MJ

When I was a kid I really liked the Guns n'Roses album, "Appetite for Destruction." So naturally, I was excited to read Slash's autobiography, "Slash." (If you want to read a review of it in the New York Review of Books, here's a link. The review is called "Appetite for Deconstruction"*)

Anyway, the headlines about Michael Jackson's death remind me of something I read in Slash's book because they suggest that Jackson may have been using the prescription drug Oxycontin.

A large part of Slash's book was devoted to his drug abuse. Heroin was his drug of choice, and he battled addiction several times. Once, during a period when he was "clean" -- which for Slash, meant he was simply a full fledged alcoholic and recreational cocaine user -- he described a trip to Vegas during which he witnessed a man crushing a pill and snorting it from a bathroom sink. The man recognized Slash and offered him one; Slash gladly accepted, and was surprised to learn that the pills were obtained legally. A few moments later, Slash began to feel the buzz and thought to himself, "Wow, they've legalized Heroin."

Later, he asked the man about the drug, and was told it was a prescription drug called Oxycontin. It wasn't long before Slash was addicted.

If you told someone you were taking heroin, there's a good chance they'd freak out. But if you told that same person you were taking Oxycontin, the reaction may not be as severe. Perhaps it should be.

*just kidding about "Appetite for Deconstruction