Posted on 10/12/2003 1:59:43 PM PDT by wheelgunguru
(CBS/AP) Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh stunned listeners of his nationwide radio show by announcing on the air that he's hooked on painkillers and is checking himself into rehab.
In the past, Limbaugh has decried drug use and abuse on his bluntly conservative show, mocking President Bill Clinton for not inhaling and often making the case that drug crimes deserve punishment.
"Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. ... And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up," Limbaugh said on his short-lived television show on Oct. 5, 1995.
During the same show, he commented that the statistics that show blacks go to prison more often than whites for the same drug offenses only illustrate that "too many whites are getting away with drug use."
Law enforcement sources who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed to The Associated Press that Limbaugh was being investigated for by the Palm Beach County, Fla., state attorney's office.
"Immediately following this broadcast, I am checking myself into a treatment center for the next 30 days to once and for all break the hold this highly addictive medication has on me," he said Friday.
"You know I have always tried to be honest with you and open about my life," Limbaugh said. "So I need to tell you today that part of what you have heard and read is correct. I am addicted to prescription pain medication."
Attempts to reach Limbaugh by phone, e-mail, fax and at his Florida home were unsuccessful Friday.
Limbaugh gave up his job as an ESPN sports analyst Oct. 1, three days after saying on the sports network's "Sunday NFL Countdown" that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated because the media wanted to see a black quarterback succeed.
The reports of possible drug abuse surfaced at about the same time, first in the National Enquirer. The tabloid had interviewed Wilma Cline, who said she became Limbaugh's drug connection after working as his maid. She said Limbaugh had abused OxyContin and other painkillers.
Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for the Palm Beach County state attorney's office, said Friday his office could neither confirm nor deny that an investigation was under way. Limbaugh's attorney, Roy Black, did not return a message seeking comment.
CBS News Correspondent Paul Moniz reports experts tell him addiction to these types of drugs is difficult to treat long-term. Studies of abstinence rates show that only 30-50 percent of rehab patients are able to remain drgu-free at one year and, at 12 years, only 25 percent are drug free.
"Some specialists regard prescription drug addiction as a chronic disorder and say a realistic treatment goal is sharp reduction in use, not total abstinence, Moniz says.
This is Limbaugh's third time in rehab, Moniz adds.
Limbaugh said he started taking painkillers "some years ago" after a doctor prescribed them following a spinal surgery. His back pain stemming from the surgery persisted, so Limbaugh said he started taking pills and became hooked.
"Over the past several years I have tried to break my dependence on pain pills and, in fact, twice checked myself into medical facilities in an attempt to do so. I have recently agreed with my physician about the next steps."
A spokesman for Premiere Radio Networks, which syndicates the politically focused "Rush Limbaugh Show" to more than 650 markets, declined to elaborate on Limbaugh's previous treatment.
OxyContin is a narcotic painkiller that is widely prescribed for victims of moderate to severe chronic pain resulting from such problems as arthritis, back trouble and cancer.
Limbaugh reported two years ago that he had lost most of his hearing because of an autoimmune inner-ear disease. He had surgery to have an electronic device placed in his skull to restore his hearing.
Research has found that abuse of opiate-based painkillers like OxyContin can lead to profound hearing loss caused by damage to the inner ear, said Dr. Gail Ishiyama, an assistant professor at the UCLA department of neurology. She could not confirm that was Limbaugh's case without access to his medical history.
Steve Plamann, executive editor of The National Enquirer, said he was gratified by Limbaugh's admission and his plans to seek help.
"We didn't do our stories gleefully. We just reported the facts," Plamann said.
However, Limbaugh said that reports about his addiction have inaccuracies and distortions which he will clarify when he is able to speak about them.
Premiere spokesman Michael Sitrick said Limbaugh is expected to return to his program after completing treatment. Several guest hosts were scheduled until then.
I think the distinction is without a difference. Once addiction sets in, and it sets in quite quickly with painkillers, the person in question is as likely to commit immoral or illegal activities to secure their fix as the man who started by snorting cocaine.
I cannot stress enough, if Rush walks into rehab with a feeling that he is a Good Dopehead as opposed to the rest of us Bad Dopeheads, that he WILL fail. People who hold themselves up as higher or in any way superior do not grasp and work the entirity of the program. They are the sort that attempt to break the habit by force of will alone. I've seen it again and again.
Also, why shouldn't someone who is addicted to drugs warn others not to use drugs? Nobody knows better how big a problem addiction is than someone who is addicted and is trying to fight it. There's nothing hypocritical about warning people not to get started on drugs just because you yourself have experienced the pains of addiction.
I don't think that's a problem at all. And I'm not saying Rush is a hypocrite. I'm just warning him and anyone like him -- in recovery, there are no Good Dopeheads and Bad Dopeheads.
"...Joe [the caller] thinks most of the professional athletes who do drugs don't get caught, but he wonders why they do it, given that with the money they make, they could find all sorts of other ways to entertain themselves.
Rush says this is the disciplined approach to life, the way most normal people would act when they're earning good money and on top of the world, with a family and kids. Most normal people would wonder why anyone earning millions would endanger their career, their life, and their family by doing drugs with a floozy in a cheap hotel room.
Rush does not intend to excuse professional athletes from their excesses, but one reason some professional athletes do retreat into drugs is that they often end up being the darling of the media and general public, particularly when they're members of a championship team. Irvin certainly was loved by the press and given lots of attention, not to mention public adoration and endorsements.
Once people experience these sorts of "highs" where everything is fun and exciting, where all the attention is on them, they want to hold on to it. Unfortunately, this is sometimes where the drugs come in, helping the athletes maintain a lifestyle "on the edge."
Not too many people go through what professional athletes on championship teams do, and most of those athletes don't descend into drugs; however, if an athlete is not disciplined or level-headed, they can respond to the fame and fortune by trying to keep a euphoric feeling each and every day, even if it means doing drugs. "
I don't see this as what happened to Rush, but as an example of "If you lock one door the devil will find another".
2003->Ch0893->Section%2003>Florida Criminal Satutes
See 893.03 Section 2A and Sections 775.082 and 775.083.
So is Rush going to explicitly come out against the WOD now? When he returns to the air, is he going to use that voice and charisma against forfeiture-on-suspicion?
A lot of people have severe back pain without become drug addicts and illegally purchasing drugs.
Thank you for your honesty and insight.
Past experience? Just kidding!
One does enormous damage to society, the other is a victim of, perhaps, both disease -- or injury -- and an inattentive physician. But first and foremost, pain patients are genuine victims who are to be pitied, unlike a crack addict, who is a victim of nothing but his own stupidity and criminality.
In Rush's case, the patient is the vicitm of an almost unbearably agonizing condition known as herniated disks. Such patients rarely do much damage to society (some can barely walk), particularly early on in their addiction when they are still able to work with the help of painkillers and are otherwise trying to lead normal lives. As for the indirect damage caused by their addiction: Can we please, in the name of mercy, lay that on their disease, their pushers and their inattentive doctors?
Did you hear him say this?
O'Reilly said that there is a special place in hell for Al Franken.
Once again, did you hear him say this?
I have had the former and not the latter, unless you count severe, but temporary, muscle spasms.
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