America: Don't Let Whitney's Death be in Vain

02/18/12

According to the February 15^th cnn.com article, following Houston's death, famed recording artist Tony Bennett proposed legalizing drugs as a means of forcing people – and thus protecting them, from themselves, it seems, ultimately – to get said drugs through a doctor, versus the black market. Per the article, he was quoted as saying at Clive Davis' Beverly Hills party: “First it was Michael Jackson, then it was Amy Winehouse, and now, the magnificent Whitney Houston. I'd like to have every gentleman and lady in this room commit themselves to get our government to legalize drugs -- so they'll have to get it through a doctor, not to some gangsters who just sell it under the table.”

However, Bennett's statements may have been fueled more by grief than by logic. While the cause of Houston's death is still not known, it is known that she had a long and public struggle with abuse of drugs, both legal and illegal. So, it may very well be that Houston died from an overdose of legal and/or illegal drugs. Be that as it may, it doesn't change the fact that's she – not only a superstar but a daughter, a mother, a friend, and a wife – is now dead.

Her senseless death is tragic, as is the senseless drug related deaths of so many others who are not celebrities. This goes without saying. However, what Tony Bennett seems to have overlooked is responsibility: every person must claim responsibility for his or her actions, and choices, and the consequences that follow – a thought process that seems to be sorely lacking throughout the nation in a myriad of ways. Bennett's suggestion to legalize drugs seems to be a totally misguided, reckless and frightening way of shifting that responsibility.

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Drug addiction is an ugly business, to be sure. To her credit, Houston did seek rehabilitation time and again, with clearly, no positive results. However, Houston also clearly had carte blanche access to the best care in the world, and failed to benefit from that. At the end of the day, while sad, and while all of the circumstances are not known to us, it's hard to feel sorry for someone who had every advantage in life, financial and otherwise, and continued to return to a dangerous lifestyle, and expect different results.

Author of the cnn.com article, William J. Bennett, formerly served as the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President George H.W. Bush. Aside from taking personal responsibility for one's life, he shot the following holes in Bennett's argument to legalize drugs.

First, the late Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Heath Ledger, Brittany Murphy and Anna Nicole Smith all died from a combination of legal drug overdoses. Period. End of story.

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In addition to these irrefutable facts, per statistics from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, “prescription drug abuse is the nation's fastest-growing drug problem. In 2007, there were 28,000 deaths from prescription drug overdoses.” That number has grown five-fold from 1990. And, a greater number of people die in America each year due to prescription drug abuse, than from heroin and cocaine combined.

In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, per the article, reports these statistics: in the last decade, the number of deaths caused by the abuse of prescription narcotics has grown by four times. This statistic is in direct correlation with the number of prescriptions being written for said painkillers.

I find I can't say it any better than William J. Bennett, and so, I once again quote him here: “Illicit drugs are not harmful because they are illegal, they are illegal precisely because they are harmful.” To that end, Bennett prescribes tougher law enforcement, prevention and education as a means of combating the drug problems in America.

The only glimmer of hope this latest tragedy offers is that, perhaps, in Titanic-like fashion, Houston's amazing talents and achievements, as well as the publicity surrounding her death, will serve as an example, and will lead to a wake-up call across America, and around the world, and create change – in attitudes, in laws, and in education about drug use and abuse.

As a child of the nineties, Houston's hits, ranging from “I'm Your Baby Tonight”, “Lover for Life”, and “My Name is Not Susan” will live on in my heart, and my mind. Here's looking at you, Whitney.

Whitney Houston, famed recording artist, actress, producer and model, was born on August 9, 1963, and died on February 11, 2012. In 2009, the Guinness World Records cited her as the most awarded female act of all time. Those awards included two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, and 22 American Music Awards; these were among a total of 415 career awards in her lifetime. Additionally, Houston sold over 170 million albums, singles and videos the world over, making her one of the world's best-selling artists.