Houston’s Drug Use Lost Amid Tributes

OPINION

Updated Apr. 21, 2017 5:32PM EDT / Published Feb. 20, 2012 11:55AM EST

Mel Evans / AP Photo

A few times a year, the media gets the itch, writes Maer Roshan of The Fix. Celebrity deaths and scandals are big news, and when drugs are thrown into the mix, it makes for an even more appealing news-cycle cocktail. But what gets lost amid the tributes and memorials, whether for Amy Winehouse or Whitney Houston, and the breathless tabloid coverage of Charlie Sheen’s latest travails, is the true nightmare that is chemical addiction. The numbers aren’t good: overdose rates have tripled since 1990, and the Department of Health and Human Services found in 2010 that 22 million Americans suffer from a dependency on drugs or alcohol. It’s time to take a look at what the camera misses when it goes for glitz and glamour.

Read it at The Fix

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Houston’s Drug Use Lost Amid Tributes

Mel Evans / AP Photo