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Actors, Actresses, Models, and Directors

• Bridgette Andersen, 1980s/90s child actress (deceased) [1][2]
• John Belushi, actor and comedian (deceased) [3]
• Gia Carangi, fashion model (deceased) [4]
• Montgomery Clift, actor (deceased); Montgomery Clift: A Biography ISBN 0-7864-1432-4
• Robert Downey Jr., actor [5]
• Jeanne Eagels, silent film actress (deceased) [6][7]
• Chris Farley, actor and comedian (deceased) [8]
• Mike Hammett, 1960s-70s child actor, “Another World” [9]
• Artie Lange, actor, radio personality
• Béla Lugosi, actor (deceased) [10]
• Natasha Lyonne, actress [11]
• Jason Mewes, actor [12]
• Robert Pastorelli, actor (deceased) [13]
• Matthew Perry, actor [14]
• Dana Plato, actress (deceased) [15]
• River Phoenix, actor (deceased) [16]
• Glenn Quinn, actor (deceased) [17]
• Wallace Reid, silent film actor (deceased) [18]
• Alma Rubens, silent film actress (deceased) [19]
• Christian Slater, actor [20]

Writers, Poets, and Journalists

• Charles Baudelaire, poet/writer of “Les Fleurs du mal” among many other works (deceased) [21]
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet (deceased) [22]
• William S. Burroughs, writer of “Naked Lunch” among many other works; drug culture and early cyberculture icon (deceased) [23]
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet/writer of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” among others (deceased) [24]
• Sigmund Freud, pioneer of psychology, wrote The Cocaine Papers during his cocaine experimentation. (deceased)
• Lucy Grealy, poet/writer of “Autobiography of a Face” (deceased) [25]
• Aldous Huxley, writer of “Brave New World,” “The Doors of Perception,” and others (deceased) [26]
• Denis Johnson, writer of the series of short stories “Jesus’ Son” among many other works of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. [27]
• Anna Kavan, A writer who named herself after a character in one of her books.(died of natural causes at 67)[28]
• Patrick K. Kroupa, writer and hacker [29]
• Rush Limbaugh, American radio talk show host.
• Thomas de Quincey, writer of “Confessions of an English Opium Eater” (deceased) [30]
• Hubert Selby Jr., writer of “Requiem for a Dream” among others (deceased) [31]
• Will Self, writer, journalist, broadcaster [32]

Singers & Musicians

• Steven Adler, former Guns N’ Roses drummer (near-fatal overdose) [33]
• GG Allin, punk rock singer (deceased) [34]
• Duane Allman, founding member of The Allman Brothers Band and member of Derek and the Dominoes (deceased)
• Gregg Allman, founding member of and lead singer for The Allman Brothers Band [35]
• Brett Anderson, Suede/Tears frontman [36]
• Chet Baker, Jazz trumpeter whose addiction is discussed at length in the biography Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker.[37][38]
• Ginger Baker, drummer for Cream and Blind Faith [39]
• Tommy Bolin, guitarist for Deep Purple (deceased) [40]
• David Bowie, actor and singer [41]
• Ray Charles, so stated in his autobiography Brother Ray: Ray Charles’ Own Story ISBN 0-306-81335-1 (deceased)
• Jimmy Chamberlin, Smashing Pumpkins/Zwan drummer [42]
• Eric Clapton, guitarist and prominent rock-and-roll figure since the mid-1960s [43]
• Kurt Cobain, Nirvana frontman (deceased) [44]
• Brian Cole, bassist and vocalist for The Association (deceased) [45]
• Natalie Cole, singer, according to VH1 Behind The Music
• Darby Crash, founding member of The Germs (deceased) [46]
• David Crosby, founding member of Crosby, Stills, and Nash/Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young [47]
• Robbin Crosby, Ratt lead guitarist (deceased) [48]
• Miles Davis, jazz trumpeter and bandleader (deceased) [49]
• Pete Doherty, frontman of the bands The Libertines and Babyshambles [50]
• Steve Earle, country-western singer and guitarist [51]
• Howie Epstein, bassist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (deceased) [52]
• Pete Farndon, Pretenders bassist (deceased) [53]
• John Frusciante, former and current Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist; also has a side solo career [54]
• Dave Gahan, frontman for Depeche Mode (near-fatal overdose)[55]
• Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead frontman and guitarist (deceased)[56]
• Leif Garrett, child actor and pop musician popular in the mid-1970s [57]
• Boy George (born George Alan O’Dowd), former Culture Club frontman [58]
• Keith Godchaux, keyboardist for The Grateful Dead (deceased)
• Carlos Gomes, Brazilian romantic composer (deceased) [59]
• Brett Gurewitz, Bad Religion guitarist and founder of Epitaph Records
• Hampton Hawes, jazz pianist who self-described as such, after cleaning up, in his autobiography.[60]
• Billie Holiday, jazz singer (deceased) [61]
• Shannon Hoon, Blind Melon frontman (deceased) [62]
• Janis Joplin, singer (deceased) [63]
• Alain Jourgensen, Ministry/Revolting Cocks frontman and renowned addict to several different drugs [64]
• John Kahn, bass player, Jerry Garcia Band (deceased)
• Anthony Kiedis, Red Hot Chili Peppers vocalist [65]
• Mark Lanegan, Screaming Trees frontman [66]
• Tommy Lee, drummer for Mötley Crüe [67]
• Courtney Love, rock musician and actress, according to BBC‘s 2006 documentary “The Return of Courtney Love”
• Frankie Lymon, The Teenagers frontman (deceased) [68]
• Phil Lynott, frontman for Thin Lizzy (deceased) [69]
• Jimmy McCulloch, Wings guitarist (deceased) [70]
• Vaughn Meader, bluegrass musician and comedian (deceased) [71]
• Dave Mustaine, Megadeth frontman [72]
• Brent Mydland, keyboardist for The Grateful Dead (deceased)
• Dave Navarro, guitarist for Jane’s Addiction and later the Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Fats Navarro, jazz trumpeter.[73]
• Chuck Negron, Three Dog Night frontman, battled addiction to heroin for over 30 years [74]
• Fred Neil, famed blues/jazzman (deceased) [75]
• Nico, 1960s-70s singer with several bands, most remembered for her work with The Velvet Underground (deceased) [76]
• Bradley Nowell, Sublime frontman (deceased) [77]
• Anita O’Day, jazz singer [78]
• Jimmy Page, lead guitarist for Led Zeppelin and later for Page and Plant [79]
• Charlie Parker, jazz saxophonist (deceased) [80][81]
• Art Pepper, jazz musician (deceased)
• Joe Perry, lead guitarist for Aerosmith [82]
• John Phillips, The Mamas & The Papas frontman (deceased) [83]
• Iggy Pop, Iggy and the Stooges frontman; also had a successful solo career, and is considered by many to be the prototypical punk rocker [84]
• Elvis Presley, singer and guitarist, addicted to Dilaudid during his later years (deceased) [85]
• Dee Dee Ramone (born Douglas Glen Colvin), Ramones bassist (deceased) [86]
• Lou Reed, frontman and guitarist for The Velvet Underground, later a successful solo artist [87]
• Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails frontman/conceptualizer [88]
• Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones lead guitarist, renowned multi-addict [89]
• Axl Rose, Guns N’ Roses frontman [90]
• Andy Rourke, The Smiths bassist, fired briefly due to addiction [91]
• Judee Sill, addicted to heroin before her career, but died of a cocaine overdose.[92]
• Nikki Sixx, Mötley Crüe bassist (near-fatal overdose) [93]
• Slash, former Guns N’ Roses/Slash’s Snakepit/Velvet Revolver guitarist [94]
• Hillel Slovak, Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist (deceased) [95]
• Layne Staley, Alice In Chains frontman (deceased) [96]
• James Taylor, vocalist and guitarist [97]
• Pete Townshend, frontman and guitarist for The Who [98]
• Steven Tyler, lead singer for Aerosmith [99]
• Sid Vicious, bassist for The Sex Pistols (deceased) [100]
• Charlie Watts, Rolling Stones drummer, for a brief period in the 1980s [101]
• Scott Weiland, Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman [102]
• Danny Whitten, rock musician from Crazy Horse (deceased) [103]
• Al Wilson, vocalist for Canned Heat [104]
• Johnny Winter, blues musician [105]
• Andrew Wood, Mother Love Bone frontman (deceased) [106]

Other Celebrities & Public Figures

• Lenny Bruce, comedian (deceased) [107]
• George Carlin, comedian [108]
• Pamela Courson, common-law wife of Jim Morrison (deceased) [109]
• Aleister Crowley, occultist and adventurer (deceased) [110]
  • Wrote The Fountain of Hyacinth as a diary documenting his hard-drug addiction [111]
• Brett Favre, American football quarterback, addicted to pain killers [112]
• William Halsted, known as the “father of modern surgery”; associated with Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland (deceased) [113]
• Domino Harvey, fashion model-turned-bounty hunter (deceased) [114]
• Howard Hughes , aviator, film producer/director, multi-business tycoon, billionaire (deceased) [115]
• Robert Kennedy, Jr., lawyer, son of Robert F. Kennedy [116]
• SaRenna Lee, porn star and big bust model [117]
• Dr. John S. Pemberton, chemist, inventor of Coca-Cola (deceased) [118]
• Edie Sedgwick, socialite friend of Andy Warhol (deceased) [119]
• Nancy Spungen, prostitute/groupie, girlfriend of The Sex Pistols‘ Sid Vicious (deceased) [120]
• Brandon Novak, skateboarder/signed by Tony Hawk, close friend of Bam Margera, tv star, radio personality

Politicians

• Hermann Göring pilot and German politician, member of the National Socialist German Workers Party (deceased) [1]

References and Footnotes

1. Maser, Werner Hermann Göring. Hitlers janusköpfiger Paladin. Die politische Biographie (German language)

• Will Self, author of (among others) The Sweet Smell of Psychosis (1999, ISBN 0-8021-3647-8) and Feeding Frenzy (2002, ISBN 0-14-029055-9), both of which address opiate addiction in elegant detail.

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