Same can be said for *any* substance. It's possible to "overdose" on water and die from it. Yet it's an essential component for life and living. If someone wants to get high that's no skin off my ass. Let them go crazy so long as they're only hurting themselves.
"Overdose" does not imply that there is an acceptable amount. And, "Once he started, any dose was eventually lethal," is a sentence that doesn't even make sense, but as worded would appear to be false. Although there are heroin addicts who've survived and quit, even after years of using, people understand very well that heroin is a drug that is potentially lethal, thank you very much. I haven't seen a post anywhere on the board that has indicated otherwise, or downplayed its dangers. But do we really need to overstate the case that heroin is bad with sanctimonious hyperbole?
Perhaps as long as it is equated to water. I agree with what others have said that the word 'overdose' in these cases is a euphemism for 'using.' He died from using heroin.
Nooooooo.... Because you can "use" heroin and not die. You just have to make sure not to overdose which is what PSH did. He overdosed, as in he took more than a non-lethal amount. Just like you can do with any drug or any substance, really. There's the amount that will kill you and then less than that is an amount that won't. As I said, you can overdose on water. Drink too much water and you screw up the balance of chemistry in your body and you can die. But, "using water" doesn't make you die. Using too much does. You can use heroin. Use too much of it (overdose) and you can die. PST died from an overdose of heroin. He used heroin which was a choice he made. Not a good one, for sure, given the highly addictive nature of it (and how easy it is to overdose if you relapse after being clean for a while) but, whatever, people make bad choices when it comes to substance abuse all of the time. (How many people die every year from alcohol toxicity/overdose?) But his abuse of a recreational drug led to his death. It's very sad for sure but, alas, he likely went into the use of the substance knowing its risks.
The water analogy isn't very informative, either. For one thing, unlike heroin, water is actually needed to survive, and there is no non-lethal concept of water withdrawal.
No, but I just use it as an example that "too much of anything can kill." Water is one of the most harmless substances on the planet. It's a necessary component of life. Yet, you take too much of it in too short of a time and you can die. Well, with heroin yes it's a deadly substance that you don't need to live but it's "possible" to take it and not die. But take too much and you can die. Heroin didn't kill PSH, taking too much heroin did. Which, again, granting that heroin being an addictive substance people easily get addicted too and easily can OD on during a relapse. But, again, a woman once died by drinking too much water in too short of a time in order to win a Nintendo Wii. So, ... If people want to do heroin that's not skin off my ass. Let them. I find it sad, sure, and it's a shame that for whatever reason he felt the "need" to do it in order to find happiness, pleasure, fun or whatever. But it was his choice to make and, unfortuantely, he didn't do it smartly or safely.
The point, hopefully without any sanctimonious hyperbole, is this: Using heroin smartly and safely is ultimately a crap shoot, because its strength is variable, depending on the supply, which is one consequence of its illegality. Anyone who uses heroin over the longterm is at constant risk of overdosing, every time they use. I'm guessing that that's the thought that JWPlatt was trying to express by, "Once he started, any dose was eventually lethal." This is not even remotely the case with drinking water. Again, hydration is biologically necessary for survival. There is no useful parallel between drinking water and using heroin.