Whenever a beloved individual dies of a drug overdose in our society the offending drug, and the drug dealers, are immediately demonized. Those who were alive when University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias died of a crack cocaine overdose in 1986 remember seeing everyone from President George H.W. Bush to Rev. Al Sharpton on television speaking against the evils of the drugs. Dealers were vilified as the worst scum on earth. As they should be.
Well, the cycle has begun anew with the untimely death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman earlier this week. Yesterday, CNN correspondent Ashleigh Banfield said whoever sold drugs to Hoffman should, “Be thrown in jail for the rest of their lives." It appears the New York Police Department is hot on the heels of making sure at least part of that scenario occurs. CNN reports that a house on Mott Street in Manhattan was raided based upon tips from a source that said he witnessed Hoffman purchase drugs from the location last week. The raid took place at around 7:30pm Tuesday according to law enforcement officials. Police arrested Robert Vineberg and Thomas Kushman, and charged them with felony drug possession. Two other individuals were arrest and charged with misdemeanor drug possession. None of the drugs found at the scene were stamped with the Ace of Spades label that was found on drug bags in the apartment where Philip Seymour Hoffman’s body was found.
