Corey started using heroin at 14
Gage's brother Corey began using heroin at age 14, a pattern common in San Diego given the city's proximity to Mexico.
Where this was said
Heroin, Tijuana Lunch Runs, and Eight Overdosed Classmates
At 22:53 · chapter starts 22:20
Gage describes a San Diego adolescence defined by easy access to hard drugs. Tijuana was a 20-30 minute drive, and students would park at the McDonald's on the US side, walk across the border, buy drugs, and return in time for afternoon class. A girlfriend showed him the ropes. His brother Corey began using heroin at just 14 years old — a common trajectory in a city where the drug flowed freely. By the time Gage graduated, approximately eight of his classmates had overdosed. He connects this directly to the geographic reality of living on the border, a pattern he describes without sentimentality but with clear weight.
San Diego: Heroin, Tijuana Lunch Runs, and Eight Dead Classmates
San Diego's proximity to Tijuana made hard drugs a lunch-break errand. By the time Gage graduated, eight classmates had overdosed. His brother started heroin at 14. The city's bro-military culture made asking for help unthinkable.
8 classmates overdosed by graduation
By the time Gage graduated high school in San Diego, approximately eight people in his class had overdosed on drugs, which he attributed to proximity to Mexico.
The Hate Crime at 18 That Changed Everything
At 18, Lukas Gage stepped in to defend a gay friend being attacked and got beaten by five men who broke his teeth, nose, and orbitals. The attackers walked free because lawyers argued Gage threw the first punch. His current gleaming smile is entirely veneers.
Paris Hilton'd: Kidnapped to a Wilderness Camp
At 13, Lukas Gage spent Father's Day at his dad's house and was taken in the middle of the night by strangers and shipped to a troubled-teen wilderness program. Rather than reform him, it made him worse — more rebellious, more distrustful, and twice the nightmare.
Similar snapshots
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Robot surgery: 10x less blood loss
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115M US adults have prediabetes
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Drug overdose deaths: 110K to 80K to 70K
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Men's overdose rate fell 27% in one year
Men's overdose death rate fell 27% in a single year, outpacing the 23% drop for women.
Ages 15–24 overdose deaths down 37%
The steepest decline in overdose deaths was among 15–24-year-olds, whose rate fell 37%.
Nurses walk miles per shift fetching items
Fei-Fei Li observed that on a given hospital shift, nurses walk miles just to fetch medicine and supplies, illustrating a clear use case for assistive robotics in healthcare.
