# Death of Brandon Vedas > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Death_of_Brandon_Vedas > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Death_of_Brandon_Vedas.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Brandon_Vedas > Source revision: 1354691835 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 2003 drug overdose death Brandon Vedas Born Brandon Carl Vedas (1981-04-21)April 21, 1981 Died January 12, 2003(2003-01-12) (aged 21) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. Cause of death Drug overdose Occupations Computer enthusiast recreational drug user Known for Overdose caught on webcam **Brandon Carl Vedas** (April 21, 1981 – January 12, 2003), also known by his nickname **ripper** on [IRC](/source/Internet_Relay_Chat), was an American computer enthusiast, [recreational drug user](/source/Recreational_drug_use) and member of the Shroomery.org community, who died of a multiple drug overdose while discussing what he was doing via chat and webcam. His death led to debate about the responsibilities and roles of [online communities](/source/Online_communities) in life-threatening situations.[1][2][3][4] ## Overview The video chat session began when Vedas logged into the IRC channel and announced "i got a grip of drugs", inviting other users to access his webcam feed and watch him take them.[2] While some of the substances were illicit, most of them had apparently been obtained through legitimate [prescriptions](/source/Prescription_drug) for treatment of various illnesses from which Vedas was said to have suffered.[2] Vedas then began consuming [psilocybe mushrooms](/source/Psilocybe_cubensis), which had been stored in a prescription medication bottle. As the chat session progressed, one of the users in the channel, grphish, noted "that's a lot of klonopin"[2] and this is thought to be when Vedas consumed 8 [mg](/source/Milligram) of [clonazepam](/source/Clonazepam).[5] Vedas continued by showing the webcam viewers what would be one of four bottles of [methadone](/source/Methadone) that he would consume over the course of the session, and, after noting this on the channel, proceeded to consume an entire bottle (reportedly 80 mg of methadone[2]). After a brief respite, Vedas then consumed 110 mg of [propranolol](/source/Propranolol) (Inderal), two [Vicodin](/source/Vicodin) tablets, and 120 mg [temazepam](/source/Temazepam), which seem to have been taken in between descriptions given on the IRC channel.[5] During this process, Vedas maintained that this was "usual weekend behavior" for him and that he had consumed similar quantities of the same substances on previous occasions.[2] "I told u I was hardcore" was one of the last things Vedas typed,[6] and he was found dead by his mother the next day.[7] ## See also - [Drug overdose](/source/Drug_overdose) - [Social media and suicide](/source/Social_media_and_suicide) - [Suicide of Kevin Whitrick](/source/Suicide_of_Kevin_Whitrick) - [Suicide of Ronnie McNutt](/source/Suicide_of_Ronnie_McNutt) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Net grief for online 'suicide'"](https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2724819.stm). *BBC News*. February 4, 2003. Retrieved July 23, 2010.{{[cite news](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_news)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service)) 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-nyd_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-nyd_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-nyd_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-nyd_2-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-nyd_2-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-nyd_2-5) Kennedy, Helen (February 2, 2003). ["He Takes Fatal OD As Internet Pals Watch: Chatroom vultures egged him to pop more Rx pills"](http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2003/02/02/2003-02-02_he_takes_fatal_od_as_interne.html). *New York Daily News*. Retrieved July 23, 2010.{{[cite news](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_news)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service)) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Obituary: Brandon Carl Vedas"](https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/azcentral/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=725033). *[The Arizona Republic](/source/The_Arizona_Republic)*. January 16, 2003. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210130210345/https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/azcentral/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=725033) from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2020. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Craig, Olga (February 9, 2003). ["Chatmates watched internet suicide"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1421554/Chatmates-watched-internet-suicide.html). *Telegraph.co.uk*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20091010211439/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1421554/Chatmates-watched-internet-suicide.html) from the original on October 10, 2009. Retrieved December 17, 2008. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-IRC_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-IRC_5-1) ["IRC chat logs (part 1)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090618053844/http://mirrored.flabber.nl/gozer.irc.webcam.OD/ripperlog.txt). *IRC*. January 12, 2003. Archived from [the original](http://mirrored.flabber.nl/gozer.irc.webcam.OD/ripperlog.txt) on June 18, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Brandon Vedas aka Ripper Chat room Log"](https://web.archive.org/web/20130127132021/http://egomania.nu/princessnatalie.com/4.html). *egomania.nu*. Archived from [the original](http://egomania.nu/princessnatalie.com/4.html) on January 27, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2013. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Bering, Jesse (October 23, 2020). [*Suicidal: Why We Kill Ourselves*](https://books.google.com/books?id=c5IlEAAAQBAJ). University of Chicago Press. p. 160. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-226-75555-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-226-75555-7). ## External links - [Memorial site created by his brother](https://web.archive.org/*/http://www.brandonvedas.com) - [IRC log of incident (part 1)](https://web.archive.org/web/20090618053844/http://mirrored.flabber.nl/gozer.irc.webcam.OD/ripperlog.txt) at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) (archived June 18, 2009) - [IRC log of incident (part 2)](https://web.archive.org/web/20031009052158/http://mirrored.flabber.nl/gozer.irc.webcam.OD/post-ripperlog.txt) at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) (archived October 9, 2003) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Death of Brandon Vedas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Brandon_Vedas) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Brandon_Vedas?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.