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RaindropsOnRoses21

Music is my religion 🎶
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It has been quite a long while since I have been on this site, for many reasons I have stayed off but I miss the sense of community I've received here, something I think I've been craving.

I am heartbroken to say I have lost another very close friend to me, and it has absolutely devastated my life.



This is Mark

Mark was a close friend of mine who tragically passed away August 20, 2016. He was one of the most genuine, caring people I've ever had to privilege to know, but was riddled with intense back pain and a depression brought on by tragedy in his own life. This pain eventually led him to self-medicate using percs, which eventually led him to Fentanyl, the beginning of the end. Friends and family all did their best to give him the love, help, and encouragement he needed. He voluntarily attended rehab for 35 days, and in that short time became much healthier than he had been in years. He would check in on everyone else before bed time each night to make sure everyone was alright, even though he himself was also there to get help. Things were looking up, but mere days after he left the drug was presented to him again, and the addiction was too strong for him to decline. Just five days after leaving rehab, Mark overdosed and was lost to us forever. It's a terrible feeling knowing that I'll never be able to see or talk to him again, and even worse knowing that his death was avoidable. His parents have put together a website in his honour, as well as to spread awareness of the dangers of Fentanyl. www.splitxd.ca/home.html (SPLIT XD was his gaming tag, he was an avid COD player and actively enjoyed Dueling Network.)

PSA

PSA

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50-100x more potent than morphine, and is prescribed for extreme pain, often to cancer patients. Only recently has the dangerous drug Fentanyl been brought to the public eye, and the amount of overdoses due to recreational use in recent years has increased significantly from the past. There are many methods of Fentanyl, the one I am most familiar with is the patch. Meant to be placed on the skin for release over many hours or even days, recreational users cut it into strips and smoke it. There is absolutely no way to know how much of the drug you are receiving this way (the drug is not distributed evenly on the patch), and as little as a few grains of sand too much is enough to shut your lungs down and cause overdose. There is now an even stronger version called Carfentanil, 10,000 more potent than morphine.

Fentanyl is also used in pill form (seen below). It is now becoming common for drug dealers to put Fentanyl into other drugs (coke, heroin, etc.) to increase the euphoria and addictiveness to have users come back for more. This can easily cause overdose, with many people unknowingly using the drug. Naloxone is the antidote, and when overdose occurs you only have 4 minutes to revive the person before it becomes too late (CPR and chest compression if you don't have the antidote since the victim's lungs have shut down and they can no longer breathe on their own.)



Fatal overdoses linked to Fentanyl have soared from 42 in 2012 to 418 in 2015. A huge part of the problem is that doctors are prescribing the drug far too easily (in 2015, enough prescriptions were written by doctors in Canada for every 1 in 2 Canadians), making abuse, misuse and illegal sale easier than ever. Ontario (where I reside) and its neighbouring provinces and states are being hit particularly hard ( Cincinnati, Ohio, having an outbreak of 178 overdose cases over a six-day period, Fentanyl found in 392 fatal overdose victims in past 2 years in Alberta, over 200 fatal overdoses in B.C. in first three months of 2016). The list goes on and on, but it is clear that this powerful drug is a significant problem and something needs to be done. Stay safe my friends, help those who need it and kids, don't do drugs.

My apologies for the depressing post, but I feel it's important that people know this is something that is happening, I wish you all the best my friends.
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This is Michael Tuck. Some of you may recognize him from some other photos I've uploaded of him, he was always a great sport with my photography craze. In the early morning of January 28th, he died in a house fire due to unattended cooking. I haven't had the strength to post this here yet, but he deserves so much.

Mike by RaindropsOnRoses21

At 19 years old, Mike had his life together. He was an extremely avid runner, taking part in marathons and even making his way into the local paper occasionally. He was starting off in the military, something he always knew he wanted to do, and which left us worried, but proud of him. He was expecting an acceptance call back within the days he passed away. He rode his bike everywhere, even during our long Canadian winters. He was an avid gamer, spending a lot of his time on League of Legends, and Destiny. His favourite music style was classic/alternative rock, his favourite band was Queens of the Stone Age. He was a great friend, always positive and helping others over himself. I feel it's the least I can do to simply share this inspiring human being with others. This is the link to the only official news source of what happened:
www.theobserver.ca/2015/01/28/…

tl;dr: An amazing person was lost to us, but he will not be forgotten :heart:
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Hello there friends! I, again, have been absent from DeviantArt for too long, and will be trying to focus my art life a little more. I recently went on a trip to Punta Cana, so expect some photos from that! I will be absent still for the following week as I will be camping, but after that I will definitely be back :aww:

I also wanted to mention the recent news of Robin Williams passing, which when I heard was like a punch to the chest, I couldn't believe it, and especially in such a way. My philosophy teacher would often say that it's the one who makes the jokes that has the darkest lives, which in some ways can be true. Being a sufferer of depression and suicidal tendencies myself, as well as a huge fan of Williams, the news really hit home, and I think it's extremely important for everyone to know how serious depression is for everyone. Please find help if you need it :heart:
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I'm Back!

1 min read
Hey everyone! I've been gone from this site for quite a few months now, for many personal reasons. I haven't cared enough or been motivated to do anything lately, so I've had nothing to contribute. I'm trying very hard to get my life back around now, and I think this site and restarting my photography and modelling is a good place to start! I also appreciate all of the support I've received from the people here, I can't wait to discover new talent in everyone here again :aww:

                                                                                                                ~Julia Rae
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Hey all! I know this is a lot to ask, but I would really appreciate if you could check out a cover I did and tell me how it was? I would really appreciate it! :aww:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRzrHA… Please and thank you! :iconcameraglompplz:
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Featured

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