Celebrity Drug deaths

 Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Wilson, Frankie Lymon, Billie Holiday, Hank Williams and many more have lost their lives prematurely to drug use.

•         Elvis’ death was on account of lethal amounts of prescription drugs found in his system during the toxicology report. 
•    Marilyn Monroe’s death was ruled a suicide from an overdose on barbiturates and chloral hydrate. 

   It seems as if this was the case for almost all drug related deaths in the past. The law enforcement and families of the lost ones worked to cover up the truth about these tragic deaths.

Why it seems celebrities are more prone to drug abuse

It actually is misleading to assume that celebrities are more prone to use drugs. Any person can inherit that DNA. Addiction doesn’t discriminate, it is something that affect all people. Some causes of drug use are psycho-social stressors such as:

·         Being in the limelight

·         Thrill seeking

·         Wanting to fulfill the same void that performance does

“Celebrities might have slightly different stressers, such asfame, but they use drugs like regular people — they just use better drugs.”

Current state of drug addiction

            More often now, people are becoming severley addicted to prescription drugs. The following celebrities have died from an overdose on prescription drugs:

·         Brittany Murphy

·         Heath Ledger

·         Anna Nicole Smith

·         Keith Moon

·         Judy Garland

·         Dorothy Dandridge

·         Marilyn Monroe

·         Michael Jackson

What can be done to put an end to the drug epidemic?

The only real solution is the education of our youth. If we educate the youth about the dangers of drugs, they will be less likely to try them, and fall into addiction.

 

           

Research

Drug addiction is and has been an ongoing world epidemic. More often than the average citizen however, research shows celebrities are found falling more into drug related crisis’ which often times leads them to an early death. There are many programs and facilities put in place in an effort to help celebrities cope with addiction. Why are celebrities more prone to struggle with addiction? How has celebrity drug abuse evolved over the years into what it is like today?

            Celebrities have been overdosing on drugs for years. Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Wilson, Frankie Lymon, Billie Holiday and Hank Williams are all artists from the past who lost their lives early due to drug use. Elvis’ death was on account of lethal amounts of prescription drugs found in his system during the toxicology report.  In order to preserve his “good image”, a cover up was put in place by his family and pathologists . Marilyn Monroe’s death was ruled a suicide from an overdose on barbiturates and chloral hydrate. Again, following her death, the Los Angelespolice tried to cover it up in an effort to preserve her image . It seems as if this was the case for almost all drug related deaths in the past. The law enforcement and families of the lost ones worked to cover up the truth about these tragic deaths.  Substance abuse was also more common in the past because of a lack of drug education. Teenagers were more prone to experiment with drugs because they had no knowledge of the horrible affects and what addiction what do to their lives.

            As time progresses, it seems that it is more common for celebrities to fall victim to problems with addiction than the average citizen. There are many theories for why this is the case as well as some theories stating that it is not. An article written in USA Today states this:

Addiction experts say it's a misleading assumption that celebs are more prone to addictive behavior, because anyone can inherit that DNA. "Addiction does not discriminate, it cuts across all socioeconomic classes," says Kevin Hill, addictions psychiatrist in charge of drug abuse treatment at Harvard Medical School's McLean Hospital. "People use according topsycho-social stressers. Celebrities might have slightly different stressers,such as fame, but they use drugs like regular people — they just use betterdrugs."

With that being said, it is hard to assume celebrities are more likely to become addicted to drugs. It can be found, however that when celebrities do find themselves addicted to drugs, it is more severe. Not only is it more severe, but the recovery process can be very long and tumultuous. Because of this, there are a lot of programs/rehabilitation facilities that are geared toward the recovery of drug addicted celebrities.   The new aspect of drug addiction which isslowly on the rise, are prescription drugs .  More and more people are becoming addicted to prescription drugs, taking them excessively, mixing them with alcohol, which all have fatal results. Celebrities are more focused on in this drug epidemic, mainly due to their public limelight. Their business is the world’s business so a secret addiction becomes not so secret anymore.  In this day, at this point in time drug education is a part of all schooling. Children are informed at preteen age, of the dangers and severity of using drugs. As a result, the numbers of teenagers experimenting with drugs has decreased drastically. Education is key to continuing to reduce the amount of lives loss to drug addiction.

Lastly, the question arises: Why is celebrity drug addiction more focused on and more prominent than the average citizen? Simply put, celebrities are in the limelight. They are public attractions, therefore their private lives are made public in the blink of an eye. As far as them being more likely to take part in drugs, that is false. Celebrities just have easier access to drugs, and can afford to pay a lot of money for the expensive kind. Aside from this, they face no real consequence or risk of loss as a regular person would. Celebrities face stressors of being in the limelight that the average person does not. This stress could most certainly be a causing factor for drug use among celebrities. Addiction therapist John Tsilimparis has this to say about celebrity drug addiction:

Let us first remember that addiction is a serious, chronic and debilitating illness that is very, very difficult to treat, period. Addiction does not discriminate -- it can affect anyone. It can even affect people that to us seem happy or appear to "have it all." But throw in fame, stardom, wealth, the pressure to perform, the high expectations, and most importantly the public scrutiny that goes along with it, and you can have a lethal combination, a perfect storm that can lead anyone down a treacherous path of destruction and sometimes death. Addiction is also a progressive illness that left unacknowledged only gets worse over time unless measures are taken to address the problem and treat it appropriately.  

This reiterates the point that celebrities are subject to certain stressors that the average person is not, making them more susceptible to drug use. Being under watch at all times, and trying to maintain there seeming perfection, becomes difficult for celebrities. As a resuly, they fall into addiction as a means to cope.

The number of young lives lost too soon as a result of drug abuse is a sad reality. It is an epidemic especially among celebrities that must be stopped. The war on drugs is an ongoing one that will take many more years to end. It starts with the education of the youth. The more they are educated about the hazards of drugs, the less they are to fall into drug abuse/addiction which ultimately leads to an untimely death.