The King of (Pop) Pills

Was Michael Jackson (shown here with his famoulsly abusive father, Joe) a Buddhist?

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Many are undoubtedly tired of hearing about Jackson, but his life and death bring up many other important topics. The following is actually on the subject of prescription drug abuse: The King [of popping pills] is dead, long live the king....Everyone is anxiously waiting to pounce on the doctors, nurses, and pharmacists who gave Jackson seemingly unlimited access to whatever pill or drip he needed, wanted, or craved....But I'm sure no one forced Jackson...

In fact, the real culprit in this tragedy is less a negligent doctor or well-paid enabler than the cultural milieu we live in: let's pop a pill and make all our problems go away!

Whether it's Junior raiding mom's medicine cabinet for those leftover Vicodans from her gall bladder surgery, or sis abusing oxycontin, or mom filling extra prescriptions for her own use of the ADHD medication meant for her kid because it helps her lose weight, or dad popping that little blue pill that makes him feel more like a man, we're all reaching for the pill bottle way too often rather than going through the hard work of examining and working on our issues and life changes.

Approximately a third of all U.S. drug abuse is prescription drug abuse. The latest statistics indicate that an estimated 5.2 million Americans, age 12 or older, used prescription pain relievers for non-medical purposes! And talk about enablers...did you realize that there are approximately 800,000 web sites that sell prescription drugs and ship them right to your home with few questions asked? There are obviously a lot of people reaching for mother's little helper.

Are we surprised, then, that Michael Jackson is being linked to such a wide array of pain killers (Demerol, Oxycodone, Dilaudid, Vicodan), anti-anxiety (Xanax) and anti-depressant meds (Zoloft), and even anesthetizing himself with the "milk of amnesia" (Deprivan, used to knock out patients in hospitals prior to surgery) so he could sleep? A police report prepared for Jackson's 2004 child-abuse trial alleges he was taking up to 40 Xanax pills a night. After his death, bottles of Deprivan were found in his home, along with the IV equipment needed to administer the powerful anesthetic. More>>

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