The timing of Whitney Houston’s death seems almost orchestrated with the Grammy’s this past Sunday night. A day before the awards show, Whitney Houston was found dead, submerged underwater in the bathtub of her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. In fact, it was at this same hotel where Clive Davis, a tremendous influence on Houston’s life and career, would be hosting a party in the late performer’s name.
Though the actual cause of death won’t be certain until a toxicology test can be performed on the body (which can take up to 6-8 weeks), there is much evidence leading the cause of death to be substance abuse related.
Sometimes, its’ even difficult to remember just how unique and talented of a voice Whitney Houston possessed among her scandal-tinged life. Houston is the only artist who has had seven consecutive songs hit the charts at number one and holds the world record as the most-awarded female act of all time—with over 415 major recognitions during her career.
Many also speculate, among them music industry friend Chaka Kahn, that it was the pressures of her success and fame that may have led her towards her descent into a life battling addiction.
The thing about addiction is that it t knows no color, gender, age or influence. Your faith or your devotion to your religion doesn’t matter. Addiction doesn’t discern talent from the lack of it, nor does it matter the amount of fame and wealth and attention a person may have. It’s the addiction that wants the attention and it will go to any length to get it. Addiction kills indiscriminately.
Addiction is a human epidemic, an epidemic that kills thousands of people everyday. Sometimes, we get way too caught up in the spectacle of tearful farewells and tributes that are created by the media that we forget that millions of other people are dealing with the exact same issues—regardless of whether they’re Grammy award-winning artists or not.
According to results from the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 2.4 million Americans used prescription drugs non-medically for the first time within that year. More than half of those people were females and about one-third was between the ages of 12 and 17.
This highlights the importance of how critical it is to get factual information to the public, and work on prevention programs, addiction awareness, and information on evidence-based treatments.
I sincerely hope that if anything is to come from Whitney Houston’s death, that it is a growth in the awareness of the addiction and substance abuse epidemic our society is facing.
Hopefully we can use this to make the administration take on this epidemic and to utilize the media spotlight on this one addict’s death to create real change.
Rudy Mendoza is a junior communications major and a contributing writer for the Daily 49er.
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