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Chantix
- Chantix: But See No Beer, Wine, or Whiskey-
Back in September, a normally mild mannered 34 year-old musician named Carter Albrecht was shot in the head while trying to kick down a neighbor’s door in the middle of the night. His girlfriend and family got a considerable amount of help from the press in linking his abnormally violent behavior on the smoking cessation drug Chantix which he had just started to take. What bothered me about this whole sad ordeal that in every news report I read mentioned that Mr. Albrecht had been drinking.
Reports varied, some downplaying the fact that he had “a few cocktails” to some actually suggesting that the alcohol and anti-smoking drug may have caused a malign interaction. However nothing I read during the time this story was making the rounds blamed the guy’s alcohol consumption for his weird behavior. Alcohol, a substance well known to be a major cause in so many crimes, accidents, and heartbreaks throughout the history of man and it is written out of the story?
Fast forward several weeks later and the focus of the story is still on the Chantix. Read the very last line of this news report on the toxicology report from Mr. Albrecht’s autopsy.
While officials could not test for Chantix, the toxicology reports were able to show Albrecht's blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit at the time of his death.
That’s right, a blood alcohol level that was OVER three times the legal limit. In Texas that would mean he had a BAC of at least 0.25, a level characterized by stupor, loss of understanding, and more importantly a level at which most normal drinkers would have loss consciousness. I am not saying positively that Mr. Albrecht had a drinking problem and the usual accompanying instability, but there is no doubt that with that BAC level Chantix was most assuredly the least of his problems. I do sympathize with the family and I do not have any particular reason to stand up for the makers of Chantix, but the point I would like to make is that our society seems to overlook or just accept the dangers of alcohol consumption and abuse.
Just like the Carol Gotbaum story, it seems like everyone is trying very hard to ignore the 800 lb gorilla in the room. Alcohol permeates every aspect of our society, but we try very hard to avoid seeing, hearing, or talking about how much misery it causes.
