Things that Make You Go…Hmm
In the trial for Derek Chauvin over George Floyd’s drug overdose death, one of the issues is the so-called tolerance to higher and higher doses of the drugs in question. Keep in mind that Floyd had more than three times what was considered a fatal dose in his system. An addict who is using regularly needs more and more of the drug in question to experience the “sweet spot” high that he/she was able to achieve more easily when he/she first started using. However, the body’s tolerance to the depression of the respiratory system does not move in lockstep with the “high” effect. Thus the window of “safe” drug use becomes smaller and smaller before the respiratory system becomes overwhelmed and stops working.
Addicts who are irregular users (was George Floyd one of these?) can be much more likely to overdose because they will not know just what they need to achieve the desired drug effect. Fentanyl is particularly problematic in this regard.