Whitney Houston’s Death Caused By Cocaine?

Whitney Houston’s Death Caused By Cocaine?

Pop icon Whitney Houston died from drowning in a hotel bathtub, but officials said Thursday that persistent cocaine use and heart disease were contributing factors to the singer's death.

The release of autopsy findings Thursday ended weeks of speculation about what caused the death of the Grammy-winning singer on Feb. 11, the eve of the Grammy Awards.

Houston was found underwater in the bathtub of her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.  Coroner's officials said several bottles of prescription medications were found in her hotel room. Her death had been ruled, then, as accidental.

There was no evidence of foul play in connection with Houston's death, Beverly Hills police said in a statement, but that the results indicated that Houston was a chronic user of cocaine.

"We are saddened to learn of the toxicology results, although we are glad to now have closure,' said Patricia Houston, the singer's sister-in-law and manager.

Coroner's spokesman Craig Harvey says cocaine and its byproducts were found in Houston's system, qualifying them as contributing factors to her death. Coroner's officials said they also found traces of marijuana, Xanax and benadryl in her system.

Houston died just hours before she was scheduled to appear at producer Clive Davis' pre-Grammy Awards party.  Interest in her music has skyrocketed since her death, pushing her songs back on to charts.

Posted by Kade Quinn on Friday March 23 2012, 1:13 PM EST. Ref: CNN. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Entertainment, Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0