Demi Lovato Slams Celebrities For 'Glamorizing' Drug Addiction After Philip Seymour Hoffman's Overdose Death
Feb. 3 2014, Published 5:25 p.m. ET
Demi Lovato, who has spoken out about her struggle with drugs, took to Twitter to discuss addiction following the death of Academy Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman from an apparent heroin overdose on Sunday.
“I wish more people would lose the stigma and treat addiction as the deadly and serious DISEASE that it is,” the 21-year-old wrote in a long message she tweeted out on Sunday afternoon.
“Drugs are not something to glamorize in pop music or film to portray as harmless recreational fun.”
Lovato, who admitted last year to abusing cocaine heavily, said in her Twitter post that using drugs is “not cute, cool or admirable.”
“It’s very rare when people can actually predict their addiction and even then, you never know when too much is going to take their life or take a bad batch of whatever it is they are using,” she wrote.
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“It’s time people start really taking action on changing what we’re actually singing/rapping about these days because you never know if you could be glamorizing a certain drug to a first time user or alcoholic who could possibly end up suffering from the same deadly disease so many have already died from.”
Lovato continued: “This stuff is not something to mess with. Why risk it? Addiction IS a disease. Please spread the word so we can take the taboo out of discussing this illness and raising awareness to people of all ages.”
Lovato ended her open letter with a tribute to Hoffman, who was found dead with a needle in his arm on Sunday.
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“RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman.. An INCREDIBLE artist who lost his life to this horrible disease.. May you rest peacefully and in complete serenity now that your pain is gone. God Bless…” Lovato concluded.