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Anti-Drug Crusaders Linell and Robert Shapiro 

By Art Harris, ©, www.artharris.com, all rights reserved

LOS ANGELES, Ca.–Any other night, the boulevards of Beverly Hills near the A list, celebrity fundraiser might be almost as dangerous as the streets of Baghdad. No snipers or IEDs, just the next star DUI waiting to be caught, Hollywood’s young and restless with a buzz on, feeling bullet-proof behind Maseratis, Vipers, Mercedes, Bentleys, or some pricey exotica aimed down mountain curves off Mullholland Drive.

But the streets were safer on a recent Saturday night in LA, designated Sober Night, 2008, by Los Angeles attorney Robert Shapiro, and his wife, Linell, who three years ago cranked up a drug awareness foundation in memory of their son, Brent, dead at 24 from an accidental overdose…among some 250,000 victims a year taken out by the ruthless sniper of pop culture, addiction.

Now, with American troops remembered on Memorial Day, many overtaxed emotionally after two and three tours in Iraq, how many will join the casualties back home? While the VA is rallying its troops, there are civilians on patrol, too, parents like the Shapiros, who mourn losses on the homefront, and channel their grief in an attempt to save others. Read the rest of this entry »

By Bald Truth Staff, (c) www.artharris.com, all rights reserved

No longer shrink-wrapped, pop star Britney Spears quietly left UCLA Medical Center earlier Wednesday after a week in the pscychiatric ward following her harrowing meltdown, reported the Los Angeles Times.

The paper said sources believed she was headed home before seeking possible treatment for unspecified emotional problems. If a hospital determines she’s no longer a risk to herself or others, it cannot hold her against her will; other reports said she’d begged her father, Jamie, to spring her from the psyche ward. Read the rest of this entry »

By Bald Truth Staff, (c) www.artharris.com, all rights reserved

Actor Heath Ledger died of an accidental prescription drug overdose of painkillers, sleeping pills and anti-anxiety meds, according the New York City medical examiner.

“Mr. Heath Ledger died as a result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine,” said Ellen Borakove, the department spokeswoman, in a statement issued Wednesday morning. “We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications.”
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