Unavoidable

The Anna Nicole Smith case is going to be in the news whether I like it or not, and since it actually does have a lot to do with the main topic I write about here, I found myself watching some news on the case last night (By the way, wasn't Anderson Cooper criticizing the coverage before? Why is he covering it now?).

Anyway, I have to post this quickly because I'm off to work in a second, but here's the list of drugs found in her system during the autopsy:

Brand name (drug) indication

-- Ativan (lorazepam): anti-anxiety medication

-- Cipro (ciprofloxacin): antibiotic

-- Klonopin (clonazepam): anti-seizure medicine also used to treat anxiety

-- Methadone: strong painkiller, often used to suppress withdrawal from heroin

-- Noctec (chloral hydrate): sedative and sleeping medication

-- Robaxin (methocarbamol): muscle relaxant

-- Soma (meprobamate): muscle relaxant

-- Topamax (topiramate): anti-seizure medication also used to treat migraines

-- Tylenol (acetaminophen): pain reliever

-- Valium (diazepam): anti-anxiety medication, also used as a sedative and to treat seizures

I just want to clear something up for those who weren't sure. Almost all of these drugs are recreational drugs. They certainly have medical uses, and they were certainly created by smart people in lab coats who were trying to address real problems that affect real people. But Anna Nicole Smith did not visit a doctor who said "Well, Anna, it's very common for people who are independently wealthy and have no real job other than being a public spectacle to need three kinds of anti-anxiety medication and several other muscle relaxers and sleeping pills."

Regardless of how she obtained these pills, Anna Nicole Smith took them for pleasure, not because she needed them. I may be underestimating how many people understand this, but it was hard to gather from the news coverage I watched - and also from when the local police actually came out to make a statement clarifying for everyone that no illegal drugs were found. I'm still laughing about that. Thank god she didn't have any weed around.

But that's the point. If she smoked weed in order to fight anxiety, relax her muscles, and get a better night's sleep, she'd still be alive. But instead, we'd be talking about how she's such a criminal after she got busted at the airport for having some. This country is completely off its rocker.

UPDATE: Wikipedia has a list of recreational drugs here. Ativan, Klonopin, Methadone, and Valium are listed.