DJ AM

"I don't feel sorry for him at all. He did it to himself. You were given a second chance and you blew it because you are a weak loser dead from drugs, another junkie. And you made good money for doing nothing! So many people would kill to have your fame/money but us hard working people don't get it that easy. He had everything in the world but chose to smoke crack" The person goes on to call DJ AM "moronic" and concludes his statement by saying that the deceased lived a "stupid and worthless life."

In normal circumstances I would dismiss such vitriol as the rant of an uninformed person who is seriously lacking compassion. Yet I saw various forms of this comment from multiple people. These attitudes greatly concern me and I would like to address them further.

First of all, in order to leave somebody a comment on MySpace, you must be their friend. Some of the statements from so-called friends were downright cruel. If somebody dies of a drug overdose, does that mean they are no longer your friend? Are you no longer obligated to show them dignity? This seems very unfair to me. While it is perfectly understandable to criticize drug use-- as it should be denounced-- it is not right to fuse a person and their addiction into an inseparable mass.

Addiction is an ongoing battle. Any recovering addict will tell you that sobriety can be a struggle, and certain demons never vanish fully. DJ AM had drug problems in the past and was supposedly clean in recent years. In fact, at the time of his death, he was working on a show for MTV about drug addiction in the hopes that it would help others.

He obviously relapsed.

This is pure speculation on my part, but my guess is that he was severely depressed

Both of these would be circumstances that would trigger a relapse. People have differing ways of dealing with unfortunate situations. Sadly, for an addict-- recovering or not-- this often involves drugs.

I am not condoning his drug use, nor am I suggesting that we pity him because of life events that contributed to his demise. I offer these things simply as a way of trying to understand what could have caused him to turn to narcotics. All I ask is that you keep an open mind before you dismiss somebody as a lost cause.

It is easy to understand why people have such a negative view of addiction. Simply put, it destroys people-- relationships, families, the bonds between parent and child. When a person is caught in the throes of drug abuse they are capable of becoming monsters who will do anything for their next fix. Morals fly out the window. Drugs literally transform people....sucking the life out of them and then leaving them in prison if they are lucky and the morgue if they are not. Addicts are seen as lowlifes who are not afraid to lie, cheat, or steal. They have no sense of rationality and are not fully immersed in reality. Furthermore, many people chose to view addiction as something that a person chooses.

A person has complete and total control over the initial choice to try drugs. This is a conscious decision. I guarantee, however, that nobody dabbles in drugs hoping to become a junkie. There is absolutely nothing appealing about that lifestyle. While the individual has the option to try drugs for one or even several times, addiction involuntarily takes hold. Both a psychological and a physical demand for drugs exists, thus throwing a person into a downward spiral. Numerous factors contribute to the severity of addiction.

I do not think that people who are drug addicts should be viewed with scorn and derision. They are clearly very ill and need treatment. Having a friend or a family member who is an addict can be endlessly frustrating and painful. But these are some sick individuals who are victims of a disease that is largely beyond their control. Drug addicts are not weak, they are sick. And they have lost virtually all control, largely powerless over their own lives.

Once an addict, a person can reach the point where they have had enough. A multitude of rehabilitation programs exist, such as Narcotics Anonymous, and many people who have struggled with addiction go on to lead productive and personally fulfilling lives. But once a disease has been in your system, there is always the chance it will flare up because you are never fully immune....

I find it imperative that people separate the drug addiction from the person. Yes, in many ways they are connected, as addiction consumes a person. But to limit a person to their narcotic binges is extremely unfair. To suggest somebody is a waste of life because they are a drug addict is absurd.

Bringing this situation back to DJ AM, I highly doubt that he was smoking crack as a child. He probably played with G.I. Joes and spent recess on the playground with all the other kids. At some juncture in his life he got into drugs, yes, but is his childhood somehow voided because he succumbed to addiction? Of course not. DJ AM was somebody's son, somebody's cousin, somebody's friend. Even in his adult life-- as evidenced by his sobriety-- he was not constantly on drugs. Is this part of his existence doomed to be overshadowed because he relapsed?

DJ AM meant many things to many people and contributed both his fiances and his time to charitable causes. But because he died of a drug overdose, some people don't even want to mention those things, choosing instead to focus on the drugs. Drug addiction should not be DJ AM-- or anyone's-- focal point. It is only one of many facets of their personalities and it should not be the one that overrides all others.

On a final note, I would like to touch on the prevalence of drug abuse amongst the famous set. I believe that if you are the type who wants to experiment with drugs, you'll find a way of doing so whether you are in Des Moines or Beverly Hills. What makes the drug culture so different in Hollywood is the availability and the suppliers. Celebrity life is saturated with substance abuse. It is too easy to obtain drugs, and in some circles, this is not seen as problematic. While this might not sound too different from other areas of the United States, the fame separates these users. They have money and power-- and doctors at their disposal. Additionally, they are surrounded by 'yes men' who are on the payroll and do not always have the best interests of a person in mind. Tragic figures such as Anna Nicole Smith and Michael Jackson are two examples of lost entertainers whose inner circle did very little to stop their use, if they weren't propagating it. This is a topic I will explore further in another article.

Rest in peace, DJ AM, Adam Goldstein.