You nailed the situation perfectly in your post.
Rush made one mistake. Once he found himself beginning to get addicted, he did not go to his doctors for help; he chose to enjoy the pills a little first. That was all she wrote.
Once addicted, he now had a soft spot where his many adversaries could probe. And open access to it by his attempts to feed his habit (going through unsavory types and too many legal prescriptions).
The good thing for Rush is that this could have ended two ways: either he was going to get caught or he was going to get dead. Getting caught, as horrible as this is, is the preferable of the two.
I hope he can get out of this mess without feeling indignant or virtuous. It's a time for humility and responsibility, but he should not receive more than community service. And his community service should be spent speaking to the public about how easy it is to become addicted to legally prescribed painkillers, and what not to do as you feel yourself slipping.
Perhaps he could share the podium with an addiction doctor who gives people techniques to be able to make best use of pain medication and still avoid addiction, and when to tell someone you are becoming addicted before your personality changes and your number one goal in life is to get more drugs.
If it's a minor slap on the wrist he gets he should vocally support the same treatment of all non violent drug abusers. It's called equal protection under the law and anything less is a disgrace to the nation.
Yep. But that would come as part of a plea agreement.