George Clinton on His Memories of Prince: ‘He Didn’t Do No Drugs’


Sitting backstage with Yahoo Music at Coachella’s Heineken House this past Saturday, Parliament-Funkadelic icon George Clinton is in a reflective, mellow mood — not just because he’s winding down from playing a two-hour set for a capacity crowd, but because thoughts of his old friend and collaborator, Prince, are unavoidable at this time of year. Not only is Prince’s cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” at Coachella 2008 still widely considered to be one of the festival’s all-time greatest moments, but the one-year anniversary of Prince’s shocking death is right around the corner, on April 21.

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“I just don’t even think about that, from when [Prince’s death] happened, ’cause I can’t process it, still,” Clinton says, shaking his head, before insistently adding: “He didn’t do no drugs. No. He was always cool. He didn’t do that s***.”
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Clinton refrains from speculating about the circumstances surrounding Prince’s death (just two days after this interview, more distressing details about Prince’s secret opioid addiction will emerge). Instead, he’s focused on his upcoming performance at this week’s multiday “Celebration” tribute at Minneapolis’s Paisley Park compound — at which he’ll likely reprise his cover of “Erotic City” from the 1994 comedy flick PCU — and his happy memories of working with the late legend.

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“My fondest memories of Prince was him calling me in the middle of the night when I’m somewhere getting high,” laughs Clinton, who quit drugs himself several years ago after decades of abuse, and whose next release (with Parliament) will ironically be a pharmaceutical-themed concept album of sorts titled Medicaid Fraud Dog. “He’d say, ‘Come on, I need someone to talk to,’ and I’m like, “Oh s***, why are you calling me now?’ He’d stay up all night, just running my mouth because I like to talk a lot.”
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Clinton and Prince’s friendship began in the late ’70s, when Clinton championed the young Prince’s music, and a little more than a decade later, Prince — now a multiplatinum superstar — returned the favor by signing Clinton to his Paisley Park record label and casting him in the movie Graffiti Bridge. “Once I left Capitol after ‘Atomic Dog’ and all that, I needed a label. I just called him and said, ‘I got a track I peed on and I’m gonna send to you; you pee on it and send it back!’ And that’s the way it went,” Clinton chuckles. “I signed up to the label, and the first album was [the 1989 comeback effort] The Cinderella Theory. He didn’t work too much on that one, but for the second one, I told him, ‘Don’t be so nice.’ He was always trying to be respectful [and not change the music too much]. I said, ‘No, put some of that s*** on there.’ So he played a lot on my [1993] Hey, Man, Smell My Finger album.

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“Graffiti Bridge was the best,” Clinton continues. “He had fun doing that s***. Him and Morris Day was funny with each other in real life — just the way they act in the movie, that’s pretty much like how they were anyway. [The Time’s guitarist] Jesse [Johnson] was even funnier. They was crackin’ with each other about who’s the shortest; they’re tiny, and they cracked on each other all the time about that. It was a fun family, all of them.”

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Another, more serious way in which Prince and Clinton bonded was by sharing hardship tales of their respective music-business battles. In the ’90s, Prince famously changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol, scrawled the word “SLAVE” on his face to protest his contract with Warner Bros., and waged a battle for artistic control that dominated the rest of his career. Meanwhile, Clinton was dealing with his own legal issues (he has filed multiple lawsuits against...Music Inc., which owns the rights to about 170 of his compositions; the company says he signed over his rights to the music in 1982/’83, but he says his signature was forged). Clinton says he was eager to advise Prince about avoiding such career mistakes.
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“I think I got him into that ‘SLAVE’ thing,” Clinton muses. “I know I did. I was always talking about the record companies, how bad they was. He got it. He did his act real good with that. He had all this copyrights back. I had preached to him. I didn’t do it at first, and it took me a long time to get it together, but he got it really quick. He did it so much better than me!”

More at: https://www.yahoo.com/mus...28930.html

Clinton implies Prince contributed to TCT and HMSMF more than we believe he did. I wonder what it means.

He just didn't do that s*** in front of you. There's a lot of s*** I don't do in front of people.

HerecomethePurpleYoda said:

He just didn't do that s*** in front of you. There's a lot of s*** I don't do in front of people.

So are you saying, he did that sh***?

HerecomethePurpleYoda said:

He just didn't do that s*** in front of you. There's a lot of s*** I don't do in front of people.

Exactly. He was good at hiding his addiction because, apparently, no one saw anything. Kirk is just flat out lying with his deflecting "NEXT!" comments. Dude - the 'scripts were in yo name! But what struck me about George's comment was "He didn't do no drugs". Bruh - you have two options

1. He did drugs
2. he did no drugs

Which one did he not do? He didn't "do no drugs", which means ....wait for it... he did drugs. Thank you, George for agreeing with the coroner's report.

TrivialPursuit said:

Prince abused narcotics, George. We just don't know when he began.

laurarichardson said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Exactly. He was good at hiding his addiction because, apparently, no one saw anything. Kirk is just flat out lying with his deflecting "NEXT!" comments. Dude - the 'scripts were in yo name! But what struck me about George's comment was "He didn't do no drugs". Bruh - you have two options

1. He did drugs
2. he did no drugs

Which one did he not do? He didn't "do no drugs", which means ....wait for it... he did drugs. Thank you, George for agreeing with the coroner's report.

--George is saying he never saw Prince use drugs. In fact George talks about this at length in his autobiography and this was a few years before April 21 2016. In fact in his book he said in never saw Prince use drugs or be under influence and that he was amazed at his discipline. Because Orince died from a drug overdose dose not mean he was a life long dope head. When you have a hard core drug user like George around and you do not indulge that to me is saying something. Many people who knew Prince have said over and over again he was not a recreational drug user but some of you are stuck on that belief.

Exactly. It's amazing to me how after the Medical Examiner report was released, so many fans want to be revisionist about Prince's personal life. It's the rush to believe the worst in Prince just because the media play up the "drug addict" angle when covering Prince now. The only thing that has been proven is that Prince abused prescription pills in the last months of his life. There's a lot of unsubstaniated hearsay about Prince using recreational drugs but no one can back up these claims. I wish George Clinton would have said "Prince did not do any drugs to the best of his knowledge", but I appreciate Clinton sharing his thoughts about Prince because now that Prince is no longer here to defend himself.

HerecomethePurpleYoda said:

Early '80's...

Only in the early 80's or since the early 80's?

bashraka said:

laurarichardson said:

TrivialPursuit said: --George is saying he never saw Prince use drugs. In fact George talks about this at length in his autobiography and this was a few years before April 21 2016. In fact in his book he said in never saw Prince use drugs or be under influence and that he was amazed at his discipline. Because Orince died from a drug overdose dose not mean he was a life long dope head. When you have a hard core drug user like George around and you do not indulge that to me is saying something. Many people who knew Prince have said over and over again he was not a recreational drug user but some of you are stuck on that belief.

Exactly. It's amazing to me how after the Medical Examiner report was released, so many fans want to be revisionist about Prince's personal life. It's the rush to believe the worst in Prince just because the media play up the "drug addict" angle when covering Prince now. The only thing that has been proven is that Prince abused prescription pills in the last months of his life. There's a lot of unsubstaniated hearsay about Prince using recreational drugs but no one can back up these claims. I wish George Clinton would have said "Prince did not do any drugs to the best of his knowledge", but I appreciate Clinton sharing his thoughts about Prince because now that Prince is no longer here to defend himself.

Some folks are just super impressionable, actually, most of the country is, they see it and hear it on TV then it must be true and question nothing. Nobody needs to really think anymore right? abusing drugs lol

TrivialPursuit said:

HerecomethePurpleYoda said:

He just didn't do that s*** in front of you. There's a lot of s*** I don't do in front of people.

Exactly. He was good at hiding his addiction because, apparently, no one saw anything. Kirk is just flat out lying with his deflecting "NEXT!" comments. Dude - the 'scripts were in yo name! But what struck me about George's comment was "He didn't do no drugs". Bruh - you have two options

1. He did drugs
2. he did no drugs

Which one did he not do? He didn't "do no drugs", which means ....wait for it... he did drugs. Thank you, George for agreeing with the coroner's report.

You have to know that is slang and/or simply just improper use of the english language right? George was a master of funk, not the english language. Sure we all know a double negative is a positive, but it is clear that is not what he meant, and even clearer in his book.

[Edited 4/26/17 9:33am]

purplethunder3121 said:

Clinton was dealing with his own legal issues (he has filed multiple lawsuits against...Music Inc., which owns the rights to about 170 of his compositions; the company says he signed over his rights to the music in 1982/’83, but he says his signature was forged). Clinton says he was eager to advise Prince about avoiding such career mistakes.
.
“I think I got him into that ‘SLAVE’ thing,” Clinton muses. “I know I did. I was always talking about the record companies, how bad they was. He got it. He did his act real good with that. He had all this copyrights back. I had preached to him. I didn’t do it at first, and it took me a long time to get it together, but he got it really quick. He did it so much better than me!”

.
George should only be preaching against shady record companies AFTER he has settled his massive debts to his own musicians, the ones who actually composed and brilliantly arranged all those Parliament/Funkadelic hits he lives on to this day. George Clinton has robbed Bernie Worrell and the others blind for decades and still doesn't have the decency to at least shut his mouth regarding copyright disputes.

I love P-Funk to death but George is a sleazy mofo.

leadline said:

You have to know that is slang and/or simply just improper use of the english language right? [obligatory snip]

You have to know when I'm hinting at a Freudian slip. I'm saying George inadvertently agreed with the truth. And moreover - Prince hid his shit really well.

TrivialPursuit said:

MiceElfAgin said:

leadline said:

laurarichardson said:

MiceElfAgin said:

.
George should only be preaching against shady record companies AFTER he has settled his massive debts to his own musicians, the ones who actually composed and brilliantly arranged all those Parliament/Funkadelic hits he lives on to this day. George Clinton has robbed Bernie Worrell and the others blind for decades and still doesn't have the decency to at least shut his mouth regarding copyright disputes.

I love P-Funk to death but George is a sleazy mofo.

In the back of George's book he has the sworn deposition from one of the people involved with forging his name in royalty checks. See George was not getting any of those royalty checks either.

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I have George's book.

If you're interested in what kind of a guy GC is, I strongly suggest to read Bernie Worrell's stories at http://wooniversaltruths....orrell.com

MiceElfAgin said:

laurarichardson said:

laurarichardson said:

MiceElfAgin said:

.
I have George's book.

If you're interested in what kind of a guy GC is, I strongly suggest to read Bernie Worrell's stories at http://wooniversaltruths....orrell.com

--I will but I also watched a documentary about Bernie a few years back were he walked around begging for a job because he admitted he signed away his royalties just because he was not paying attention to his business. Those depositions in the back of Heorge's book are real the crook is Armen Boldarian who George once belived was a friend.

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Bernie was a true musical genius and a very humble man. For decades he didn't want to speak out against GC whom he (naively) still considered a friend. He has finally had enough in the very end, fighting with a terminal illness, and being faced with more and more very shady moves from GC, who apparently couldn't even spare a dime when Bernie was struggling with paying his massive hospital bills.

GC is a scumbag.

[Edited 4/26/17 10:39am]

rogifan said:

For right now, I'm just going to take what he's saying that Prince wasn't a recreational user, period. And call it a day.

I think it's important to make a distinction about drug abuse and prescription drug abuse. My grandmother never used street drugs but when she was diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemo and radiation therapy, percocet became necessary for pain management. 2.5 mg of percocet was prescribed to her for 7 days at a time and I kid you not within 10 days, just two prescriptions, my grandmother was not only hooked on the percocet she was asking for stronger dosages, eventually begging and crying to her doctor for stronger medicine. Within the 8 months of treatment for cancer my grandma moved up the pain med ladder until she had to be hospitalized and given diluaded, the most potent opiod based medication for pain. Once my grandmother was confirmed as cancer free, her doctor made her go cold turkey. She begged for the meds anyway, making up stories about pain that wasn't there and saying she slept so well with the pills. Eventually she got off them and came to realize that the meds were playing with her mind. There is a scientific reason for this, opiod based meds have proven to be massively more addictive than street drugs. They change your chemical make up and make the pain feel sharper and more powerful over time causing your body to want more and more to quell the pain. Was my grandmother an addict? Fuck you if you think that, she was in pain and wanted a solution, she didn't want the meds for fun or recreation, she didn't put herself in that position, cancer put her in that position. Prince was not an addict, if you think that having pills everywhere is addict behavior; wrong. When my grandmother was in the toughest part of her chemotherapy we had no less than 6 bottles of percocet around the house. When a doctor knows how much pain his/her patient is in, they make sure you've got a solution and enough of it readily available. My mom carried percocet, so did I, so did my Uncle, there was a bottle in the kitchen, the bathroom and my grandma's bedroom. Why? Because when and if the pain hit and say no one was home, if she was in the living room could she make it to the bedroom or collapse? Mind you, we were all in constant contact, letting each other know what she was taking and when and keeping the schedule as directed by the doctor. However, there is this thing that says 'take every 4 to 6 hours or AS OFTEN AS NEEDED FOR PAIN.' If someone in unimaginable pain tells you they need another pill after taking one 3 hours ago are you gonna say no when they are grabbing you and squeezing the breath out of you because they are hurting that bad? Of course not, you're gonna try your best to help them feel better. I say all that to say this; the idea that Prince was some drug addict is way off to me as someone who has seen firsthand what goes on for treatment of pain. I have talked to parents who have kids on these meds who have been diagnosed with horrible forms of cancer, are those kids addicts? You think they want to take these meds? You think Prince WANTED to have percocet all around Paisley Park? He NEEDED pills all around Paisley Park or else he probably wouldn't have been able to function or move when the pain kicked in. The sentiment that Prince's individual fortitude or resolve was lessened by taking these pills is arrogant judgment without knowledge of his actual real pain. Contantly taking percocet weakens your pain center and weakens your 'fight or flight' aka adrenaline, that is probably why he literally died on that plane and for there to be fentanyl around someone who needed to be resuscitated from a perc overdose is at minimum gross negligence. Don't just throw out the word 'ADDICT', the word isn't fair to people with real physical pain they can't live with without taking pills. Don't think that taking pills means the person is weak because fighting through pain is more than just the pills, it takes courage everyday to get out of bed to feel pain and take pills again. The pills are supposed to HELP you fight the pain, they should be augmenting your courage to live and fight through it. I can't tell you how many days my grandma refused them and said she gives up and just let her go. Taking the pain meds was a choice to fight back against the pain not a choice to be weak. This is just a different perspective from the notion that Prince was a weak addict that died from this dark secret. Think about all that Prince was doing in the last year of his life, is that someone who wasn't fighting? Was that someone who was weak in the face of his pain? The fact that he was looking for help to get off the pills and find alternatives to them before he died, does that say he lacked courage and was weak minded? This man went to work everyday.

I haven’t really been following any of this drug related gossip so perhaps I’m missing something, but surely there’s a huge difference between recreational drug use and becoming addicted to medication. Given constant pain and poor medical advice, I’m sure that any one of us could fall into the latter trap.

Anyway, love George. The thought of Prince calling him in the middle of the night for a chat when GC was as high as a kite strikes me as quite sweet. Sounds like a genuine friendship to me.

Polo1026 said:

Polo1026 said:

I think it's important to make a distinction about drug abuse and prescription drug abuse. My grandmother never used street drugs but when she was diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemo and radiation therapy, percocet became necessary for pain management. 2.5 mg of percocet was prescribed to her for 7 days at a time and I kid you not within 10 days, just two prescriptions, my grandmother was not only hooked on the percocet she was asking for stronger dosages, eventually begging and crying to her doctor for stronger medicine. Within the 8 months of treatment for cancer my grandma moved up the pain med ladder until she had to be hospitalized and given diluaded, the most potent opiod based medication for pain. Once my grandmother was confirmed as cancer free, her doctor made her go cold turkey. She begged for the meds anyway, making up stories about pain that wasn't there and saying she slept so well with the pills. Eventually she got off them and came to realize that the meds were playing with her mind. There is a scientific reason for this, opiod based meds have proven to be massively more addictive than street drugs. They change your chemical make up and make the pain feel sharper and more powerful over time causing your body to want more and more to quell the pain. Was my grandmother an addict? Fuck you if you think that, she was in pain and wanted a solution, she didn't want the meds for fun or recreation, she didn't put herself in that position, cancer put her in that position. Prince was not an addict, if you think that having pills everywhere is addict behavior; wrong. When my grandmother was in the toughest part of her chemotherapy we had no less than 6 bottles of percocet around the house. When a doctor knows how much pain his/her patient is in, they make sure you've got a solution and enough of it readily available. My mom carried percocet, so did I, so did my Uncle, there was a bottle in the kitchen, the bathroom and my grandma's bedroom. Why? Because when and if the pain hit and say no one was home, if she was in the living room could she make it to the bedroom or collapse? Mind you, we were all in constant contact, letting each other know what she was taking and when and keeping the schedule as directed by the doctor. However, there is this thing that says 'take every 4 to 6 hours or AS OFTEN AS NEEDED FOR PAIN.' If someone in unimaginable pain tells you they need another pill after taking one 3 hours ago are you gonna say no when they are grabbing you and squeezing the breath out of you because they are hurting that bad? Of course not, you're gonna try your best to help them feel better. I say all that to say this; the idea that Prince was some drug addict is way off to me as someone who has seen firsthand what goes on for treatment of pain. I have talked to parents who have kids on these meds who have been diagnosed with horrible forms of cancer, are those kids addicts? You think they want to take these meds? You think Prince WANTED to have percocet all around Paisley Park? He NEEDED pills all around Paisley Park or else he probably wouldn't have been able to function or move when the pain kicked in. The sentiment that Prince's individual fortitude or resolve was lessened by taking these pills is arrogant judgment without knowledge of his actual real pain. Contantly taking percocet weakens your pain center and weakens your 'fight or flight' aka adrenaline, that is probably why he literally died on that plane and for there to be fentanyl around someone who needed to be resuscitated from a perc overdose is at minimum gross negligence. Don't just throw out the word 'ADDICT', the word isn't fair to people with real physical pain they can't live with without taking pills. Don't think that taking pills means the person is weak because fighting through pain is more than just the pills, it takes courage everyday to get out of bed to feel pain and take pills again. The pills are supposed to HELP you fight the pain, they should be augmenting your courage to live and fight through it. I can't tell you how many days my grandma refused them and said she gives up and just let her go. Taking the pain meds was a choice to fight back against the pain not a choice to be weak. This is just a different perspective from the notion that Prince was a weak addict that died from this dark secret. Think about all that Prince was doing in the last year of his life, is that someone who wasn't fighting? Was that someone who was weak in the face of his pain? The fact that he was looking for help to get off the pills and find alternatives to them before he died, does that say he lacked courage and was weak minded? This man went to work everyday.

Sorry Polo1026, I hadn’t read your comment when I posted mine. Exactly. Not only does the sufferer need to overcome the physical addiction to medication, but doing so also results in the return of unbearable pain. It’s disheartening how pious and judgemental some people are.

Polo1026 said:

I think it's important to make a distinction about drug abuse and prescription drug abuse. My grandmother never used street drugs but when she was diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemo and radiation therapy, percocet became necessary for pain management. 2.5 mg of percocet was prescribed to her for 7 days at a time and I kid you not within 10 days, just two prescriptions, my grandmother was not only hooked on the percocet she was asking for stronger dosages, eventually begging and crying to her doctor for stronger medicine. Within the 8 months of treatment for cancer my grandma moved up the pain med ladder until she had to be hospitalized and given diluaded, the most potent opiod based medication for pain. Once my grandmother was confirmed as cancer free, her doctor made her go cold turkey. She begged for the meds anyway, making up stories about pain that wasn't there and saying she slept so well with the pills. Eventually she got off them and came to realize that the meds were playing with her mind. There is a scientific reason for this, opiod based meds have proven to be massively more addictive than street drugs. They change your chemical make up and make the pain feel sharper and more powerful over time causing your body to want more and more to quell the pain. Was my grandmother an addict? Fuck you if you think that, she was in pain and wanted a solution, she didn't want the meds for fun or recreation, she didn't put herself in that position, cancer put her in that position. Prince was not an addict, if you think that having pills everywhere is addict behavior; wrong. When my grandmother was in the toughest part of her chemotherapy we had no less than 6 bottles of percocet around the house. When a doctor knows how much pain his/her patient is in, they make sure you've got a solution and enough of it readily available. My mom carried percocet, so did I, so did my Uncle, there was a bottle in the kitchen, the bathroom and my grandma's bedroom. Why? Because when and if the pain hit and say no one was home, if she was in the living room could she make it to the bedroom or collapse? Mind you, we were all in constant contact, letting each other know what she was taking and when and keeping the schedule as directed by the doctor. However, there is this thing that says 'take every 4 to 6 hours or AS OFTEN AS NEEDED FOR PAIN.' If someone in unimaginable pain tells you they need another pill after taking one 3 hours ago are you gonna say no when they are grabbing you and squeezing the breath out of you because they are hurting that bad? Of course not, you're gonna try your best to help them feel better. I say all that to say this; the idea that Prince was some drug addict is way off to me as someone who has seen firsthand what goes on for treatment of pain. I have talked to parents who have kids on these meds who have been diagnosed with horrible forms of cancer, are those kids addicts? You think they want to take these meds? You think Prince WANTED to have percocet all around Paisley Park? He NEEDED pills all around Paisley Park or else he probably wouldn't have been able to function or move when the pain kicked in. The sentiment that Prince's individual fortitude or resolve was lessened by taking these pills is arrogant judgment without knowledge of his actual real pain. Contantly taking percocet weakens your pain center and weakens your 'fight or flight' aka adrenaline, that is probably why he literally died on that plane and for there to be fentanyl around someone who needed to be resuscitated from a perc overdose is at minimum gross negligence. Don't just throw out the word 'ADDICT', the word isn't fair to people with real physical pain they can't live with without taking pills. Don't think that taking pills means the person is weak because fighting through pain is more than just the pills, it takes courage everyday to get out of bed to feel pain and take pills again. The pills are supposed to HELP you fight the pain, they should be augmenting your courage to live and fight through it. I can't tell you how many days my grandma refused them and said she gives up and just let her go. Taking the pain meds was a choice to fight back against the pain not a choice to be weak. This is just a different perspective from the notion that Prince was a weak addict that died from this dark secret. Think about all that Prince was doing in the last year of his life, is that someone who wasn't fighting? Was that someone who was weak in the face of his pain? The fact that he was looking for help to get off the pills and find alternatives to them before he died, does that say he lacked courage and was weak minded? This man went to work everyday.

Thank you. There is a big damn difference between physical dependence and popping pills for kicks.

GTsymbolover said:

Polo1026 said:

I think it's important to make a distinction about drug abuse and prescription drug abuse. My grandmother never used street drugs but when she was diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemo and radiation therapy, percocet became necessary for pain management. 2.5 mg of percocet was prescribed to her for 7 days at a time and I kid you not within 10 days, just two prescriptions, my grandmother was not only hooked on the percocet she was asking for stronger dosages, eventually begging and crying to her doctor for stronger medicine. Within the 8 months of treatment for cancer my grandma moved up the pain med ladder until she had to be hospitalized and given diluaded, the most potent opiod based medication for pain. Once my grandmother was confirmed as cancer free, her doctor made her go cold turkey. She begged for the meds anyway, making up stories about pain that wasn't there and saying she slept so well with the pills. Eventually she got off them and came to realize that the meds were playing with her mind. There is a scientific reason for this, opiod based meds have proven to be massively more addictive than street drugs. They change your chemical make up and make the pain feel sharper and more powerful over time causing your body to want more and more to quell the pain. Was my grandmother an addict? Fuck you if you think that, she was in pain and wanted a solution, she didn't want the meds for fun or recreation, she didn't put herself in that position, cancer put her in that position. Prince was not an addict, if you think that having pills everywhere is addict behavior; wrong. When my grandmother was in the toughest part of her chemotherapy we had no less than 6 bottles of percocet around the house. When a doctor knows how much pain his/her patient is in, they make sure you've got a solution and enough of it readily available. My mom carried percocet, so did I, so did my Uncle, there was a bottle in the kitchen, the bathroom and my grandma's bedroom. Why? Because when and if the pain hit and say no one was home, if she was in the living room could she make it to the bedroom or collapse? Mind you, we were all in constant contact, letting each other know what she was taking and when and keeping the schedule as directed by the doctor. However, there is this thing that says 'take every 4 to 6 hours or AS OFTEN AS NEEDED FOR PAIN.' If someone in unimaginable pain tells you they need another pill after taking one 3 hours ago are you gonna say no when they are grabbing you and squeezing the breath out of you because they are hurting that bad? Of course not, you're gonna try your best to help them feel better. I say all that to say this; the idea that Prince was some drug addict is way off to me as someone who has seen firsthand what goes on for treatment of pain. I have talked to parents who have kids on these meds who have been diagnosed with horrible forms of cancer, are those kids addicts? You think they want to take these meds? You think Prince WANTED to have percocet all around Paisley Park? He NEEDED pills all around Paisley Park or else he probably wouldn't have been able to function or move when the pain kicked in. The sentiment that Prince's individual fortitude or resolve was lessened by taking these pills is arrogant judgment without knowledge of his actual real pain. Contantly taking percocet weakens your pain center and weakens your 'fight or flight' aka adrenaline, that is probably why he literally died on that plane and for there to be fentanyl around someone who needed to be resuscitated from a perc overdose is at minimum gross negligence. Don't just throw out the word 'ADDICT', the word isn't fair to people with real physical pain they can't live with without taking pills. Don't think that taking pills means the person is weak because fighting through pain is more than just the pills, it takes courage everyday to get out of bed to feel pain and take pills again. The pills are supposed to HELP you fight the pain, they should be augmenting your courage to live and fight through it. I can't tell you how many days my grandma refused them and said she gives up and just let her go. Taking the pain meds was a choice to fight back against the pain not a choice to be weak. This is just a different perspective from the notion that Prince was a weak addict that died from this dark secret. Think about all that Prince was doing in the last year of his life, is that someone who wasn't fighting? Was that someone who was weak in the face of his pain? The fact that he was looking for help to get off the pills and find alternatives to them before he died, does that say he lacked courage and was weak minded? This man went to work everyday.

Great point and eloquently put, it's a shame as there is so much ignorance on this subject.

Thank you for the kindness, it really is a shame that people blindly lump people into groups instead of looking more in depth at the issue and truly trying to understand what is happening to people who take prescription drugs and why those people are taking those drugs.