Drugs and Celebrities - Report Example

Drugs and Celebrities By: Use of drugs has caused many effects to the people. There are various types of effects of drugs. People mostly abuse drugs that are stimulants, depressants, and hallucinogens. All these drugs are very harmful to the body. Statistics shows drugs are the leading causes of deaths. Some common effects that drugs causes are hallucinations and increased heartbeat rate. Celebrities too fall in the brackets of people who experience effects of drug abuse. They have much money at their disposal, hence indulging in drug abuse. Drugs taunt their image and they slowly fade from the limelight. This paper will show how print media have portrayed the deaths of celebrities due to drug abuse. Michael Jackson was a celebrity whose death had relation to use of drugs. Many print media indicated that he was the one to face the blame for his death. The print media spread the news of Michael’s death very fast. The same media spread information that he died due to drug addiction. The headlines of many printed media bared the information. The authors of these print media were not even part of his life. They spread the news that Michael was going to die because of drugs even before he died. The print media was not specific on the drugs Michael was abusing. Michael began abusing drugs since the day he had an accidental acid spill on his head while doing a commercial for Pepsi. He had much stress that forced him to abuse drugs. The papers further reported that one time he suffered a spider bite. The bite made him use certain drugs to heal him. The reports show that the drugs were addictive to Michael. However, contrary to this, as soon as Michael died, truth about the wound circulated. It was not due to spider bites, but it was because of the drugs he injected himself. There were drugs that were to be significant to the health of Michael. He only took half of the dose of the meaningful drugs. Zanaflex is an example of the drug administered to Michael. The printed media indicated that this drug would relax the muscles. Michael used to take four tablets of Zanaflex. Another drug listed in the printed media was Temazepam. This drug was to help Michael treat insomnia. He usually lacked enough sleep. The media usually portrayed Michael as an artist who suffered from panic attacks. They further reported that he often used Clonazepam as a drug to treat panic attacks. There were days that Michael suffered from mental balance. His brain was not responding the required way. The printed media gave information of Michael using Trazondone to gain mental balance. The Daily mail indicates how the doctors tried to save Michael’s life, but they could not. The study raised the question whether Michael died due to cardiac arrest. Michael was using Vicodin the week before his death. The drug was a painkiller. The article indicates that drugs made his health deteriorate. The deteriorating health was due to cancer, according to rumors. The report said that Michael was again suffering from emphysema and extreme bleeding. All this defections happened because Michael was competing between using prescribed medicines and facial surgery. A disorder called Vitiligo is the reason behind his white skin. Furthermore, the star was suffering from lupus a disease that affects the tissue (Ryan, 2013, p. 23). The London times indicate that Michael’s former Michael Jackson’s promoter was not responsible for his death. The article blames Dr. Murray, for Michael’s death. The article further blames the overdose of an anesthetic propofol, as the main cause of Michael’s death. Lawyers blame Michael’s close friends for his death. Lawyers argue that Michael consumed poison on the night when rehearsing for 50 concerts (Harvey, 2013, p. 65). The Daily Telegraph article reports that Michael’s doctor was the one responsible for his death. The doctor administered a strong painkiller to Michael the night of his death. The personal physician was with Michael when he suffered a cardiac arrest. The authorities question why he could not save his life at that moment. The lawyers blame overmedication for Michael’s death. The article further reports that the doctors would release the postmortem report after they have done additional tests. The police took the personal doctor of Michael into custody and pressed charges against him. The article further showed how drugs have been part of Michael’s life since the commercial accident (Thompson, 2013, p. 43). The Observer (England) points the blame to Michael’s personal doctor. The article indicates that the doctor gave Michael strong painkillers. During the rehearsals, Michael always looked weak and fragile. The rehearsals were too demanding to Michael, and he settled for painkillers to cure the stress. Dr. Murray was the physician who took care of Michael. The doctor had many issues that questioned his integrity. Family members were not happy with Dr. Murray being around Michael (Gumbel, 2013, p. 54). The Guardian (London) shows how Michael was a Victim of drug addiction. It indicates that Michael died due to overconsumption of powerful drugs. The public blamed Michael’s personal doctor, Dr. Murray for the death. The doctor admitted that he injected Michael with propofol on the night of his death. The article further reports that the personal doctor injected Michael with painkillers that night. The doctor admitted that Michael was becoming an addict of the painkiller. He usually suffered from insomnia and the painkillers would help him gain the sleep. The police questioned Dr. Murray and investigated his undertakings. The article indicates that Dr. Murray went into hiding after Michael’s death. He left a message in youtube saying that the truth will prevail at last (Nasaw, 2013, p. 76). Amy Winehouse was a star who lived with problems due to overdose of drugs, especially alcohol. She died due to alcohol poisoning. She was a serious addict of Cocaine. According to the Daily Telegraph article, Amy Winehouse died due to self-destruct. She was indulging herself in a drinking spree. She was lonely and she wanted a soul mate. She cancelled many concerts. It affected her career so much. Her weight reduced drastically. At one time, she found herself with bruises all over her body. She did not know what had happened. According to the London Times article, Amy died due to alcohol poisoning. The singer was an alcohol addict who loved to party out with friends. It further shows Amy being lonely and going through a period of abstinence. The period was very harsh to the singer. It made her overindulge in alcohol. When she died, police found bottles beside her body. It was a proof that the singer had consumed alcohol the night before. The content of alcohol in her body was almost five times the required limit. It was evident that Amy was suffering from drug and substance addiction. During the trial, the pathologist indicated that Amy had over consumed alcohol, which caused respiratory arrest. The article further reports that Amy had given up on other drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin but she had not given up on alcohol. The doctors helped her avoid alcohol abuse, but she only managed to abstain from alcohol for only two weeks. The article says she started drinking alcohol because she felt bored (MCKINLEY, 2013, p. 76). Sunday Mercury article points at drug addiction for the reason behind Amy’s downfall. It says drug addiction overshadowed her music career. Amy was found dead unexpectedly at her London home, and drugs were behind this death. The article shows how Amy would publicly state her drug abuse state. It was like a state of self-denial that she was an addict. She knew drug abuse had affected her life. It led to her releasing a song called ‘rehab’ with a message of her not going to rehabilitation, despite her father’s wish. The article gives a situation when before Amy released her album, she suffered from manic depressions: a disorder that results to extreme mood swings. She also suffered from eating disorder (COLE, 2013, p. 98). All these effects were due to indulging in substance abuse. It was a deep-rooted problem, because Amy had enrolled into several rehab programs, but later left. Physical withdrawal was the core reason for her to substitute rehab with drug abuse. The article indicates that Amy would confine her problems to drugs. Experts knew her death was preventable because the singer had a chance to rehabilitate herself. Her father too was to face the blame for the singer’s drug problems. There were situations in which wrangles emerged in the singer’s family. Her father admitted that the family problems often led to Amy abusing drugs. The family problems started long ago when Amy was only two years old. It began when her father often had an affair with his co-worker, which became hard for Amy to bear. Moreover, in 2006, Amy’s grandmother died. The singer attributes her success to the grandmother. The death caused further depression to Amy. She further involved herself in drug abuse. The singer suffered from multiple mental depressions, ranging from the chemical effects of drugs to her personal life. The mental depressions exposed her to severe drug addiction (SALAHI, 2011, p. 90). The Observer article blames drugs for Amy’s death. The article states that her love life was the reason behind her addiction. It began when her boyfriend Reg, dumped Amy. It propelled her to use of drugs. It was a means of reducing stress and loneliness. She was desperately looking for a true love and a husband. The singer has suffered a lot from love. Divorced parents raised her since her childhood. Amy wanted love that would bring a sense of security to her life. The insecurity that she felt in life led her to drugs. She did major drugs like cocaine and alcohol. Her search for love led her to Blake, who then became her husband. Amy’s father blames this man for dipping Amy deeper into drug abuse (Wilson, 2013, p. 76). The daily telegraph blames drugs for finishing a highly successful talent in Amy. She died only 27 years, but her face looked more than those years. She looked old. Alcohol and other tranquilized drugs had significant negative effects in her body. She suffered from near death experiences throughout her life. Her life was self-destruct. The article points at a situation during her early years when she was 12; her school expelled her due to piercing of her nose. The article brings stages of her music career. It was until 2006 when she felt success, that she became too obsessive with drugs. Her relationship with Blake was the beginning of drug problems. Blake introduced her to hard drugs, and after sometimes, she started losing weight and acted in weird behaviors. The article gives a situation in which Amy went to rehab for only 15 minutes to report her drinking problem. Her performances were often shambolic because she would perform while drunk. She admitted that she had problems with drinking. The article further shows how her personal life overshadowed her music life. The doctors prescribed her with medication to treat her manic depression, but she would not follow the prescription. She indulged in alcohol so much that, at times, she cancelled her concerts. The press often portrayed her life as destroyed. The drugs caused her to release embarrassing videos and portrayed her bad habits to her fans. The drugs caused her morals to decay and became a disgrace to many. Furthermore, the drugs caused her to conflict with the law enforcers. Police arrested several times, notably one time when she slapped one of her fans. There was information leaked on the internet, her smoking crack. The police investigated her after the video, but she was not charged. The article indicated that Amy was suffering from lung infections due to her obsession with cigarettes. The lung infections caused her to faint at her flat in 2008. Family members rushed her to the hospital to the hospital in time, and the doctors advised her to quit smoking. At some time, Amy attacked a theater manager after the manager asked her to leave the show because she was drunk. It became disgracing to her, thus, she booked a rehab program (Bentley, 2013, p. 20). There are various ways the printed media has portrayed deaths caused by use of drugs. They want the main blame to remain with the addict. They portray the death of Michael Jackson as a criminal activity. The print media blames Dr. Murray for acting with negligence while offering the required dosage. It further recommends for prosecution of a doctor because he should have acted responsibly. The print media portrays Michael Jackson’s death as self-destruction. It has highlighted situations where Michael did not comply with prescriptions the doctor offered him (Chowdhury, 2005, p. 24). He used drugs to treat his stressful mental state. The media brought openly the life of Michael to the public. The public overshadowed the music life of Michael with his private life. The print media did not want to live any stone about Michael’s life unturned. They portrayed his life as extravagant because he spent most of his money buying drugs. They did not have enough evidence of him using these drugs. The authors were not part of his life and they relied on information from unreliable sources. Michael could have died due to his obsession with drugs but the media portrayed his death as negligence by his personal doctor (George, 2010, p. 67). The media portrayed Amy’s death as self-destruct. It gives circumstances in which Amy indulged in abuse of hard drugs, even after the doctor’s advice. She had the opportunity to undergo a rehabilitation program, but she turned it down. The media portray her death to be preventable. There were situations that her managers and close friends tried to help her. The media brought her life openly to the people. The public was in a position to predict her death (Winehouse, 2012, p. 12). The media has portrayed the use of drugs as dangerous. It has given situations, as the death of both Michael and Amy, where the drugs could be dangerous to someones health. The media portray drugs as substances that doctors should give prescriptions. Example is the death of Michael. He did not follow the required prescription. The media has focused mainly on the use of alcohol. It has highlighted alcohol as the main cause of deaths. Amy Winehouse is an example of celebrity who died due to overconsumption of alcohol. The media blames the pop culture for the spread of drug abuse. Both artists in this paper were pop artists. The media has normalized the use of drugs. Celebrities have been using drugs as a means of leisure. They consume drugs during their recreational time, and the media has admitted that is normal for them to use. It states that, qualified physicians should administer these drugs. The situation of Michael and Amy happened when both of them used drugs without prescription. The two artists were both adolescents, and the government allows adolescents to use drugs (Foster, 1990, p. 20). There are impacts of the deaths of these two artists to the readers. The readers have learnt to be responsible when dealing with drugs. The readers have known the value of doctor’s advice when it comes to drugs. The advice would help them prevent drugs overreaction in their bodies. There are readers who are aspiring to be future artists. They have learnt a lot from the lives of Michael and Amy. They will know how to live life responsibly to prevent sudden end to their talents. The readers have understood the importance of drug therapy. One should consider seeing a doctor who would advice on which drug to cure mental stress and situations of loneliness (Richards, 1986, p. 12). The readers have learnt the importance of respecting the advice of friends and close people in life. Close friends of Amy advised her to go to rehab, but she refused. In the end, she died due to the drugs that were avoidable. Conclusion Drugs could have negative effects on the life of a person. It requires trained personnel to administer these drugs. The doctors should be responsible for the lives of their patients. If Dr. Murray was more responsible, Michael would not have died. People should be also responsible for their lives. Amy did not take heed the advices from the doctors and close friends. There are various means of reducing stress. Physicians recommend people not to rely on drugs, to concur stress (Hanson, 2014, pp. 300-500). References COLE, P. (2013). Sunday Mercury. Sunday Mercury , 1. Dillon, N. (2012). Michael Jackson nearly overdosed, family staged at least 10 drug interventions: brother. Daily news , 2. Foster, S. D. (1990). Improving the Supply and Use of Essential Drugs. Chicago: World Bank Publications,. Fuller, B. (2011). Amy Winehouse Was Killed By Her Love Addiction As Much As Her Drug Addiction! HolyHood Life , 2. George, N. (2010). Thriller: The Musical Life of Michael Jackson. New York: Da Capo Press. Gumbel, A. (2013). The observer. The observer , 1. Hanson, G. R. (2014). Drugs and Society. New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Harvey, M. (2013). The Times London. The Times , 1. MCKINLEY, J. C. (2013). Second Inquest Confirms Amy Winehouse Died of Alcohol Poisoning. New York Times , 2. Montaldo, C. (2009). The Death of Michael Jackson. Crime Article , 2. Nasaw, D. (2013). The Guardian. 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