This is a very disturbing story, I feel very bad for Jesse and his parents. I can't even begin to imagine what that felt like for his father coming in and seeing everyone's worst nightmare. Can you imagine what this 6-year-old brother will be going through, that memory forever haunting him? This story is an absolute tragedy- I see no other way of looking at it.

The kid was only 19; he had his whole life in front of him. He was not even old enough to drink, yet he could get Duragesic- ironic how 19-year-old kids have an easier time getting pain medication than adult chronic pain sufferers.

A person who reads this story and says "oh great, another idiot kid OD'd and died, this is going to make it harder for me to get my drugs"- that is disgusting. How can you read a story about what happened to this kid and his parents and only think about how it affects you? It is not going to have a huge effect on OP's at all, do you know an OP that prescribes Duragesic?

The drug is already a Schedule II. They could not make it harder to get- this article has no impact on the drug's availability. It is already well-known how abusable CII narcotics are, that's why they are CII's. It has nothing to do with OP's. Many people have abused it, OD'd, and died from it.

Jesse dropped out of high school and played Russian Roulette with the jackpot of opiate drugs, there was obviously something more going on in his life than drugs. I hope the parents take an honest look at what happened instead of just blaming it on the drug- drug abuse is a manifestation of another problem. As painful as that may be for them, it may save the life of the brother, and that's what they have to hope for at this point.

I do not believe in PSA's (public service announcements), those "the anti-drug" ads you see now. Ask a teenager what (s)he thinks about them and they will either say "retarded" or "totally gay" or "hella stupid." Kids feel the same way about the D.A.R.E. program. Kids need quality drug education, they should not have marijuana and heroin lumped in the same category. Drug education should not be taught my an authority figure- kids do not want to be told by an authority figure that they shouldn't do something because it will annoy other authority figures. There should be a recovering junky coming in and telling his story. Someone who is real. They should be taught harm reduction and should have quality mental health care made available to them if they should need it- that is what will save lives.

No, a parent cannot be looking over their shoulder 24/7, nor should they be. To even have to do that is cause for concern. Kids do not come with a manual, and no one is expected to be a perfect parent. A child needs to feel secure in his/her own home and feel loved. Constant supervision will create rebellious behavior. We live in a very complicated society today, kids have a lot more to worry about now than previous generations- and no matter how much progress we make, there will always be kids like Jesse. A child's suicide is the ultimate admission of failure in a society- instead of saying "thanks a lot kid, you made it harder for me to get drugs" maybe we should try to stop it from happening in the first place.

-yawkaw