IS HOLLYWOOD OUT OF CONTROL?

Why do so many of Tinseltown's brightest lights seem to succumb to
drink and drugs? They're rich, they're creative, they're spoiled and
they're scared to death of failure

The story is as old as Hollywood itself: entertainers -- some from
privileged backgrounds, others of newfound celebrity -- seduced by
drugs and alcohol. Of course, the name that springs to mind first these
days is Robert Downey Jr., 35, who has been in and out of jail and in
and out of rehab since 1996. The embattled star -- who last Sunday
earned a Golden Globe Award for his work as Ally's love interest on
Ally McBeal -- is scheduled to appear in a Palm Springs-area courtroom
on Monday on charges stemming from his well-publicized arrest over the
American Thanksgiving weekend. He was allegedly caught in a hotel room
with four grams of cocaine, 16 Valiums and, by the by, a Wonder Woman
costume. It is likely to be the first of many hearings, culminating in
a trial later this spring. Downey, whose estranged wife filed for
divorce earlier this week, was unavailable to be interviewed for this
story, and his publicist, Alan Nierob, declined to comment. In 1999,
the actor famously told Malibu Municipal Court Judge Lawrence Mira:
"It's like I have a shotgun in my mouth, and I've got my finger on the
trigger, and I like the taste of the gun metal."

There are luckier stars, however, who have managed to recover from
their addictions. Like Michael Douglas, who, ironically, is currently
starring in the hit drug film, Traffic. "I was in rehab in 1990,"
Douglas said in an interview while promoting the new film. "There are
a lot of actors in this town who have been, at one time or another."
Two other former substance abusers are Drew Barrymore and Robin
Williams, who overcame their addictions and have thriving film careers.

And there are the casualties, like River Phoenix (who died at age 23
of drug-induced heart failure on Halloween night, 1993, in front of
The Viper Room, a Sunset Boulevard nightclub owned by actor Johnny
Depp), Chris Farley (found dead at 33 of a cocaine overdose in his
Chicago apartment in December, 1997) and Dana Plato (who was 34 when
she died in 1999 in her home from a drug overdose). All have paid the
ultimate price, and are often remembered more for how they died than
what they accomplished in life.

And there are the rest, the hundreds of men and women in the
entertainment business who walk -- or stagger or weave -- the fine
line between harmless recreation and self-destruction.

Downey isn't the only Hollywood personality to make headlines
recently. Rarely does a week go by without one of Tinseltown's bright
lights finding themselves on the celebrity police blotter. There's
Christian Slater, who served 56 days of a three-month sentence in
1998, stemming from his 1997 arrest for assaulting his girlfriend and
a police officer while under the influence of cocaine. Or funnyman
Kelsey Grammer flipping his sportscar in a near-deadly 1996 accident
(he was formally charged only with driving with an expired licence,
but subsequently checked himself in to the Betty Ford Center). Or
one-time heartthrob Jason Priestley, 31, who recently agreed to
satisfy his probation from a 1999 arrest for driving while intoxicated
by serving five days at Los Angeles's Gateways Correction Center.
Whomever it is today, or next week, the message remains the same:
Hollywood is out of control.

But is it? Or is it that the public's perception of the entertainment
business is distorted by gossip columnists and tabloid television
shows hungry to sell a story?

"I don't think the media is telling even half of what is going on,"
says Ted Casablanca, a columnist for E! Online. Casablanca is a
recovering substance abuser himself and has witnessed the Hollywood
drug scene first-hand. He has also spent the past 10 years reporting
on many of its high-profile participants. "People are shooting up all
over the place," he says. "And the executives, agents and people who
like to think they control the stars are overlooking it as long as
[the abusers] are able to perform."

Last December, Charmed actress Shannen Doherty, 29, was arrested in
Los Angeles and charged with driving while intoxicated. In 1999, famed
director Oliver Stone, 54, was charged with drunk driving and
possession of hashish. And in one of the more amusing tales to make
headlines, Matthew McConaughey, 31, star of the new comedy The Wedding
Planner, was arrested at his home in Texas in 1999 when police
discovered him completely nude and playing the bongo drums while under
the influence of marijuana.

According to Casablanca, stories such as these are becoming more and
more commonplace, but for the most part they continue to be
Hollywood's dirty little secrets. "People have been doing much worse
than what Downey has been doing for years," he insists, adding that
for every Robert Downey Jr. the public hears about there are perhaps
"several dozen, if not more" cases that never come to light.

Psychotherapist Dr. Stuart Altshuler, who has counselled many
celebrities battling addiction, believes this is because many
entertainers are kept well-insulated from the press and public by
agents, managers and friends fearful of rocking the boat -- or
derailing their gravy train.

"There is a lot of codependency in this industry," he points out.
"Everybody likes being part of the A-crowd. So there are people who
watch this go on who are afraid to intervene and be the ones to say
'This isn't OK.' They are afraid they will lose a client or they will
lose their vicarious celebrity."

Casablanca also places some of the blame on the television networks
and movie studios, which greenlight projects and employ actors without
being mindful of their well-being. "I don't see Robert Downey being
encouraged to go into rehab," he notes. "I see him being encouraged to
take more work."

Many experts believe that the only time abusers like Downey are truly
in control is when they are in front of the camera. "When they have a
sense of purpose, people tend to rise to the occasion," Altshuler
says. "It is when they are left alone and to their own devices that
problems begin to arise."

Director Curtis Hanson, who worked with Downey on last year's hit,
Wonder Boys, hypothesizes that the entertainment business tends to
attract a certain breed of individual, one who is perhaps more at risk
of becoming dependent on artificial stimulation. "Creative people are
very eccentric and very different," he says. "When you look back at
creative types in any field, be it writing, acting, whatever, there is
a lot of history of neurosis, excessive behaviour and addiction."

Scott Sowle, director of intake at the Daniel Freeman Recovery Center
in Los Angeles says that creative types tend to be spoiled by those
around them. "I think [celebrity addicts] are catered to and their
demands are always met," he says. "They have a lot of down time and a
lot of money. And they are very creative people. People who generally
are very creative tend to need outlets, which can sometimes lead to
drugs and alcohol."

Dr. Mark Goulston agrees. A psychiatrist at the University of
California at Los Angeles and author of Get Out of Your Own Way:
Overcoming Self-Defeating Behavior, he believes the business itself
provides a dangerous excitement for many of its members -- the
psychological rush on which so many show-biz types thrive. "There is
plenty of fear when your movie tanks and people wonder if you have lost
your edge," he says. "And, when things are going great, you can become
so egomaniacal [you] really believe that you are the king of the world."

Goulston believes the adrenaline rush is only exceeded by the terror
of an adrenaline crash. Drugs are attractive because they offer an
attractive rush without consequences. The problem is, that's not true:
"If you talk to people who do a fair amount of cocaine, they will tell
you that after a while they are no longer going after the buzz," he
says. "They are just trying to avoid the crash that makes you feel
like you are just slipping into hell."

'There is a drug problem everywhere in some ways," says Golden Globe
winner Benicio Del Toro. "I don't think it is particular to Hollywood.
It happens in all different professions. But we see it more with
people like Downey because he is a movie star, so it gets on the front
page. But it could happen with mechanics in El Paso."

And it does. Sowle reports that while all the beds at Freeman are
currently occupied, there is no greater representation among members
of the entertainment industry than any other segment of the community.
("We see people who work for UPS and for the local supermarket and
they are represented in the same numbers.") He does, however, indicate
that the overall number of inquiries and admissions has increased
nearly 20% in the past two to three years.

This may be because of the media attention directed at Downey and other
celebrities who have run afoul of the law, he says. In other words,
people who might not otherwise consider treatment will seek it out
because they can identify with a person they consider a role model.
Says Sowle: "We definitely see phone calls generated because of the
publicity from certain celebrities who seek treatment."

So what makes the Hollywood elite different from your average
middle-class substance user? For one, consider their drugs of choice.
According to L.A. Police Lt. Al Jackson, who oversees the Field
Narcotics unit for the city's west side, "There seems to be an
increase in the Hollywood area in the use of designer drugs, such as
ecstasy. There also appears to be an increase in the use of cocaine
compared to years past."

Curiously, Jackson says, citywide arrests for cocaine have dropped
sharply in the past two years. In 1999, the LAPD cited 7,100 people
for possession. But from January to November, 2000, there were only
4,500. The same holds true for heroin (6,800 arrests in 1999; 5,100
through November, 2000), and marijuana (7,200 compared to 5,300).

Jackson suggests one reason for the decline in arrests may be the
reduced number of police officers assigned to the streets.

"The scene is no longer like it was in the '80s when people I knew
were getting their per diem in coke," says actor Don Cheadle, who
currently stars as a drug-enforcement officer in Traffic. "But it is
definitely still out there. Heroin is kind of the chic thing now. It
just changes its face, but it never really goes away."

Jackson says the police department does not track the number or
percentage of substance-related arrests made among celebrities. In
fact, he stresses, all citizens are equal. "We don't treat celebrities
any differently," he insists. "We arrest them based on the health- and
safety-code violations that they are breaking, and then it is up to
the courts what the penalty is going to be."

For many drug abusers, judges have turned to rehab as a judicial
option. Freeman is one of dozens of in-patient facilities where
Hollywood's top names go to clean up. But according to Sowle, once
they arrive, even the biggest stars are treated just like everyone
else. "There is a real variation among the people on our unit," he
explains. "We may have a rock star or a movie star, but they are going
to be on the same unit as a bus driver. If you come in and expect to
have this treatment where you are so much different than everybody
else, the treatment is not going to work for you."

Sowle claims recovery rates are much the same, no matter what a
patient does for a living. But he concedes that it can be harder for
high-profile residents who must cope with the added burden of dealing
with the paparazzi.

"The whole foundation of the 12-step program is built on it being
anonymous," he says. "The added pressure of having to deal with the
press releases and the evening news breathing down your neck can
sometimes make it difficult for someone to focus on what they need to,
which is to get sober."

Many celebrities -- Michael Douglas is a notable example -- are used
to dealing with their problems in the media spotlight. But the Oscar-
winning actor-director, who claims to have successfully treated his
own addiction to alcohol, is critical of journalists who write stories
about his family -- particularly his son, Cameron, 20, who has
recently been dealing with his own substance-abuse problems.

Douglas says he tries to respect his son's right to privacy, and
doesn't usu-ally talk about the situation. But he says he's no
different from any other parent who discovers that their child is
using drugs. "For me, drug use is about lying," he says. "It's about
denying and lying. You look your parents right in the eyes and you lie
some more. Finally you reach some spiralling-down point where there is
no credibility in your relationship anymore."

Over the years, Hollywood's turbulent affair with drugs and alcohol
has claimed some of its brightest and most talented stars. And many
insiders say they are secretly concerned that it's not a matter of if
this type of tragedy will happen again, but when.

"With Downey that is very clear," says Casablanca. "I am sure that he
knows the world is just waiting for him to finally OD. He's got to be
aware of that. And there is probably a part of him that is tempting
that fate."