Drugs are made for purposes. While some of those purposes are meant to heal certain kinds of illnesses or diseases, there are people who purposefully overdose with those drugs for various other reasons.
Brandon Carl Vedas was known as 'ripper' on Shroomery.org, an IRC chat channel.
He was computer enthusiasts from the U.S., lived in Phoenix, Arizona. But to the public, he was better known as a recreational drug user.
Unfortunately for Vedas, he died after overdosing multiple drugs in front of a live feed on the internet, while discussing what he was doing, and while he was describing the effects of the drugs he used via chat and webcam. During the time, Vegas also consumed an amount of alcohol and marijuana.
Vedas continued to ingest the drugs and the alcohol until he lost consciousness.
When he was found, he was already dead in front of his computer, with the IRC timing out.
It started when Vedas began a chat session in the IRC channel, and announced that "i got a grip of drugs".
After he put his webcam on, allowing others to join and see him doing drugs, it was found that some of the drugs he used were obtained from prescriptions for treatments of various illness from which Vedas had previously mentioned he suffered. As for the rest of the drugs, they were illicit.
Vedas started by consuming psilocybe mushrooms, which had been stored in a prescription medication bottle.
Commonly known as magic mushrooms, consuming it can create psychedelic effects to the user.
As Vedas progressed, he consumed lots of Clonazepam as one viewers warned. This drug is frequently prescribed to reduce anxiety. Vedas followed by one bottle of methadone, out of the four bottles he wanted to consume over the course of the session. This drug is a synthetic opioid agonist used for opioid maintenance therapy in opioid dependence and for chronic pain management.
Vedas continued and consumed propranolol, which is to treat anxiety, hydrocodone/paracetamol, which is an opioid pain medication, and temazepam, a drug to treat insomnia.
During the whole process, Vedas said that the ingestion was his "usual weekend behavior."
He claimed that he had consumed similar quantities of the same substances on previous occasions.
"I told u I was hardcore," he said in the IRC chat.
Vedas captivated his audience, as he boasted his drug and alcohol tolerance.
But still, there is a limit to what a human body can withstand.
And as soon as Vedas showed that his condition was deteriorating, some tried to call his mobile phone and also emergency services.
The transcript showed that some were worried that Vedas' drug abuse would kill him.
The transcript showed that some of his viewers did cautioned him about taking too many of the drugs.
"Don't OD on us, Ripper," said one of the viewers, after watching Vedas swallow pill after pill.
When Vedas seemed to fall unconscious, a viewer with the name Smoke2k, managed to call Vedas, and said that Vedas is "severely fucked up," but was still able "to do computer tasks."
When other asked about his condition, Smoke2k was not certain.
"I don't know he just mumbled into phone something like fuck that and hung up."
And to their horror, Vedas never again responded to either at the IRC nor through calls.
It didn't take long until the huge amounts of drugs of different types started to take a toll on his body.
Vedas died of a multiple drug overdose.
He was only 21 years old.
His case was considered an accidental death, and one of the very first deaths that was live streamed in front of people through the internet.
A special service was held on January 18, 2003.
Vedas' death was mourned by his mother and stepfather, Nancy and Oliver Russell, his father and stepmother, Richard and Deborah Vedas, his two brothers, Richard and Brett, his two sisters, Valerie and Jill, his stepbrother, Sean, and a friend of him, Glenn Laucus.
And as for his viewers, since not many of them really knew Veda in person, the many at the online community have only sent their condolences to his family.
It was reported that Vedas loved his life, cared for his family and friends, and tried to live to the fullest.
Veda's death led to debate about the responsibilities and roles of online communities in life-threatening situations.
For example, questions are being asked about how much liability should be taken by the a person's online companions and by the internet service provider which hosted a chatroom dedicated to discussions of drugs and alcohol.
While some people showed that they were worried, it was reported that some were actually encouraging Vedas to consume more and more drugs, and flattered him when he obliged.
This is why Vedas' brother wanted to bring those who viewed the stream to justice.
He accused that the community contributed to his brother's death.
It is believed that around 12 people had logged onto the webcam on the night Vedas died.