In my mind, this will be a short blog. The topic seems that cut and dried.

At first.

Then, on closer examination, the lines of my reasoning start to blur and shift.

Even without the benefit of an official autopsy, it seems most likely that Michael Jackson died as a result of his addiction to prescription medications.

Maybe I should wait until that official report is released before speculating on the cause of his demise. But it seems pretty clear to me based on the news reports. So I ponder the question.

I am well-qualified to weigh in on the issue of prescription drug dependence and doctor shopping. I certainly am not a celebrity, but I still managed to acquire enough prescription drugs during my addiction to experience a near-fatal overdose that landed me in the cardiac-care unit of my local hospital.

My severe dependence on drugs lasted about ten years. It was intense, painful, and complicated. It was an addiction exclusively to prescription drugs.

It started with real back pain and ended with spinal-fusion surgery. I now carry twelve pieces of titanium hardware in my lower back.

For many prescription drug addicts, the addiction starts with a severe medical condition or a physical injury that legitimately requires pain-relieving medications.

For those of us with a biological predisposition to addiction, it can quickly escalate to true drug addiction. Not just physical dependence. There is a difference that few appreciate.

Anyone placed on a medication that carries a potential for addiction will become physically dependent on it over time, meaning the person will experience some withdrawal symptoms as the medication is discontinued. Most people, non-drug addicts, will discontinue the addictive medication and feel no need to restart it.

Not so for the true drug addict. The medical community agrees that true drug addicts have a biological predisposition that sets them apart from others. Once the addict is introduced to the addictive medicine, a “phenomenon of craving” kicks in that is not experienced by the non-addict.

A mental obsession begins for the true drug addict. Without the benefit of recovery—a tool bag, if you will, of techniques to live in sobriety—the real drug addict will always use again, and the terrible cycle, complete with the phenomenon of craving, begins again.

From what I have seen on TV, it appears Michael Jackson was introduced to narcotics extensively after his hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial, and he experienced extreme pain to his scalp.

Again, he had a legitimate need for the narcotics, but he was unable to give them up when the need was gone.

So who is to blame for his addiction and his death?

The biological roots are just the genetic luck of the draw. No one is to blame for that, anymore than someone would be blamed for a child’s becoming ill with any other chronic disease.

The physicians who treated Michael Jackson certainly knew he was a drug addict. Michael declared his dependence to narcotics on prime-time TV.

In my opinion, the doctors treating Michael and the people closest to him bear a huge responsibility for his death. The state of California apparently agrees, as it is illegal there to prescribe controlled substances to a known addict.

This might sound ridiculous, but let’s examine other illnesses and the response or treatment a doctor might have prescribed for that illness. A man with coronary-artery disease goes to his doctor. In spite of his blocked arteries, his doctor prescribes a high-fat diet, thereby worsening his potentially lethal disease. Or a type 1 diabetic is prescribed a diet high in carbohydrates and sugar, thereby making her blood sugar unstable and harder to regulate. A patient with asthma is told by her physician that it is permissible to smoke cigarettes, giving her a pack as she leaves the office. A woman having been treated for breast cancer is told to only get her diagnostic mammograms every ten years. A patient who is a known drug addict, having been treated for drug dependence in the past, is prescribed and administered narcotics by his physician! It is insane.

This last scenario, by all accounts, is what happened to Michael Jackson. And it definitely happened to me. Over and over again, some physicians, knowing my drug-addiction history, supplied me with endless narcotics. I am not sure why. A monetary benefit comes to mind. I do know that it almost killed me.

I do not like feeling like a victim. I take some of responsibility for the situation. The relationship between physicians and drug-seeking patients is complicated. I do not believe it is a clear-cut issue in which you can say it is “completely” the fault of the doctors. In fairness, some doctors did cut me off almost immediately and told me to move on. So I moved on and found a doctor who would prescribe what I wanted. When I burned that one out, I would move on again. I generally had more than one doctor at a time who was prescribing, and I rotated pharmacies regularly. I learned how and when to use my insurance so as not to leave a paper trail. I guess what I am saying is that under the current system, where there is a will there is a way to obtain prescription narcotics.

Still, those closest to me—my family and the last doctor to prescribe for over two years the liquid opiate that I injected into my arm—certainly knew I was completely out of control. And nothing was done. I overdosed, and nothing was done. Maybe I had burned them all out. I am sure they have their side of the story. Dealing and living with a chronic addict can simply wear people out. It is not a simple or a straightforward issue. What a family can do is call in a professional to do an intervention.

So at Michael’s level of addiction, his brain had been hijacked. His ability to reason and make logical choices about his health care was virtually non-existent. At the time of his death, he was not responsible for his actions. He was mentally ill.

He desperately needed someone to step in and help him. Britney Spears’s family stepped in on her behalf when she struggled with both drug addiction and mental-health issues. It can be done.

And yes, Michael would probably have been more enraged than the average person, due to his celebrity status and material wealth. But again, it could have been done. A productive and good start would have been for his family to go to child-protective services and show that Michael’s children were not living in a safe, nurturing, drug-free home. Closer scrutiny of his parental rights might have motivated Michael to take a closer look at his drug addiction. Again, due to his celebrity status and personal wealth it would have been difficult, but with tenacity and a sincere desire to get in there and help, his family could have changed the course of Michael’s life.

When Dr. Phil did my intervention and told me I was going to rehab TODAY, I became enraged. The disease will fight to survive. He was logical and forthright in his arguments about why I needed treatment: my health, my family’s welfare, etc. When this approach did not work, he started talking about concrete consequences. He informed me that what I was doing was illegal, and that he would call the Maryland Board of Nursing , local law enforcement, and Child Protective Services.

Some will say, well, Michael Jackson already had been treated once for drug addiction. He knew better! With any other chronic disease, it is accepted that a “flare-up” will occur over a person’s lifetime. But with addiction, when a person experiences a “flare-up” it is called a “relapse,” with all the connotations of shame and failure that word carries with it.

When MS, lupus, or cancer recur or worsen, sympathy is what the patient experiences from others. When drug addicts or alcoholics return to using, shame and anger are usually what they experience from others, and many times they are left alone when they so desperately need those who love or are responsible for their health care (doctors) to take ACTION! Not just bitch, ignore, abandon, or placate, but take constructive action to help the drug addict in trouble. Do an intervention.

Interventions are what I do for a living. They are almost always complicated and messy. They are never easy. And I love it. It is a passion born out of great darkness in my own life.

I feel lucky to have found a passion in this life.

And I feel regret for Michael Jackson.