Hollywood and Heroin: Why the intrigue?
Last year it was Cory Monteith. Now the media is focused upon the loss of the tremendously talented Philip Seymour Hoffman, who was found dead at just 46 on Sunday after an apparent overdose.
Hoffman joins the legions of others in the spotlight who have gone too soon thanks to their penchant for drugs, namely heroin.
From Jim Morrison to John Belushi to Kurt Cobain to Philip Seymour Hoffman, why are so many incredibly talented people hooked on heroin?
We asked Addiction specialist Dr. A. R. Mohammad, M.D., who is a board-certified expert psychiatrist, an associate professor at USC’s Keck School of Medicine where he teaches addiction medicine, and is the founder and medical director of Inspire Malibu Treatment Center, to get his perspective of why stars tread into such a treacherous dark dangerous world.
CelebZter: From Jim Morrison to John Belushi to Kurt Cobain to Philip Seymour Hoffman, why are so many incredibly talented people hooked on heroin?
Dr. A. R. Mohammad: It’s not just celebrities that are hooked on heroin. It’s everybody. We only hear about the high-profile people because they’re newsworthy and it’s a story people want to read when it’s about somebody famous. Before 2000 or earlier, heroin users were either people in the bad parts of town that were stereotypical junkies, or artists that were turned on by other artists. Today, prescription pain medications get people hooked and they turn to heroin on the street because it’s cheaper and easier to get than pills when the prescription runs out. Many prescription medications have been reclassified, making them harder for doctors to write and patients to get.
It’s not just celebrities that are hooked on heroin. It’s everybody. We only hear about the high-profile people because they’re newsworthy and it’s a story people want to read when it’s about somebody famous. Before 2000 or earlier, heroin users were either people in the bad parts of town that were stereotypical junkies, or artists that were turned on by other artists. Today, prescription pain medications get people hooked and they turn to heroin on the street because it’s cheaper and easier to get than pills when the prescription runs out. Many prescription medications have been reclassified, making them harder for doctors to write and patients to get.
CelebZter: What is the heroin high like? Can it make you a better “performer”?
Dr. A. R. Mohammad: Pain medications feel really good, the stronger the better. A tolerance to them builds quickly and it’s easy to get hooked. As time goes on, the tolerance increases requiring more to get the same feeling. It’s like chasing that first high, except it’s needed every day just to feel okay. Without it, withdrawal sets in, which can be painful physically. Because heroin is stronger than pain pills, everything is enhanced – the high, the tolerance, the amount needed, and the withdrawal. To hear heroin users describe it, the feeling is like floating on a cloud. Many describe it as the love of their life.
CelebZter: Is heroin use easier to hide than other drugs?
Dr. A. R. Mohammad: Heroin use isn’t easier or harder to hide than other drugs of the type. It’s easier to hide than alcohol, pot, and psychedelics because users go through pretty dramatic changes when on them and it’s easy to know something is different. For heroin, it’s about the same as other pain medications. They don’t seem drunk or tripping. They just feel good, most of the time.
CelebZter: Is heroin addiction worse than other types of addiction?
Dr. A. R. Mohammad: The main thing that makes heroin addiction different from other substances is the tolerance and pain of withdrawal. The tolerance causes users to seek more and the only way to keep it going is to inject it. At some point, they go overboard and do too much or use something more pure than they’re accustomed to. This usually causes an overdose and the heart to fail. Withdrawal is so excruciating, users want to keep using at all costs to avoid withdrawal.
CelebZter: Do many of the people you treat get started in their life of drugs because of what they see in the movies or on TV?
Dr. A. R. Mohammad: I’m not sure about our census, but heroin use isn’t something that people do because they saw it on TV. In the past, it was considered a street drug used by junkies and it was the opposite of glamorous so nobody wanted to do it. In the past ten years, especially since 2006 or so, people moved up to it when they couldn’t get prescription pain pills. It’s now cheap and easy to get. Because it takes little time to get hooked and it’s tough to kick, usage has increased dramatically. It’s not really a party drug as much as it is a maintenance drug.
