(NaturalNews) The regretful passing of an American entertainment icon — Whitney Houston — marks yet another sad milestone in the devastating body count of the prescription drug industry. TMZ is now reporting that Whitney Houston was found not with illegal drugs, butprescription drugsthat may have killed her or caused her to drown in the bathtub. (http://www.tmz.com/2012/02/11/whitney-houston-prescription-drugs-drow…)

Houston had “a plethora of sedatives including Lorazepam, Valium, Xanax, and a sleeping medication that was found in her hotel room,” reports Radar Online (http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/02/drugs-whitney-houston-h…).

“The prescription drugs were officially taken into custody by the Beverly Hills Police Department,” the website reported. An autopsy has yet to be performed, and it will reportedly provide more conclusive information about the actual cause of death.
Whitney Houston was also taking Xanax, a psychiatric anti-anxiety drug

According to Fox News, Houston’s family members said she was takingXanax, a powerful psychtropic drug (http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2012/02/12/whitney-houston-dead-…). As NaturalNews has reported many times, mind-altering drugs are known to cause erratic behavior and suicidal thoughts. (http://www.naturalnews.com/032097_antidepressants_suicidal_tendencies…) and (http://www.naturalnews.com/022743.html).

Although Xanax is not an SSRI drug, its side effects include:

• Aggression
• Rage and hostility
• Twitches and tremors
• Mania, agitation
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanax#Adverse_effects)

Anoverdose of Xanax may cause:

• Dizziness
• Fainting
• Coma
• Death

Xanax is widely promoted throughout that DSM-IV, the “bible” of modern psychiatry which promotes the use of prescription amphetamines to children (among other bizarre chemical recommendations).

Whitney Houston showed clear signs of pharmaceutical adverse effects

“[Houston,] who struggled with drug and alcohol abuse in her later life, made a bizarre appearance just two evenings before,” reports US Magazine (http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/whitney-houston-shaky-e…)

At a pre-Grammys party at Tru Hollywood Thursday evening, the beloved Grammy-winning singer seemed “wasted” and “moody” as she exited the club past midnight, according to a witness. “She reacted angrily to the security guards trying to get her into her car…and started cussing them out.”

Although the superstar smiled when fans approached her for autographs, “she would get moody again in a split second,” the observer says. “It was sad because her fans noticed that she was really shaky as she left the venue. She definitely was not in control of herself.”

This is the behavior of a person who is using either prescription psychiatric drugs or recreational drugs (or perhaps both in combination). That this was observed with Houston on multiple occasions is very strong evidence that these drugs were altering her brain function and thereby radically altering her personality and behavior.

Heath Ledger was also killed by pharmaceuticals

You may recall the death of beloved actor Heath Ledger, who was killed by prescription medications in 2008. Read the NaturalNews report on his death athttp://www.naturalnews.com/022537_Heath_Ledger_pharmas.html

Remember: for every celebrity death caused by prescription drugs, there are hundreds of thousands of deaths of everyday people from prescription drugs, too. In fact, according to published scientific statistics:

Prescription drugs kill over 200,000 Americans every year  even when taken as directed and not abused! (http://www.ourcivilisation.com/medicine/usamed.htm)

The number of people killed by prescription drugs absolutely dwarfs the number killed by alleged acts of terrorism (9/11 in particular). And while America has gone crazy with “security checkpoints,” TSA agents reaching down your pants, nullification of the Bill of Rights (http://www.naturalnews.com/034537_NDAA_Bill_of_Rights_Obama.html) and other outrageous government encroachments on your freedom to fight the so-called “war on terror,” the government does absolutely nothing to address the holocaust of prescription drug deaths happening every single day.

Whitney Houston is just one of countless Americans who are victims of Big Pharma, an industry that cares far more about corporate profits than it does about the lives of real people. And today, we have lost yet another iconic American artist whose life was cut short by addiction, prescription drugs and the entire “medication culture” that exists in America today.

Whitney Houston will be missed. May her death serve as an urgent call for ending the scourge of mind-altering psychotropic drugs and ending the failed “War on Drugs” that tries to criminalize drug addicts rather than helping them heal.

Learn more about the dangers of psychiatric drugs at:
www.CCHRint.org

Read more about the failed War on Drugs at:
www.NORML.org

See Alex Jones’ comments on Whitney Houston’s death via prescription drugs (he’s right on target, covering the same angles as NaturalNews, on the same day!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqeGDDAu3yw

It’s time to start helping drug addicts rather than throwing them behind bars

NaturalNews calls for the decriminalization of recreational drugs followed by the treatment of drug addicts and abusers through health-oriented support services (including nutrition) rather than the criminal justice system.

It is time to empty the prisons of non-violent drug offenders and compassionately offer them addiction treatment programs. As written today, our laws would condemn Whitney Houston as a felony criminal rather than someone who was only guilty of being caught up in a cycle of substance abuse and prescription drug dependence.

It is time to stop treating addiction as a criminal offense and start helping people rather than throwing them behind bars. If society’s response to drug addiction and abuse were based more in health and compassion rather than revenge and punishment, Whitney Houston might very well still be alive today, along with countless other victims of the pharmaceutical and recreational drugs industries.

Even famous singer Tony Bennett echoes this call. In an urgent and outspoken plea made last night, Tony Bennett called for the decriminalization of drugs so that drug addicts can seek help legally and compassionately, without being thrown behind bars and marginalized by society. “First it was Michael Jackson, then Amy Winehouse, now, the magnificent Whitney Houston,” said Bannett (Hollywood Reporter). “I’d like every person in this room to campaign to legalize drugs.” (http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2012/02/12/19370036.html?cid=rssentertainme…)

This doesn’t mean that NaturalNews or Tony Bennett supports therecreational useof such drugs. I am 100% against recreational drug use, and I don’t use such drugs myself. But I also understand that drug use is a behavioral and chemical addiction, not a criminal act. The solution is found in decriminalizing drugs, regulating their distribution like alcohol, and offering treatment, addiction recovery and nutritional consultation programs for those suffering from drug addiction.

Drug users are not criminals!They are people who need medical help, counseling, nutrition and compassion. Calling them “criminals” only becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that keeps the police state in power while doing nothing to end drug addiction.

By E.D. Kain, Forbes Magazine, 7/05/2011

Drug warriors often contend that drug use would skyrocket if we were to legalize or decriminalize drugs in the United States. Fortunately, we have a real-world example of the actual effects of ending the violent, expensive War on Drugs and replacing it with a system of treatment for problem users and addicts.

Ten years ago, Portugal decriminalized all drugs. One decade after this unprecedented experiment, drug abuse is down by half:

Health experts in Portugal said Friday that Portugal’s decision 10 years ago to decriminalise drug use and treat addicts rather than punishing them is an experiment that has worked.

“There is no doubt that the phenomenon of addiction is in decline in Portugal,” said Joao Goulao, President of the Institute of Drugs and Drugs Addiction, a press conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the law.

The number of addicts considered “problematic” — those who repeatedly use “hard” drugs and intravenous users — had fallen by half since the early 1990s, when the figure was estimated at around 100,000 people, Goulao said.

Other factors had also played their part however, Goulao, a medical doctor added.

“This development can not only be attributed to decriminalisation but to a confluence of treatment and risk reduction policies.”

Many of these innovative treatment procedures would not have emerged if addicts had continued to be arrested and locked up rather than treated by medical experts and psychologists. Currently 40,000 people in Portugal are being treated for drug abuse. This is a far cheaper, far more humane way to tackle the problem. Rather than locking up 100,000 criminals, the Portuguese are working to cure 40,000 patients and fine-tuning a whole new canon of drug treatment knowledge at the same time.

None of this is possible when waging a war.