The recent deaths of actors Cory Monteith and Philip Seymour Hoffman has shined a spotlight on the rise in heroin use in the U.S. What's the connection to opioid pain pill addiction? WSJ's Jason Bellini has #TheShortAnswer.
Heroin has been used by celebrities and those in the entertainment industry for decades, experts say, but they are under more scrutiny than the rest of the population.. Source: Supplied
WHAT is it with celebrities and heroin?
The lives of a number of well-known people will be linked to the dangerous and addictive drug forever now -and in many cases overshadow the work they became household names for.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, found dead in February with a syringe in his arm and small envelopes of drugs scattered throughout his New York apartment, joins Cory Meredith, Janis Joplin, River Phoenix and John Belushi, who all overdosed and died after taking either heroin or a combination of heroin and cocaine.
The most recent casualty is Peaches Geldof, 25, the daughter of Band Aid founder Bob Geldof. She died last month from a suspected heroin overdose, 14 years after her own mother, TV personality Paula Yates, overdosed and died exactly the same way.
Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his New York apartment in February from a heroin overdose. Source: AP
When Hoffman died, fans and celebrities were shocked that such a highly respected and gifted actor could be lost to a drug overdose. But experts say heroin and Hollywood have gone hand-in-hand for decades.
"That heroin is used in the entertainment industry and that group of individuals is nothing new. We could have been having this conversation 60 years ago, in the 1950s, when heroin use was huge among jazz musicians," Dr. Jason Jerry, director of the Cleveland Clinic, told ABC News.
"Entertainers are just probably more in the spotlight than the rest of the population so we hear about it more.''
Many are shocked that those in the public eye could hide a heroin habit.
Drug experts say heroin use among entertainers may surprise the public because the hardcore drug is not talked about the same way that cocaine or other desiger drugs were discussed.
"There are people who go everyday using a little bit of heroin and you would never know it," said Dr. Joseph Strand of Harvard Medical School. "Perhaps it's hidden better (because) it's not culturally condoned."
Why certain people are attracted to a particular drug may never be known, but addiction experts note cocaine has a reputation for being appealing to business people for its ability give them energy and focus.
Heroin's appeal is that it allows users to escape reality — which for those in high-stress or highly visible professions may be a temptation too great to ignore.
"In certain professions where there is high stress there is a greater proclivity to people using alcohol or drugs to get rid of that kind of stress," Strand said.
"Part of what may be happening in some people is there is this sense of invulnerability, they have this high profile, visible profile and other people give them all this acclaim, and there is a sense that nothing bad can ever happen to me."
"Certainly there is the idea that type-A personalities gravitate toward stimulants because they feel it increases their productivity and boosts their performance, at least initially," said Jerry, although he pointed out heroin addictions affected all demographics and professions.
Peaches Geldof died last month from a suspected heroin overdose. Source: AFP
Both drug addiction experts said prescription medication was often a gateway to heroin use. And heroin and prescription drugs were often combined to deal with anxiety and depression.
"People who are anxious and depressed or angry and don't like being angry can certainly go to other drugs to have some sense of pleasure," Strand said.
Actor River Phoenix was said to be ghostly white and unsteady on his feet before he dropped dead from a heroin and cocaine overdose in 1993, aged only 23. Source: News Limited
Jerry said many people start taking narcotic painkillers they are prescribed, but then find them habit-forming.
"Some people develop an addiction to narcotic pain pills and after that, start thinking, 'Why am I spending $1 a milligram on oxycodone when I could get heroin for a tenth of that? I'm just going to be snorting it, not shooting it like a junkie.' And it's gradual steps, all of a sudden people find themselves shooting heroin," Jerry said.
Singer Janis Joplin, another victim of a heroin overdose. Source: News Limited
Earlier this year a Los Angeles based artist set up an eight-foot Oscar statue shooting up heroin to highlight what he said was Hollywood's "dirty drug secret''.
After Hoffman's death some celebrities opened up about their own struggles with heroin, People reported.
Russell Brand, sober for 11 years, wrote a column in an effort to help others overcome their addictions: "The mentality and behaviour of drug addicts and alcoholics is wholly irrational until you understand that they are completely powerless over their addiction,'' he wrote.
And Robert Downey Jr said "smoking dope and smoking coke'' left you defenceless. "The only way out of that hopeless state is intervention."
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