The cold, sobering details of Cory Monteith’s death have finally become public, and they paint the picture of a recovering star who made a series of bad decisions in the hours prior to his death. On that fateful night, he apparently shot up heroin and drank a large quantity of alcohol, which together, were enough to overwhelm his body.
According to TMZ, investigators discovered two empty champagne bottles, a spoon with drug residue and a used hypodermic needle. That evidence was very consistent with his toxicology test, and given his behavior in the months leading up to the overdose, the combination was enough to kill him.
Ordinarily, doctors advise people quit doing drugs and drinking alcohol completely, but if someone abuses substances over a long period of time, completely stops and then starts again at the same level they did before, their bodies are often ill-equipped to handle it. That’s supposedly what happened to Amy Winehouse, and it’s no doubt happened to numerous other celebrities over the years who have struggled with addiction.
It’s very reasonable to question whether too many sordid stories are written about deceased celebrities in the weeks and months following their deaths, but when it comes to overdoses, there’s great value in the general public knowing how dangerous certain substances are. Monteith struggled with addiction for much of his life. He went to rehab at the beginning of April, and by all accounts, he was doing very well upon his release. Unfortunately, it only takes one bad night to ruin all of that forward progress.
Here’s to hoping something positive comes out of Monteith’s passing. Glee was and remains incredibly popular with teenagers, and there should be room for the actor to be remembered both for his incredible energy on screen and the demon he was never completely able to fight off.
