video-less MTV and he is showing off his bar and the beer tap.
posted on December 27, 2000 12:20:49 PM new
Sorry...got sidetracked gardening around the grounds
Julesy, yes he got busted again. Seems to be his MO now. Do the crime, do the time, in my book. I have pity for him too...as I would any addict. But that still does not make him above the law just because hes a celebrity. With the funds at his disposal, he could get help faster than a junkie living on the streets and stealing for his habit, ya know? Nobody can help him unless he chooses to help himself, and with judges and his "friends" going to bat for him all the time, hes getting the idea that no matter what he does, he will still have those people battling for him, and he not doing a dam thing to help himself. Poor thing. Movie star, wealthy, famous friends, a tv show. And addicted. His choice to keep doing it. Only his. Yes, I know its hard to NOT do it...just like its hard for all those other people in AA and NA and the ones who love them who go to ALANON. Still, my point is, he does it, gets let out, goes on to his tv show and gets BIG BUCKS for it, then gets busted AGAIN, only to continue on with the same routine...in, out, in, out, promises, breaking promises, in, out. Gimme a break. Let ALL the drug addicts out then. ALL OF THEM. They are no worse than he is. Just less well known.
posted on December 27, 2000 12:35:05 PM new
he was just nominated for a golden globe award for his role in ally mcbeal. a very talented person who has a drug habit,not unlike darryl strawberry etc. he should get no preferential treatment. there is some rumor about a setup in this case however.
posted on December 27, 2000 12:37:32 PM new
Maui...you know, I was sorta surprised that Fox Network wasn't keeping better tabs on him. He was being credited with bringing up the Ally McBeal ratings and you would think the network would help him stay out of trouble. But, as you mentioned, he has to be the one to call it quits.
posted on December 27, 2000 12:40:07 PM new
If he was an athlete, he'd just get fined (joke)-he is a public figure and if he gets off, that sets a poor example for the public. As long as it's illegal to use drugs, everyone should be punished accordingly, regardless of their occupation. JMHO!
posted on December 27, 2000 12:42:53 PM new
Unfortunately, I need to work on my compassion for addicts. Being Alanon myself, I have lived with and around people who are, and my patience is very thin with this situation. Its not a fun place to be...alanon, aa, or na. Downey may be talented, but he needs to #$*% or get off the pot, so to speak. I feel more for those who are addicted and work SO DAM HARD to stay sober and straight than I do for those who abuse it, get busted, get the red carpet rolled out for them and have "in" contacts to lighten their load and then continue to do what they did before and have all the benefits to HELP get off the crap.
posted on December 27, 2000 12:51:33 PM new
It was, from all appearances, set up by the person who sold him the drugs. The dealer saw a chance to cause some trouble (beyond what they were already doing by selling that crap) and took it.
He was not driving, he was not out carousing. He was sitting in a hotel room getting loaded.
Prison isn't gonna help him. That should be obvious by now - he just got out of prison. Lock him up, yes - but in a treatment center.
Saddest thing to me about this last arrest is that you see him, alone, or with his lawyer, in the various media pieces - but I've not ever seen a family member or a friend standing beside him. Maybe that's why he uses the drugs. He has all money can buy. He just doesn't seem to have what money can't buy him.
No, he shouldn't get special treatment. But America's "War on Drugs" has been handled in such a stupid way across the board IMO. Prison doesn't help first time possession offenders. It only teaches them more and better ways of committing the crimes. I expect that he will get sent up again, as an example.
I wish the government had half the concern they show for drug use for the drunk drivers who continue to drive inebriated while their licenses are revoked. Let's throw those idiots in jail too. Preferably before they get the chance to kill someone.
posted on December 27, 2000 12:53:43 PM newMaui - unless something new happened today, I don't think Downey has had the red carpet rolled out for him. He spent like a year in prison. With the other criminals. That ain't no red carpet!
posted on December 27, 2000 01:00:41 PM new
That year wasnt long enough, or made him re think his options. Prison wont help him. A drug rehab wont help him. He has to help himself, and obviously, he aint ready to do that yet. Why? Because he has the "ok" to continue, and still go back to his high life style, his movies, his shows, his money. Its a crock. I dont feel bad for him. Its a choice. He made it. Maybe it was a setup, but that dealer didnt break his arm to MAKE him buy it and USE it. Like I said, I have to work on my compassion about it. Right now, I have none.
posted on December 27, 2000 01:23:50 PM new
I hear ya, Maui. I feel that way about the folks who have been on welfare for two or more generations, and the drunk drivers - no compassion left for them at all. You are right, tho - he has to hit rock bottom and come back up on his own.
posted on December 27, 2000 01:34:26 PM new
I read a quote somewhere, of what Downey said to one of the judges he was before. This was how he characterized his addiction:
(paraphrasing} "It's like having a loaded shotgun in my mouth, with my finger on the trigger, and I like the taste of the metal"
That's pretty hopeless. I don't think even forced treatment will help him.
posted on December 27, 2000 01:36:27 PM new
I saw that same quote, Julesy. From what my brother tells me about his own dark days, it sums it up quite well. But he managed to crawl out. It took him a long, long time, but he did it. And yes, he still wants the drugs. But he doesn't go get them anymore.
posted on December 27, 2000 01:36:41 PM new
Oh my..thats a whole new rant, Kris, about welfare. I dont think Im up to that, lol. Sales are ending right now...so Im hoping back and forth while I wait for them to end. Drunk drivers...yeah, another one. TWO rants I could really sink my teeth into...but not right now. Only one rant thread at a time for me
posted on December 27, 2000 01:39:47 PM new
He hasnt hit his bottom yet, Julesy. And he wont, until he loses everything. His shows, his friends, his home, his money. Long as he has people to fight his battles for him and he can continue to have his cake and eat it too, he will never hit bottom. Then, he will either do what thousands of others have done and are still fighting, or he will eat more metal and end it all.
posted on December 27, 2000 01:50:56 PM new
I am a big fan of Stone Temple Pilots and I remember when Scott Weilland was on the same downward spiral. His marriage broke up, his band replaced him, he was in and out of jail and treatment facilities. I was sure he would be dead within 6 months, but lo' and behold, he pulled it together, and seems to be better than ever.
posted on December 27, 2000 05:38:20 PM newIt was, from all appearances, set up by the person who sold him the drugs. The dealer saw a chance to cause some trouble (beyond what they were already doing by selling that crap) and took it
Pretty stupid dealer, then. Who would cut off business with a well-heeled client?
Last report I heard was that some of the hotel staff found him with drugs and a gun. It might just have easily been a friend who finally "got" that pleading the judge for lenience isn't going to help this guy, and that the only way to keep Downey alive until the day HE decides to turn it around is to get him behind bars. If he were my friend I'd do it in a heartbeat.
Bizarre how Downey seems to be living "Less the Zero" - one of his first movies, if I recall.
The truly nauseating part is that some Hollywood types are wringing their hands that Downey now won't be able to attend the Golden Globe awards. Yeah, that's really high on the priority list right now.
posted on December 27, 2000 07:34:59 PM new
Hey! When I was 19 I was an extra in the movie "Less Than Zero". You can see me (just barely!) in background during one of the scenes where they are ice skating. That was fun! I got the job from a friend who was a production person on the film. I remember "issues" involving drugs and Robert Downey being mentioned by her as happening while the movie was shooting, so it's clear that he has been an addict a long, long, looooong time.
I don't think he wants to quit. He probably wants all the problems to go away and for people to leave him alone....but that's not the same thing as quitting. When he wants to quit he obviously knows where to get help by this stage in the game. Can you say AA, NA, or RR? Pick one and make it work, basically.....
posted on December 28, 2000 04:49:28 AM new
I don't think the issue is "wanting" to quit, so much as thinking - or maintaining within one's own mind the fiction - that one Is In Control of the problem, that it's not THAT bad, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
My dad was on a drug rampage for years, which didn't stop until he was convicted of embezzlement, which somehow pushed the "reality" button (with somebody else, it could just as easily not have). Part of his sentence was to undergo drug/psych treatment. (And this was in '64!)
posted on December 28, 2000 08:01:04 AM newThis help should be available to everyone but unfortunately, it is not.
Unlike some of his fellow addicts, Mr. Downey has the money to get him a slot in any detox center he chooses.
In his case, it's debatable whether he would still be alive at this point had he not been jailed, since at least it's harder to get the stuff in prison. I'm not saying this is a solution, but jail may have bought him some time. One can only hope he'll get with the program - frankly, I wouldn't bet on it.
posted on December 28, 2000 10:07:31 AM new
Punishment for addictive behavior when the person is not stealing or driving under the influence or otherwise risking or harming others does two things.
1. Erodes respect for the law by intruding into private behavior.
2. Wastes resources that could be diverted to people who WANT help.
