Jane's New Book "Addict Nation"

Jane's New Book "Addict Nation"
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Friday, March 25, 2011

Michael Jackson: The King of "Poppers?"


While the circumstances of Michael Jackson’s death may have seemed shocking, they shouldn’t have surprised anyone. Celebrities are overdosing on “legal” drugs more and more, and TV Host Jane Velez-Mitchell says it has become a national epidemic.

The list of celebrities who have overdosed on legal prescription drugs is long and growing fast, with Michael Jackson as the reigning "King." A couple of years before his death, Michael Jackson had been sued after racking up a one hundred thousand dollar tab at a Beverly Hills pharmacy. Famous friends, from Yuri Gellar to Deepak Chopra, were extremely concerned about the star; Chopra refusing him painkillers and Gellar warning Jackson he was going to die if he continued to abuse drugs.  But, here’s the key fact. Not a single drug mentioned in connection with Michael Jackson’s death is an illegal drug. They were all LEGAL prescription drugs being inappropriately prescribed and then abused by perhaps the world’s most famous, and arguably, most talented pill popper. 
Michael Jackson has plenty of competition. The list of celebrities who have overdosed on legal prescription drugs is long and growing fast. Heath Ledger OD’d in his fashionable Manhattan loft on a combination of Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Diazepam, Alprazolam, Temazepam, and the painkillers OxyContin and Vicodin, the anti-anxiety drugs Valium and Xanax and the sleep aids Restoril and Unisom. Anna Nicole Smith had a head-spinning array of legal prescription drugs in her system when she died in a Florida hotel room. Lexapro, Zoloft, Cipro, Klonopin, Valium, Lorazepam, Ativan, Robaxin and the powerful sleep aid Chloral Hydrate were found in her system. All were perfectly legal pharmaceutical drugs.
“Our nation is in the throes of a prescription drug abuse crisis of unprecedented proportions and our myopic, jaded and complacent criminal justice system is in see no evil, hear no evil mode! “ So says best selling author and TV host Jane Velez-Mitchell in her new book Addict Nation-An Intervention for America.
Velez-Mitchell believes the federal government, the medical community and the pharmaceutical industry all have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo because it has become multi billion dollar industry. The airwaves are awash with commercials for prescription drugs and companies are spending billions on these ads. A Harvard/M.I.T. study confirmed this concluding: every $1 the pharmaceutical industry spent on Direct to Consumer advertising in the year 2000 yielded an additional $4.20 in drug sales. The amount Americans are spending on prescription pills has increased at a stunning rate over the last couple of decades, careening toward the 300 billion dollar mark.
“The celebrity stories of addiction I cover on my show Issues are just the tip of the iceberg and point to an “addictogenic” society in the United States,” says Velez-Mitchell.  Instead of OD’ing on cocaine, heroin and LSD, our medicine cabinets are filled with Valium, Vicodin, Prozac, Klonopin, Paxil, Zoloft, Percocet, Wellbutrin, Xanax, Oxycontin and Ambien… and our misuse of these drugs is killing us.
The Associated Press reports that “defense attorneys and prosecutors are set to discuss, among other topics, plans for TV coverage of the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor, who faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter.”
Dr. Conrad Murray has pleaded not guilty in the death of the music superstar on June 25, 2009.
Addict Nation-An Intervention for America” is available online (http://addictnation.org) and in stores.

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About the bestselling author: Jane Velez-Mitchell is an award winning television journalist and author of Addict Nation-An Intervention for America. She currently has her own show on HLN, "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell." She is often seen commenting on high-profile cases for CNN, TruTV, E! and other national cable TV shows. Velez-Mitchell is an environmentalist, "out" lesbian, animal protection advocate, vegan, and recovering alcoholic with over 15 years of sobriety.