Catoosa County, GA - This poor kid. And by poor kid, I mean poor stupid drug-addled dead’n'gone kid. Timothy Smith, 16, is dead and a 15-year-old friend has been arrested for supplying the 80mg Oxycodone tablets that killed Tim and sickened three other teenagers on Saturday. The 15-year-old suspect stole the time-release opiates from his grandfather, a cancer patient, who kept the drugs in a locked medicine box. Smith and his juvenile drug supplier buddy attended Ringgold High School in Ringgold, Georgia.
Timothy Smith took a whopping 320 milligrams of Oxy, and may have crushed them for immediate effect rather than swallowing the pills whole. His Myspace shows a sweet looking, handsome redhead with a fun streak, but it’s clear he’s under the influence in a number of his pics. Tim’s mother is updating his blogs with funeral information and Tim’s friends are mourning and grieving and doing all the things hurting, sad teenagers are doing, but nobody seems to be talking about why Tim is dead.
He’s dead because he and his friends thought it would be fun to get high off Grandpa’s cancer meds. Did it occur to Tim’s friend that Grandpa can’t just run out and get more oxy, or did he not care? Did it occur to Tim to ask where the drugs came from before ingesting them like candy?
You know we’re gonna get the hate mail on this, and that’s fine. I’m sick and tired of kids thinking it’s okay to put things in their bodies that will kill them. Oxycodone kills by slowing down breathing and depressing respiratory effort. It was probably a relatively painless death, but so useless. So ridiculous, to die for a short high followed by a long nap. So stupid to ruin lives forever over painkillers to ease pain nobody was even feeling.
Smith took four 80-milligram pills. Another kid took three and had to be rescusitated by paramedics. The two other moron children, including the boy who was arrested, each took two pills but were not taken to a hospital. And yet another Ringgold High School student died February 13 under oddly similar circumstances, although authorities say they won’t know for sure if that death was an OD until toxicology is complete.
Now Timothy Smith is dead, other kids are sick, and the 15-year-old who stole the pills from his grandfather faces voluntary manslaughter and drug charges. Way to go, guys.
41 responses so far ↓
1
mm_classy
Mar 6, 2008 at 12:19 pm -Oh my god this is so sad. I dont get it why kids are so stupid. And Imp, you are so right on target about the grandpa. My mom was on morphine for medical reasons and had a bunch stollen from her… enough that if she hadn’t discovered it soon enough to be able to cut back a few doses each day to make them spread out and last, the withdrawls would have killed her. That poor grandpa. I just dont know why kids dont think about anyone, besides themselves and getting high. What a waste!
2
thepooh5
Mar 6, 2008 at 12:22 pm -How sad. I can never understand how anyone steals their relatives cancer meds. I have heard of it many, many times. Talk about a heartless, cruel individual. Someone is already dying a slow, painful death and someone who just wants to get high “needs” their medicine more than they do - what asshats.
Poor old man, dying of cancer and his grandchild off to the pokey - don’t you know he’s feeling just swell today.
3
rollyo
Mar 6, 2008 at 12:24 pm -one of the sad things is that by looking on his myspace i believe that he was going to be a father.
4
rollyo
Mar 6, 2008 at 12:33 pm -also It seems that drugs played a large part of his life. I am a little surprised that his mother can get on his myspace and not see or question all the drug talk between him and all his friends, It is plain to see. Maybe If she had opened her eyes and done something this could have been prevented.
Ok bash me for saying that but i mean he is a young kid his parents, you think could have done something.
5
thepooh5
Mar 6, 2008 at 12:36 pm -Yes, like monitor his on-line activities and conversations. Like notice their kid was high - since it seems to be a “large part of his life”.
I agree with you - now they can bash us both……
6
rollyo
Mar 6, 2008 at 12:37 pm -this was a post on one of his friends page:
http://profile.myspace.com/ind.....=132556067
Mar 2 2008 10:07 PM
i just thought of something
our first 4:20
is coming up
and
…tim won’t be there
to share it with us
7
catlady
Mar 6, 2008 at 12:40 pm -You know, I am going to sound like a cold-hearted bitch, but there is a part of me that’s thinking that yeah, let’s get these sorts of idiots out of the gene pool now- *before* they breed. Hate me if you must.
8
thepooh5
Mar 6, 2008 at 12:58 pm -Its hard to feel that way about kids, but I can’t really disagree - especially to the part of before the breed. If they’re the types to steal pain meds from a dying man - well, they probably won’t be worth a damn as a parent either.
I don’t hate you - I think that all of this senseless shit has perhaps, jaded us - perhaps.
9
rollyo
Mar 6, 2008 at 1:04 pm -i mean look at his friends pages. here you are your good friend just dies from a drug overdoes and all they can think about is getting high again.
I totally agree with Catlady
10
What Would Satan Do
Mar 6, 2008 at 1:40 pm -Between the drug talk online and the fact that Grandpa thought it was necessary to Lock Up his medication…somebody in GA had to have had a clue.
11
solange822001
Mar 6, 2008 at 2:24 pm -No bashing here. I agree. Where are most of these mothers, whose kids end up on here, I ask?
12
shadow_dreamz
Mar 6, 2008 at 2:28 pm -My boyfriend says the same things. Or in his words, keep in mind he is from Texas. “Thin out the herd.”
13
Angel
Mar 6, 2008 at 5:02 pm -Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing my job of parenting well enough. Especially when a friend, relative, acquaintance, or even a few times, a complete stranger makes a remark about me picking up my 14-year-old’s purse or bookbag, and dumping it out, to sift through the contents. I have wondered at those times if I WAS being a nosy, intrusive, overbearing mother. Stories like these serve to remind me that that is not the case at all.
All of my children know that if I want to go through anything of theirs, at any time - I WILL. They do not have the right to object. Anything they have that they might think they need to hide from me, as far as I’m concerned, they probably shouldn’t have anyway. Privacy, you say? Personal space? Not in my house! I am not an evil, hateful parent who refuses to let my child have any fun. Nor am I a stick in the mud parent who is caught in a time warp from the 1950’s.
I have told my girls that certain things are acceptable, and others are not. I have no illusions that all five of my girls will still be virgins when they marry. I don’t know if any of them will be - I can only teach them respect for themselves, and pray that it sinks in. I have told them that if they feel they must engage in sexual activity, then they need to come to me first, so I can get them some form of birth control, and make sure they really do understand the concept of safe sex. Having sex at all, no matter what precautions you take these days, is a gamble at best. But there are ways to reduce the chances of contracting a disease that will stay with you forever, or possibly kill you. With my girls, I hope for abstinence, but prepare for experimentation.
The same goes for drugs and alcohol. Certain things I will be more able to tolerate than others. I drank before I was of legal age. But I was smart about it. I never drove drunk, or rode with anyone who was drunk (or high). I tried pot a few times between the ages of 17 and 20. I didn’t like it, and the only reason I tried it more than once, is because people kept saying “You just didn’t get the good stuff”. After my third failed experiment, I decided that it wasn’t going to do whatever it was that it did for others, and I gave it up. I have no illusions that it will happen this way with my children. I have told them that if they must try drugs, while I won’t approve, neither will I condemn them for a little pot. The addictive drugs are another topic all together. I will not tolerate the use of any drug that might kill them. I think all of us here at DD understand the difference between marijuana, and other drugs, such as cocaine, or oxy. I personally don’t believe pot is any worse than alcohol. I think it should have the same legal status as alcohol. I think it is safer than alcohol, actually. How many times have you heard of someone smokin’ a fat one, and beating hell out of wife or child? Alcohol brings out violent tendencies in some people, while pot just makes you silly, hungry, and sleepy - in that order - from all I have observed. If my kids want to drink, they can do that at home. Under my supervision. And no, I will not provide any alcohol for any of their friends - ever - so they need not even ask.
There are several things I will do for them and their friends, though. I will pick them up at any time, from any place if they are impaired, or they are with someone who is. And I will bring them and their friends back to my house to sleep it off, before any lectures begin. Because I want them to be sober when I lecture them. Hungover would be better (because then in addition to being able to remember the lecture, they will also be having that ’sick’ feeling that might discourage such activity in the future). And they need to be able to remember the lecture. Otherwise it does no good.
I will understand my teen wanting to experiment with alcohol or maryjane, I will not understand if they drive impaired or ride with someone who is. I will have no tolerance for the endangering of others’ lives.
So I have decided (especially after reading this story) that my habit of trolling through my kids’ things will continue. It is a good thing in my opinion. If more parents did it, there would be less stories like this to read. Fewer broken parents burying their broken children. Fewer broken bodies on the sides of roads, due to DUI. Fewer dead bodies in bedrooms which are still decorated with Teen Magazine’s boy of the year, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Nascar posters. Fewer children in a vegetative state, or permanently mentally impaired due to a near-lethal overdose of whatever drug is easiest to obtain on any given day.
If this boy’s mother had bothered to be nosy, gave a damn enough to care more about what he needed (supervision) instead of just what he wanted (freedom), he would probably still be alive.
I fully expect to be bombarded with comments about what a horrible bitch I am, what an untrusting, nosy parent I am, and how my children are going to rebel, and wind up in the gutter somewhere, because they ran away to get some freedom. I’ve heard it all before. From relatives, even, because addictive personality disorder runs in families, and my extended family has several alcoholics/drug addicts on both sides.
I will tell you how my experiment has worked out for me thus far though. My oldest daughter is in college, was a virgin until halfway through her freshman year (of college, not high school!), and is with the same guy, still. And she called me to ask for my advice on birth control methods, and started taking them, before she had sex. She has been drunk before, I know for a fact, because she called me to talk (giggle) when she was. She has called me more than once, even, and that is OK too. She has told me that she never got drunk before her high school graduation party, and I have no reason to doubt her. And she has never driven drunk, or ridden with anyone who was. She has called me for a ride before, and asked me to help out a friend by keeping them from driving drunk. She has tried pot, and one other drug that she has told me about, and says she doesn’t care to do either again. And my fourteen year old asks me for answers when she has questions about sex or drugs/alcohol. She doesn’t go to her friends. I’m sure she also talks to her older sister. But, she doesn’t go to her friends for advice on subjects that she has reason to believe they have less practical knowledge about than I have.
So I would say that my experiment has worked out pretty well, so far. Only time will tell if the others will follow suit - and I have every reason to believe they will.
Having said all of that, I will say again that I think the death of this kid could have been prevented, as can many hundreds of other teen deaths. The parents just have to care more about parenting, than popularity. The day one of my kids refuses me access to any part of their lives (as long as they live under my roof, anyway), is the day that they will find them selves grounded from EVERYTHING until they adjust either their attitude, or their residence. I don’t care if they are two or twenty-five. I still look through my oldest daughter’s things when she is home from college, and she still doesn’t care.
Good God, people! Learn to raise your kids, not just observe them. Be a f***ing parent! That’s your JOB!!!!!!!
I would also like to say that I am very sorry for this parent’s loss, and I cannot even begin to imagine how devastated she must be. I hope she is able to overcome this tragedy (and learn from it, if she has any other children).
I will now sit back, and wait to be cursed at and called a bitch. Much love to all…..
14
thepooh5
Mar 6, 2008 at 5:20 pm -Angel
I don’t really search my son’s belongings. But I am very nosy and ask many questions. I stay involved with every bitty bit of his business. And I must say, I do go in his room and look at or open anything he has, if I decide to. He doesn’t appreciate that, either. But, I don’t do it very often and like you - he is in my home - so my rules.
He gets frustrated and asks “Mom, have I ever done anything wrong (he means serious stuff - not little discipline issues) and have I ever shamed you?” My answer has always been NO. Then he asks “why do you not trust me”? I tell him I do, I just must keep an eye out in case he decides to do a sudden 180.
After reading what you wrote. I find that you are a loving parent and do what is necessary to keep your kids safe and out of trouble. Since I don’t go as far as you, am I lacking or just lucky? Your comments make me wonder should I do more?
At this point, I don’t think I will, mainly because of my son’s social life and his interests - not the normal teen. So far he has been a good kid and teen. In fact, if I’m not bragging about what a lucky teen parent I am, someone else is usually commenting on how easy I have it. Maybe, I just got extra lucky and really do have a good kid and it is not my guidance that has made him what he is. Perhaps its both. I don’t know. But I have you comments in my head and will mull over them further, just in case I need to be more nosy.
15
thepooh5
Mar 6, 2008 at 5:22 pm -Should have been “have your comments in my head” not you comments.
16
Angel
Mar 6, 2008 at 7:53 pm -No, you are not lacking in any way, in my opinion. If you know what is going on in your child’s life - enough to make sure he’s safe - then you are doing your job. Maybe I should have been more precise in my wording.
I don’t go through my kids’ things on a daily or even weekly basis. I do it whenever I feel the need. I rarely ever felt the need with my oldest - once every month or so, just to let her know I still could if I wanted to. But she was, and is, an exceptionally honest and responsible child. I haven’t caught her in a lie since she was eight years old. And by “going through her stuff when she is home from college”, I mean that more often than not, she will want something from one of her bags, and be too ‘comfortable’ where she is to want to get up and get it herself, so she will wait until I am near her bag, and ask me to bring it to her. LOL. When I get things she asks for, I usually glance at most everything in there while I’m at it. I think she knows this, and sometimes even asks me to get things for her so I can satisfy my curiosity without having to appear nosy. She is such a good child. I figure if she wanted to hide stuff from me, she wouldn’t be asking me to get her stuff in the first place. And if she really wanted to hide something from me, she would simply leave it at her dorm when she came for a visit, anyway.
My fourteen year old is not quite as mature and tends to display more of the ‘herding instinct’ than I think is appropriate. I go through her things whenever I feel it is warranted. Sometimes several times a week, sometimes not for a month or more - it just depends. And I never do it hatefully or in secret. I will pick up her purse/bag when she puts it down, and ask her if she would like to watch while I look, or not. Most of the time she doesn’t even bother. But when she does hover, I know I am going to find something in there she doesn’t want me to know about. Usually it is makeup (she’s not allowed to wear it yet), or money she has borrowed from a friend or relative, that she doesn’t want me to know about. I have never found anything really horrible. But I want her to know that I have not let my guard down, so she will not think she can pull one over on me. I don’t know how often I will need to do this with the younger ones, as they are not old enough yet to really try to be sneaky, or hide things. It’s still all they can do most of the time to keep my birthday present a secret from me until they give it to me. LOL.
Each child is different, and you as a parent know what level of vigilance is necessary for yours. I am sure you are doing a wonderful job, and your son is lucky to have you for a mom. Just the fact that you would even ask that question of yourself (Am I really doing enough?), tells me that you probably are. Good Mommy! Good Mommy!
17
WryBread
Mar 6, 2008 at 8:24 pm -Look at this post from a friend on his myspace page. I took the young lady’s name off of it.
TIM, i miss you more than words can say, ilove you sooo much! it breaks my heart that this hapened to YOU! why you!. you didnt deserve to die, i mean no one does but YOU! No! I love you! i miss you thats i can can thank of to say. I love you i miss you i love you imiss u!!! well tim im gooing to go! i will try to write you everyday! and let you know EVERYYTHANG…ilove you! R.I.P!
What the hell does she mean, “why you!..you didn’t deserve to die, i mean no one does but YOU!” Hey, girl. He died because he stuffed pain medication stolen from a dying cancer patient into his mouth and made a big swallow. Yes, he did deserve to die. He played with death and lost. That’s the payment for being a fool. And there’s nothing special about it — he’s just another selfish, stupid ass.
18
pinkiez
Mar 6, 2008 at 10:46 pm -Wow, this is pretty intense, I tell ya. Not too sure what to say. Maybe kids should be watched closely. Example, no night out goings, limited curfew, parents watching the friends, and stuff like that.
19
Angel
Mar 6, 2008 at 11:08 pm -Of course kids should be watched closely! Parents who don’t take an intense interest in their kids’ lives wind up with dead kids. Or kids who kill others. Or kids who fall between the cracks. Or kids who are permanently strung out. Or any other of a thousand bad life outcomes. If you don’t want to have to keep up with a kid, don’t have one!!!!!
20
V
Mar 6, 2008 at 11:59 pm -These kids remind me of this guy Tom who went to my high school. Tom was the guy who was constantly looking to get high and would take any drug that was given to him. One night he approached me at a party, looking to see if I had any good shit to give him. Boy, did I ever have some good shit on me and well, I was taught to share, so I gave him 10 pills of the BEST SHIT I had. Within .. oh … 10 minutes .. everyone else was privy to the BEST SHIT that Tom ever had.
Yes, that’s right folks, right there in front of everyone … right in his pants.
Needless to say, Tom quit popping pills and focused on becoming a pothead and never got high on laxatives ever again ….. and he lived happily paranoid ever after.
21
Old Man Metal
Mar 6, 2008 at 11:59 pm -Good god in the mornin’! *That’ll* knock your dick in your watch-pocket.
22
curiouswoman
Mar 7, 2008 at 1:44 am -Who the Hell was watching the key to the safe that the medicine was in? Not a good keeper I see!
23
curiouswoman
Mar 7, 2008 at 1:48 am -I agree with one of the posts these children should not breed! And also another comment I saw about forgetting how he died that is so true bring awareness not sympathy for those who harm their own bodies. OKAY I GUESS IAM BEING A TOTAL BITCH oops
24
Angel
Mar 7, 2008 at 2:07 am -CuriousWoman, if you’re being a total bitch, then what does that make me? I must be a friggin monster! LOL. You’re fine, honey. Glad to have a new voice.
25
Angel
Mar 7, 2008 at 2:09 am -That’s one I’ve never heard before….still chokin’ on my coffee! (Hrrck, hrrck!) ROFLMAO!
26
Angel
Mar 7, 2008 at 2:10 am -Damn, V, remind me never to irritate you! Now, that’s some SHIT! LMAO!
27
Kdogg
Mar 7, 2008 at 2:56 am -When my sons try that line with me ( I’m a single dad) I simply tell them that I do trust them but that nobody is perfect and that peer pressure is one of the strongest forces known to mankind. I always tell them that they can come talk to me about anything anytime, anywhere and that I will always pick them up from a party. I give my kids enough leeway so they can do anything but not enough so they can do everything
28
V
Mar 7, 2008 at 8:48 am -That poor old grandpa is more than likely in the late stages of his cancer and knocking on deaths door if he is getting an 80mg dose of Oxy. A good friend of mine was suffering from a rare form of bone cancer. When he became aware of his condition the cancer had eaten away several of his vertebrae and he was in excrutiating pain. He was operated on in Denver, stabalized, and when he was well enough, he flew to Mayo Clinic to continue treatment. For his flight to Mayo, his doctor gave him a 10mg dose of OxyCodone. 10mg …. and he was comfortable enough for flight.
Elast! Can you imagine what 80mg does!?
29
thepooh5
Mar 7, 2008 at 9:25 am -Thanks, Angel. I feel your children are lucky, as well, to have a mom like you. I guess a tragedy like this one, just makes me stand back and make sure I AM doing not just enough, but all that I can. Like we all know, once something terrible happens, it is too late to go back and say what could I have done different?
I just want to make sure, if there is anything “different” I should be doing - I want it to be in preventive mode instead of after the fact, when it will not do anyone any good.
30
WryBread
Mar 7, 2008 at 10:10 am -V, I hope that people who are having their meds stolen by “shit-ass” kids read this and go and do likewise. Can you imagine how differently this might have turned out if all these kids shat their pants together?
31
WryBread
Mar 7, 2008 at 10:16 am -I think you’re right, but I would extend it to constant chaperonage by parents. Remember the days when a parent drove the “date couple” to the dance and picked them up? When teens weren’t free to drive around with other teens in their own car? When couples might have a half-hour alone in, but the door stayed open? When teens went shopping with their parents and perhaps a friend came along? When a date was a family meal and evening in the rec room? When teens rolled up the rug and danced instead of going to bars? In other words, when teen social life was embedded in the public arena of the family? Of course you don’t — I don’t either. But I’m afraid those days need to return.
32
Angel
Mar 7, 2008 at 10:32 am -Me, too, Wry, me too.
33
WryBread
Mar 7, 2008 at 10:44 am -I hope they bury him in this chair, these clothes, and this position. What a fitting way for him to spend eternity. Looking as stupid as he was.
34
rollyo
Mar 7, 2008 at 11:12 am -to funny V, LMAO
35
MizL
Mar 7, 2008 at 12:08 pm -This really is very sad. It’s terrible that this young kid died, but I sure hope it opens other kids eyes. Getting high on Oxy is very common where I live… and it’s a gate-way drug to heroin. I’ve seen alot of people who were once close friends of mine go from Oxy to heroin, including my sister in-law. Oxy and H have destroyed her life. She recently had her kids removed from her due to it. Sadly, she’s so messed up on the drugs that she hardly seems to even care, while it’s tearing the rest of this family apart… Ugh. long, sad, angering story, I’ll stop now.
Anyway - People need to wake up and realize what this shit is doing to people before it’s too late. The parents of this young mans friends need to step up NOW. It’s not like doing Oxy is comparable to smoking a little weed. They need to get involved and get help for these kids, before they end up dead or strung out on heroin. The death of a young kid is a very high price to pay for parents not being aware and involved. If there is anything positive to come out of this death, I hope it’s the wake up call needed to save other kids lives. Let’s just hope that the parents hear this wake up call and don’t just lay back down, hitting the snooze button.
36
bornagainpagan
Mar 8, 2008 at 12:00 am -Ah, the alienation of modern youth, trying to fill the ‘what’s it all about hole’ with chemical distraction. It’s not even spiritual exploration - just amplification or intoxication. The generations will never listen (mine didn’t, and most survived), so let the Fates do the culling.
But here goes anyway. Drugs are bad, see, because, well they’re drugs, and that’s bad, so drugs are bad (draws on the chemical cocktail in a legal cigarette and swills some alchoholic fermenting yeast), so don’t take em, especially from your sick grandpa, Doofy!
37
Angel
Mar 8, 2008 at 12:18 am -I can’t decide whether you sounded more like my four-year-old, with that statement, or more like my older sister after she’s smoked a kilo of maryjane…..LOL
Oh, wait a minute, it must be the four-year-old, because my sis wouldn’t be saying drugs were bad!
38
destinydavenport92
Jul 23, 2008 at 8:35 pm -HEY! This is Destiny Davenport myspace account:gabbygirl92 screen name:d3s+iny and i will start off by saying that if you have a problem with Timmy Smith then you can tell me i dont care but please dont be telling some fake ass stranger who didnt know shit about the real Tim Smith. I had recently became his friend before he died and i use to think people overdosing was a stupid way to die until i met people that did drugs and i found out that everybody has a reason for doing what they do and that not everybody is perfect like the person who started this dumb website i mean what kind of person wants to sit around and talk bad about a sixteen year old who died? a very sorry person, and by sorry i mean useless worthy person. And the comment on “just look at his friends” well what do you have to say about me?, please send me a message on myspace cause i dont drink or do drugs but yet i was still close to him. and hey wrybread, you just talked about two af my friends and ya might want to get to know a little about someone who is dead before you start saying they deserved to die im not ussually the type to say this but if anybody deserves to die it might as well be you!
39
impqueen
Jul 23, 2008 at 8:39 pm -Destiny, hon, you’re more than four months late to this little party. Just sayin’. But now that you’ve brought your friend back to our attention, I’m sure someone will have something to say - it’s just not me, because I’m sorta over it now. Sorry.
40
destinydavenport92
Jul 23, 2008 at 8:44 pm -Thank you for dropping it, it just makes me mad that someone can say this about someone they know nothing about…(i just now found this website.)
41
Lizard
Jul 23, 2008 at 9:08 pm -Tim Smith took 320 milligrams of Oxycodone, which was really stupid. Stolen Oxycodone, which was double stupid. And he paid for his stupidity with his life. Anything else we need to know?
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