YES..Pain killers..It has been reported that he took 100 mg of Vicodin before the massacre..Gave him the feeling of power he needed to carry out the atrocity. If true, it is likely he is addicted which could be the reason behind his reported failure to maintain his grades in the graduate program..Pain killer addiction is a scourge on our society. It main be the #1 drug problem we face..God help the family who has member addicted to this med.
Most have little clue as to the tons of opiate/acetaminophen consumed across the planet. The overwhelming proportion of people who use opiates for pain relief do not become dependent. It is a tiny minority that make headlines.
The FDA recommended removing Vicodin from the market NOT due to the opiate but the damage the acetaminophen causes. It is the unfortunate emotional urge to replace opiates that has brought us many drugs that cause renal, gastro, and hearing damage.
Pain is the primary symptom for folks seeking medical attention. Relief of pain is the desired outcome. As much as many here on FR would rather others suffer their mod-severe pain without relief most people disagree and elect to take the opiate. If as you suggest this monster took 100 mgs it would be a small fragment of any Vicodin tablet and have little affect.
There is a bigger 'scourge' today and that is Nanny Staters who wish to impose their notion of how things should be on others. That little totalitarian streak you have going is interesting.
We all need to be responsible for ourselves. If someone elects to make bad decisions for themselves there is not a lot we can do but to urge them to reconsider. The individual is paramount not the State. Our Constitution gives us the Right to make bad decisions - clearly we don't benefit from the kind of ignorance that you espouse. Don't you think you could have done a little more homework prior to ranting?
The only side effects I noticed was that the Vicodin made me talkative and then sleepy and after 3 doses, it made my skin itch. Its basically Tylenol and codeine. No feelings of power. I'm not certain that 100mg would do much to someone who is physically addicted. I've seen clients who were chronic pain patients and had been on stronger opiates for longer. I think whiney, manipulative and depressed would fit many of them. Some had advanced technical degrees and some like firearms and not one of them would have committed this sort of atrocity.
I think it is more likely that he intended to either go out in blaze of glory or be caught and imprisoned and he was pre-medicating to avoid pain. I also think he was simply a sociopath all on his own, w/o recourse to meds or even recreational drugs.
That said, I've known people who were addicted to Oxycodone and Oxycontin long after their initial pain had gone away and who were just as likely to sell their drugs as take them. I'd think that a true addiction would preclude ever giving up a dose.
Failure to finish a graduate degree or maintain grades could just as easily be because he wasn't nearly as smart as he thought he was.
The media keeps repeating "undergraduate degree in neuroscience". Could someone explain this sort of credential? Wouldn't that just be a BS with a concentration in psychology?
I haven’t heard about the 100 mg of Vicodin. Where did you hear/read this?