Billy Mays’ Corpse Gets Trampled by Cocaine Hype

... So what came first; Oxyclean or the hit when deboarding prior to his death.

Scrub the above comment.

The Egg came first!

Comment parser giving me problems:

[link]

Apparently, his wife pretty">[link] much agrees with the cartoon's author. The linked article is short, but it discloses long-term, chronic hypertension.

To The One Person Making All These Comments:

(1) In my original post on my blog I DO cite the source of the study "I love." I do not link to it because it is from a book.

(2) Nowhere do I dispute that there is a link between heart disease and cocaine. (Did you even read my comment?) Heart disease is also linked to caffeine, fast food, stress, and lack of exercise.

(3) The AP article to which I link DOES state he was not in good health. See par. 8 and his family's statement. Note the anti-anxiety medication.

(4) Heart disease develops over a long time. Pointing to one isolated instance of unhealthy behavior as a factor behind the disease is ridiculous. I do not believe this argument is "warped or twisted."

Another thing I should ask the post author is why there is a link to the AP article he hates and not to the study he loves, which allegedly disputes the link between cocaine and developing heart disease.
"One review of 935 cocaine related deaths in New York City found that less than 12% were even possibly related to the pharmacological effects of cocaine."
Where?

To oldpigeon: Your cartoon is as educational as Sarah Palin's talks about the death panels. While it has some truth it is twisted and warped until you can't find it anymore.

From the AP report-
"While heart disease was the primary cause of his death, the medical examiner listed cocaine as a "contributory cause of death."

The medical examiner "concluded that cocaine use caused or contributed to the development of his heart disease, and thereby contributed to his death," the office said in a press release.

The office said Mays last used cocaine in the few days before his death but was not under the influence of the drug when he died. Hillsborough County spokeswoman Lori Hudson said nothing in the toxicology report indicated the frequency of Mays' cocaine use.

Cocaine can raise the arterial blood pressure, directly cause thickening of the left wall of the ventricle and accelerate the formation of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries, the release said."

So from the AP Billy Mays had a heart condition that lead to his death. Because cocaine is hard on your heart it is reasonable to assume that the age at which he died was due in at least some part to his cocaine use. Nowhere in the AP report does it say that coke, and only coke, caused his death. Also nowhere does it say that he had any health problems other than his heart, so yes, apart from his heart condition he was fairly healthy otherwise. One final note, try to catch some reruns of his Discovery show Pitchmen. After watching that show and his infomercials I would have been shocked if he didn't regularly use coke.

The people behind the drug war make enough wild and exaggerated comments for both sides, I don't think this side needs to be adding any more.

"It is also known that there is a link between cocaine use and heart risk, as the average age of people who died of heart attack and used cocaine is lower than those that haven't used."

That just proves that cocaine makes heart disease kill you faster. That context you provide presupposes a person has heart disease and either uses cocaine or does not. But how much longer will the user without heart disease last than the user with heart disease? This is the relationship that will show the real link between cocaine and heart disease.

Plus the second panel of the comic is probably what's misleading. The medical examiner never tried to say how many times Billy Mays was exposed to cocaine, which means we can't pretend they believe one use caused his death.

But one good point in the comic is that nobody should find out what was in his body when he died, I hadn't even considered that it's not my business until I got to the bottom of your comic.

Dreamdust, the medical examiner did not use the word "may," nor was Mays "fairly healthy otherwise." Go to the original blog post at Suburra.com for the link to the AP article that refutes both your statements.

I believe my cartoon is educational because the war on cocaine is built on the myth that cocaine is extremely deadly - when in fact, the deaths caused by the war itself (see Colombia and Mexico) dwarf cocaine deaths. This isn't readily apparent because America inflates its cocaine "deaths" exponentially. (Go to original post for link to cocaine's actual fatality rate.)

Even DAWN (Drug Abuse Warning Network), the organization that politicians rely on their drug fatality statistics, admits that its numbers only show what was in the corpse's body - not that it necessarily caused or even contributed it. Of course, that tidbit is conveniently forgotten at press time. (Arthur, You Will Die, p. 333)

Cocaine, like caffeine, is not heart-healthy, but that does not mean adults who use it are criminals. RIP Billy Mays.

I do know that when I met him at a local fair he cleaned my shoes as a demonstration, and he sure seemed pretty coked-up then.

Not saying cocaine was the culprit, he could have had these heart problems for a long time. But it's no secret he used cocaine.

RIP billy mays

This comic is not correct or educational. Billy Mays had hypertensive heart disease as evidenced by myocardial ischemia.
It is known that cocaine users have a higher risk for myocardial ischemia, especially in light of the fact that Mays was fairly healthy otherwise.

It is also known that there is a link between cocaine use and heart risk, as the average age of people who died of heart attack and used cocaine is lower than those that haven't used.

Sorry, but cocaine use is dangerous for your heart especially when your not 20 years old anymore.

The coroner said it "may have contributed" which is logical. Why is it so surprising that cocaine may have contributed to his death?