I know that's how it started out, but this entry has morphed in my mind into something that looks at the way we prescribe drugs, and just what we should be doing when folk may be dying.

We have fucking stupid drug laws. Comfort and pleasure should be on the list of necessities of drug prescription for the dying. And for folk like me, and I guess thee, we should have further and greater options; given previous experience.

As a principle we dole these things out on minimal doses and only in need. Which is fucking puritan nonsense in end of life care; and which is why doctors tend to overprescribe a bit with some of the slightly more fun painkillers. However, I think we should address the issue more directly in policy terms; which would open up a lot of other recreational drugs to be available for pleasure in end-of-life care management.

We can't make death a fun experience, but we can increase the fun moments along the path. And this should be worded into some sort of principle of assisted/ameliorated dying. This ain't a moral question really, it's about generosity of spirit, and a greater cultural understanding of death, and practical good for individuals on the one-way street.