Autopsy reveals cause of death for TobyMac's son (OD Fentanyl & Amphetamines)

http://www.bpnews.net ^ | 1/23/20 | Tess Schoonhoven,

[grey_whiskers]

C'mon, to give a flavor of Toby's stuff, you should've posted Jesus Freak.

[grey_whiskers]

Well, at least it wasn’t coronavirus.

[StAnDeliver]

"In an Instagram post regarding the release, TobyMac stated that “writing this song felt like an honest confession of the questions, pain, anger, doubt, mercy and promise that describes the journey I’m probably only beginning."

Yeah Toby, the only journey you're "beginning" at 55 is the nightly 3am shuffle to the bathroom ... take better care of the rest of your kids, douchelord.

[Tax-chick]

Yes, it is very sad.

[LS]

The levels of teen/youth anxiety and depression is soaring. In “iGen,” Dr. Jean Twenge followed eleven MILLION youths from the 1960s on in four separate studies.

They lines fell off the charts around 2010, when the smartphone reached about 50% of the population. They diverged sharply from any previous generation at the same time in life. Questions on four major surveys of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders show anxiety and thoughts of depression about TWENTY point higher than the Millennials (and we thought the Millennials were screwed up!). I’ve interviewed four pastors of big churches in the past three weeks: three of them cited teen anxiety and emotional issues as the #1 problem for teens. A doc I was referred to said just five years ago she’d get one “anxiety” case a week. Now she gets five A DAY, all from younger people.

While no doubt “snowplow” or “helicopter” parents who do not let kids fail is a key ingredient, all (and I mean, almost without any exception) of the research is showing isolation, withdrawal, lack of sociability, and isolation issues arising from cell phones and devices as a major, if not the major causative factor in this epidemic of anxiety and suicides.

[EEGator]

Hard to sell to a dead guy.

[EEGator]

I definitely get the anxiety increase. This 24/7 constant info blurb stream is not healthy for anyone. I know when I don’t take enough time away I feel my mind race.
Going for a walk in nature, lifting, and meditation/yoga work wonders.

[Leep]

If he would have stuck with alcohol he would still be alive.

[Skooz]

It’s only by the Grace of God that I survived age 17. And I didn’t know Him then.

Ditto. The years from 19 - 25 were especially perilous for me. Too many close calls to count.

Man, I was stupid then.

[Thermalseeker]

This is one of the many ways nature culls the weakest among us. As PJ O'Rourke famously said:

"There is only one basic human right: The right to do as you damn well please and with it comes the only basic human duty. The duty to take the consequences"

If you're stupid enough to indulge in hard core drugs, a voluntary choice, then you deserve everything that follows. If you don't care about yourself anymore than that why should anyone else give a damn?

[Thermalseeker]

I find it amazing that any male lives to see 25. I spent many years believing I was 10’ tall, invisible and bulletproof.

[LS]

Well, it will all be in the book, but there are numerous studies of web reading vs. book reading that show the former are destroying the ability for “deep reading,” i.e., imposing any significant thought to the subject. Test subjects with a book and with a Kindle did far worse on the e-book when it came to understanding the plot, remembering key points in the story, and that verbal/language skills have deteriorated sharply among heavy net users.

[EEGator]

I was just discussing this the other day with another FReeper.

[Albion Wilde]

It is a stretch to call a death like this ‘accidental.’

It's accidental in the sense that he was taking the drugs for recreation, and not with the intention to commit suicide. The article mentions that he was also taking Adderall, which many kids and young adults are prescribed for hyperactivity. Kids don't typically go to the pharmacist and ask about drug interactions when their other drugs are from the street.

The article also points out that many of the "traditional" rec drugs are now being laced with fentanyl by the pushers. It creeps up on users and BAM! Lights out. Truly a scourge.

As a devout family, the parents did everything they knew how to do. This was a fatal error on the part of a young man who gambled with bad choices.

[NobleFree]

I don't suppose the keyword warrior who addd "liberaltarians; libertarians; losertarians" to the keywords will be explaining how the current drug laws helped the deceased.

[Meatspace]

Mixing those drugs and dying is as accidental as playing Russian Roulette and dying.

[Albion Wilde]

"Wait-so Dad’s making money off his son’s death.Sick."

Yes, pretty twisted and doing Christianity no favors.

Having heard of the death when it happened, I wanted to hear the song; and it is free on the internet. For some of us, songs were our way into the gospel, and accompany us as they pop into our heads throughout the day, as many of Toby Mac's songs have done for me over the past 23 years that I've listened to him.

A musician can hardly move forward and sing to their listeners again without marking the spot when their life as they knew it changed forever with a song that they can share with those who support their art. It is a form of "wearing black", similar to when Eric Clapton wrote, performed and presumably receives royalties for "Tears in Heaven" after his child fell from a skyscraper window.

The article points out that Toby and his wife have started a foundation to help other kids, and which can receive any profits from the song.

[Albion Wilde]

Toby Mac's songs have given me (and so many others) great joy. I hurt that he is having to know the thing no parent ever wants to know. Even this boy, the oldest of five kids raised in a Christian home, fell prey. Lord, make it stop. Help our President to build the wall.

Click to listen:

21 Years

Woke up ’cause the light poured in. Day Two: let the flood begin
Day One left me in my bed. I can barely remember it
Heart shattered in a thousand ways. They tell me pain gonna come in waves
They tell me I’m gonna be okay. I’m still waiting for the first to break

Why would You give and then take him away
Suddenly end. Could You not let it fade?
What I would give for a couple of days
A couple of days

Is it just across the Jordan, or a city in the stars
Are you singing with the angels? Are you happy where you are?
Well, until this show is over and you run into my arms
God has you in heaven, but I have you in my heart
I have you in my heart

I just can’t make sense of this. Everything is so dissonant
Somebody said he was meant for this, but I’m just straight missing him
I wanna wake up to your laugh at two; catch you when you steal my shoes
Say good morning, afternoon, talk you through those “Alex blues”
Listen to your latest beats, talk about what the lyrics mean
Venmo you another loan, see you do your second show

You said you’d turn, you would turn it around
Thought that you had time to straighten it out
Told me that you were my prodigal son
But this isn’t home

Is it just across the Jordan, or a city in the stars
Are you singing with the angels? Are you happy where you are?
Well, until this show is over and you run into my arms
God has you in heaven, but I have you in my heart
I have you in my heart

Did he see You from a long way off, running to him with a Father’s heart?
Did You wrap him up inside Your arms and let him know that he’s home?
[repeat]

Is it just across the Jordan, or a city in the stars
Are you singing with the angels? Are you happy where you are?
Well, until this show is over and you run into my arms
God has you in heaven

21 years makes a man full-grown
21 years, what a beautiful loan
21 years, I loved every one
Thank You, Lord, for my beautiful son

[Dave W]

Yes, we all understand what it means when it says accidental...get off your high horse...it's like you think we are idiots.

Any more lectures for us fools out here? Thank god we aren't related.

[Dave W]

TobyMac is iconic.