belis wrote:

Willow wrote:

I agree that Molly was outraged, and I entirely sympathise with her, but she's not an anaesthetist or a physician; if she wanted to know if Sherlock had recently taken heroin all she had to do was look at his eyes. His pupils would have been constricted; it's really noticeable to anyone who knows what they are looking for.

Presumably the writers wanted to extend the scene so we had the stuff about urine samples, but I think it would have been great fun if Molly had done the diagnosis simply by staring into his eyes. It would have made the subsequent slaps even more dramatic

Looking for pupil's constriction is not the best way to asertain drug use for a number of reason. First of all we asume it's heroine but it could be concaine, amphetamine, benzos or any combination of those. Secondly heroine has short half life and the pupil constriction is only present for around 4 hours. It's easy to miss that window. Finally it's dose dependant. For someone who developed a degree of tolerance they need to take quite a large dose to develop pupils that are obviously small.

If present pin point pupils are a pretty reliable confirmation of opioid use. However absence of the sign doesn't exclude it. That's why we spend a lot of time and money on urinary drug screens.

I know. But it would have been much more fun than urine samples.

More seriously, we are discussing a particular event in Sherlock, not the NHS procedures in general; the timing shown in the episode put him in the 4 hour bracket, we were shown the teaspoon with the obvious inference of heroin, and normally doctors don't get nearly as het up about cocaine, speed or benzos as they do about heroin, possibly because use of the first three is not entirely unknown in a group of people trying to stay awake, go to sleep, and calm down. John Watson was a military doctor, and the military do use uppers, downers and steady as she goers fairly routinely when people are on missions. Heroin is a different ball game.

And since Barts is now a highly specialised hospital which doesn't have an A&E their labs are not set up for urinary drug screens; the writers are ignoring this, along with the fact that you cannot compel someone to provide samples without sound legal reason. The law is clear on this; Sherlock has not committed a 'trigger' offence and he has not been arrested because there's nothing to arrest him for. Hauling him off to Barts under compulsion was good drama but very bad law.

As I noted earlier, Sherlock undoubtedly could lay his hands on pharmaceutical grade diamorphine, along with an ample supply of naloxone; I do hope he was sensible enough to do so. But his nicotine addiction is far more likely to kill him than heroin...
 

Didn't Mycroft refer to Sherlock as his "junkie brother"?
It is canon.
Sherlock used the seven percent solution of cocaine and opium.
I think it's necessary to accept that Sherlock was a drug user and it is one of his faults.
 

Willow wrote:

I know. But it would have been much more fun than urine samples.

More seriously, we are discussing a particular event in Sherlock, not the NHS procedures in general; the timing shown in the episode put him in the 4 hour bracket, we were shown the teaspoon with the obvious inference of heroin, and normally doctors don't get nearly as het up about cocaine, speed or benzos as they do about heroin, possibly because use of the first three is not entirely unknown in a group of people trying to stay awake, go to sleep, and calm down. John Watson was a military doctor, and the military do use uppers, downers and steady as she goers fairly routinely when people are on missions. Heroin is a different ball game.

And since Barts is now a highly specialised hospital which doesn't have an A&E their labs are not set up for urinary drug screens; the writers are ignoring this, along with the fact that you cannot compel someone to provide samples without sound legal reason. The law is clear on this; Sherlock has not committed a 'trigger' offence and he has not been arrested because there's nothing to arrest him for. Hauling him off to Barts under compulsion was good drama but very bad law.

As I noted earlier, Sherlock undoubtedly could lay his hands on pharmaceutical grade diamorphine, along with an ample supply of naloxone; I do hope he was sensible enough to do so. But his nicotine addiction is far more likely to kill him than heroin...
 

I'm not sure about the timings. He could have been resting in that drug den for a while. If he was so high I would expect him to act a bit more mellow.

I agree that it would be an amusing scene for Molly to take one look and deliver her verdict. John could do it to if it was so obvious. Maybe he has seen it and wanted a solid proof for himself.

You don't need a specialist lab to do urinary drug screen. You can do it at the bed site with a simple kit. It's rare to send samples for actual toxicology. The way Molly goes around testing it looks much better on screen though than the boring dip stick.

I'm not sure how much compulsion there was. It seems like he went with John quite willingly in the end. Police wasn't involved, he was not arrested. He was persuaded by John to provide a sample. ;)

All in all there is a lot of dramatic license in the whole drug use scene. I think that it works though. It's canon, it has some hilarious moments. I have no complaints.

Last edited by belis (January 21, 2014 9:35 pm)

Aujouret wrote:

Didn't Mycroft refer to Sherlock as his "junkie brother"?
It is canon.
Sherlock used the seven percent solution of cocaine and opium.
I think it's necessary to accept that Sherlock was a drug user and it is one of his faults.
 

 
IIRC it was just cocaine in ACD canon, besides which opium /cocaine would be an odd mix of actions and opium is poorly soluble.

Swanpride wrote:

Who says that he takes drugs to stimulate his brain? Isn't the point that without the drugs it is out of control. So perhaps the drugs are actually used to slow it down a little bit, make the boredom more bearable.

I agree, mostly, with this.  If you've got a brain that won't shut up, sometimes you'll do anything to make it shut up.  Plus there are studdies that I've read, PRIOR TO THIS EPISODE, that show that the smarter people are, the more likely they are to do drugs.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/201010/why-intelligent-people-use-more-drugs

Besides.  Remember later, when John is in Sherlock's appartment, asking why Mary is "like that?"  Then Sherlock points out that he's addicted to a certain type of person. And he points out everyone's "secrets," and says something like (I"m paraphrasing) "Your best friend is a sociopath who solves crimes as an alternitive to getting high."

I think it's real.  I like it.  It makes him more human.

And an old interview excerpt regarding the on-going fandom discussion into drugs:

MG: It's worth saying, because people obsess about it. There are more references to Sherlock Holmes laughing than taking cocaine or morphine but, oddly enough, people never think about that one. The important thing is not to get it out of context with his character. He takes drugs in the original stories because he's bored, not because he's a smackhead or anything.

SM: It's also the case, it's one of these bizarre things, it's only in the very, very early stories, before Sherlock Holmes is a big hit in the Strand magazine that that is referenced. Once he becomes a hit, and he becomes a bit wiser, a bit nicer, and a bit more heroic, it's quietly disposed of.

Off the top of my head, I don't know, but there are maybe references to his drug habit in maybe three or four stories. It's not a major part of the character, and it's become one.

Read more: http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/sherlock/20536/steven-moffat-and-mark-gatiss-interview-sherlock#ixzz2rBnRLFNM

besleybean wrote:

I don't know if it has become a major plot feature...give it time.

I'd rather not; it's just another angsty 2014 take where they have to sit around bewailing how awful it all is, when I would much prefer them to get out and be Sherlock and Watson solving cases together
 

They won't, they said they aren't interested. This was the opening of Twisted Lip, they won't do that again. The other drug references from the canon they said they changed into that he might have dabbled in the past but isn't a user. Most of the references come from Mycroft freaking out, but he might just be overreacting. Though they might change their minds, you never know. 

Janine referenced him taking drugs when she visited him in Hospital.
His drug habit was referenced several times in HLV so I think it might be something that crops up in season 4 - that he's using drugs again because he's lonely/unsettled or whatever...it crossed my mind that it was Janine who told Magnussen he was a junkie, or that maybe CAM had got her to encourage him back into the habit - though this is probably unlikely.

Last edited by Tinks (January 28, 2014 10:05 pm)

Tinks wrote:

Janine referenced him taking drugs when she visited him in Hospital.
His drug habit was referenced several times in HLV so I think it might be something that crops up in season 4 - that he's using drugs again because he's lonely/unsettled or whatever...it crossed my mind that it was Janine who told Magnussen he was a junkie, or that maybe CAM had got her to encourage him back into the habit - though this is probably unlikely.

There's a discussion of this on the 'how long was Sherlock in hospital' thread which I think you would find interesting. Essentially, the only drug problem Sherlock has to worry about is his nicotine addiction