As a counselor for drug awareness classes I discussed the tragic demise and death of pop diva Whitney Houston with my students last weekend. Both Houston and Michael Jackson dies in the past year or so from drug overdose. Both had long histories of drug and substance abuse and both mixed all kinds of drugs.
Bankrupt
It is hard to believe that someone could fritter away $150 million. Mike Tyson, another celebrity with a long history of substance abuse too, managed to do it.
Houston’s fortune disappeared under a mound of white powder.
At her peak in the 1980s and ’90s, Whitney was the golden girl of the music industry — and one of the world’s best-selling artists. But her descent into a drug-addled hell saw the hits dry up — and her millions swallowed up by ruthless dealers.
Who Lives Like This?
Whitney famously denied using crack when she was interviewed on TV in 2002, saying: “I make too much money to smoke crack. But she would eventually admit to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills — while her powerful voice was ruined by the effects of smoking crack pipes.
Sign, Signs Everywhere are Signs!
Houston was rushed to hospital in 2003 with blood gushing from her nose, later emerging with a bizarre bandage on her face. And the full extent of her spiral into squalor and degradation emerged in 2006 with the publication of shocking photos showing the disgusting state of her bathroom after a drug binge.
Drug gear, including a crack pipe and cocaine-encrusted spoons, was strewn across the filthy room. In a brutally honest interview with TV chat queen Oprah Winfrey three years later, Whitney finally admitted for the first time that she had become addicted to crack in the 1990s after marrying fellow pop star Bobby Brown.
She even admitted she spent seven months living in her pajamas while hooked on the killer drug.
Whitney told how she and Brown would get off their heads smoking cannabis laced with crack.
Houston admitted that her drug problems began to spiral out of control after finishing the film “The Bodyguard” with Kevin Costner in.
Houston twice went into rehab before telling Oprah she was drug-free in 2010.
In 2006 she faced eviction from her £4million home after running up almost £500,000 in mortgage arrears and unpaid taxes.
Just five years earlier, Whitney had signed what was then the biggest record deal in music history — a $100 million six-album contract with Arista/BMG.
What a tragic story. Hopefully her death will serve as a beacon to others suffering from addiction. Whether it was Whitney Houston’s $150 million, a middle class businessperson blowing $250,000 or a working-class citizen losing $5,000 on drugs, addiction take their toll on all who abuse.
Source: indepthafrica.com