9781422270509

A FAMOUS ACTOR LOSES HIS BATTLE WITH HEROIN Philip Seymour Hoffman was an award-winning film and stage actor who portrayed famous writers, public figures, heroes, and villains throughout his 22-year career. On February 2, 2014, he was found dead in his Manhattan apartment with a syringe in his arm. His autopsy showed that he had prescription drugs, amphetamines, cocaine, and heroin in his system and had died of an acute mixed-drug overdose. When one overdoses, they take too much of a drug, whether it be a prescribed medication or an illegal substance. The world was shocked by Hoffman’s death, especially his friends in the entertainment community, because he had been sober for years and had only recently begun using drugs again before his death. Hoffman had used heroin in his early twenties, according to his former partner, Mimi O’Donnell (a costume designer who first met Hoffman in 1999). O’Donnell said that when she first started dating Hoffman, he was sober and in recovery, attending therapy and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). In the acting community, Hoffman was known for being sober. He had been admired for staying sober for more than 20 years, but in his forties, he had relapsed and begun using drugs and alcohol again, following a series of events that had left him feeling depressed and vulnerable.

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The Young Adult Drug Library: Heroin