Jun
29
2009
Drugs: A Legacy of Death
Author: DrugRehabRevealed: The EIGHT drugs Michael Jackson was taking EVERY DAY before his fatal heart attack
By Michael Seamark and David Gardner
Last updated at 9:03 PM on 27th June 2009
Devastated: Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris and his mother Katherine arriving at his Beverly Hills home after he died
Michael Jackson was taking a devastating cocktail of drugs in the weeks before his sudden death, it has emerged.
The singer was said to be taking three powerful painkillers all at the same time, when more than could be potentially fatal, and was also consuming vast quantities of other pills every day.
It is claimed Jackson, 50, was injected with the powerful painkiller Demerol - a synthetic drug similar to morphine - moments before he collapsed and died from a massive heart attack.
Sources cited by The Sun claim the star was having three of these injections every day but was also taking two other painkillers Dilaudid and Vicodin.
On top of this potentially deadly combination, Jackson was also taking a host of other medications as he battled to get fit and healthy ahead of his comeback concerts in Britain next month.
They included the muscle relaxant Soma, sedative Xanax, anti-depressent Zoloft, Paxil for anxiety and the heartburn pill Prilosec, it is claimed.
Such a huge amount of drugs would have been dangerous for anyone but even more so for Jackson, who at 5ft11 weighed only nine stone and whose health had long been a concern.
The new claims about the singer’s drug abuse came as his body was released back to his family early today as police were preparing to question one of the singer’s doctors.
The doctor, named as cardiologist Conrad Robert Murray, was said to have tried to revive Jackson, then disappeared for several hours.
Sources said the singer had been using the drug Demerol as he battled to be fit for his first London show next month. The heart specialist had been living at his rented house.
Sad journey: The body of Michael Jackson is lifted from a helicopter and into a waiting coroner’s van
According to U.S. website TMZ, which broke the news of Jackson’s death, police are also looking to talk to Dr Tohme Tohme about an ‘alleged indirect connection’ between prescription drugs and the death.
Dr Tohme describes himself as Jackson’s longterm friend and manager. He told the website: ‘I don’t have anything to do with his (Jackson’s) medication or health’.
A three and a half hour post mortem was conducted yesterday. Coroners said there were no signs of foul play or trauma but more tests were needed and could take up to eight weeks to complete.
Deadly cocktail: Jackson was allegedly taking painkillers Demerol, Vicodin, Dilaudid, anti-anxiety medications Xanax and Zoloft, muscle relaxant Soma, Prisolec for heartburn and the anti-depressant Paxil…”
Drugs. Prescription drugs. Street drugs. ”Meds”. Pharmaceuticals. It is a legacy of death for those vunerable artists who fail to protect themselves from the drug dealers–whether they be sanctioned by the medical or psychiatric profession with a license to practice, or merely selling their wares on the streets or in the back alleys of life. Those who with ill-intent would prey upon the giftedness and great spiritual wealth bestowed upon few who walk this planet–and who, with their drugs, ultimately destroy our beloved artists who bring beauty and culture and hope to the people of the world. Artists who change our lives and our cultures forever with their creativity and vision and freedom of spirit, as is their birthright.
Farewell, Michael. Just as we bade farewell with broken hearts to those greats who fell before you under the same onslaught of betrayal in the name of help…Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin, Jimmi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, et al.
As poet James Kavanaugh wrote, “There are men too gentle to live among wolves”.
Godspeed, Michael.