Whitney Houston is not the first celebrity whose life has ended tragically, and while her cause of death is still unknown, her years of drug abuse have many asking how her decline was able to unfold before our eyes, just as it has for other celebrities.
"They're more susceptible because they
can get what they want, as much as they want, whenever they want it and that’s a bad combination," according to addiction expert Dr. Gregory A. Smith.
can get what they want, as much as they want, whenever they want it and that’s a bad combination," according to addiction expert Dr. Gregory A. Smith.
Smith said he was sad, but not surprised to hear of Houston's death.
"This is one of the things that I'm really angry about and I really get sick of. People don't have the stones around these celebrities to really stand up to them and say this is not good for you," Smith said. "They enable people because they’re afraid of losing their job when ultimately when their celebrity dies, they lose their job."
He added that prescription pills are not just a problem for celebrities.
"We're about 5 percent of the world's population, but we take about 50 percent of the world's prescription pills, and about 80 percent of the world’s prescription narcotics," Smith said.
Dr. Smith believes we need to move away from the mentality of needing a pill for every problem. A variety of prescription drugs were found in Whitney Houston's hotel room at the Beverly Hilton.
Although toxicology tests are not yet complete, Dr. Smith says a combination of any prescription drugs can be dangerous.
"We know that she was antidepressants. The family has said that she was taking medications for anxiety," Smith said. "The combination, all these pills make your breathing slow down to the point where you can stop breathing, and if there's no one there to arouse you, you'll just go to sleep and you don't wake up."
Dr. Smith hoped Houston's death will serve as a wake up call for what he calls celebrity enablers.
"You have to have people that care about that celebrity to say this is not normal," Smith said. "Instead of just taking pills for this, let’s get some counseling."
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