Heath Ledger and My Ex-Husband

The finding prompted an immediate statement from Ledger's family warning of the "hidden dangers" of mixing prescription drugs.

New York's city medical examiner said 'Mr Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine'." --USA Today

Hidden Dangers? Common sense takes us a long way in life. If you take pills and get high you could die. I didn't know that fact was hidden. Accidental? Sure, he didn't mean to die. He just meant to get really, really high. To me, Heath Ledger's death was not accidental, it was suicide. I recently got a divorce because my ex-husband abuses the exact same drugs that Heath was abusing. I've lived with it, I've seen it. Say what you want but taking those pills is a choice. They say, addicts are sick and it is a disease. If you're sick you go to the doctor. You don't sit around getting worse and worse and infecting everyone you know.

A little story for you. This is one of the reasons, something that I will always remember that tells me that prescription drug abuse is not a disease, is not just addiction, it's a choice. My ex had been using drugs for a few months. I was trying my best to get him help, get him into rehab. I had gotten him to go to several AA and NA meetings. We were seeing a small light at the end of he tunnel. I was determined to never give up on him. It was a beauiful saturday afternoon in November 2007. It was also one of the few days i had seen him sober in a long time. I had my husband back that day. We worked in the yard, played wih the dogs and were planning to cook out. I was in the kitchen getting ready to put the meat on the grill and thinking to myself what a good day we were having and how glad I was he was sober. Maybe there was hope for him. About 30 minutes later I noticed his speach start to slur, his eyes droop, he couldn't walk straight. He had gone out to his truck and taken a hand full of pain pills and nerve pills. After he sobered up a little a friend of his asked him why he took them. His answer, and I quote, "We were having such a good day, I wanted to make it a little funner". Clearly, he made the concious decision to take the drus because they feel good to him.

Prescription drug abuse is not a disease, not just an addiction, not something that is sad or depressing or scary. It's a choice, it's a lifestyle and overdosing is not an accident. You know what you're putting in your body the first time you take a pill. Some people like to get high. That's just who they are. "Addicts" are selfish people. They only care about themselves and what feels good.

As far as I am concerned Heath Ledger killed himself and his friends, family, doctors and everyone who knew he took drugs not only watched him do it but helped him do it! If you abuse a substance of any kind, why are you killing yourself? Why do you want do die? Why do you want to put your friends and family through that. Think of someone else for a change! If you know someone who abuses a substance, when they die alone, face down on the floor like Heath Ledger because you sat and did nothing to help them, will you be able to live with yourself? Will you feel good about the decisions you've made? Common sense takes us a long way in life. We get one body and one shot at his thing. If you mess it up you don't get a second chance.