Coroner: Houston drowned after cocaine use
Whitney Houston performs at the O2 Arena on April 25, 2010, in London.
March 22nd, 2012
05:24 PM ET

Coroner: Houston drowned after cocaine use

Whitney Houston died from an accidental drowning in a hotel bathtub, but the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use" were contributing factors in her death, the Los Angeles County Coroner said in an autopsy report released Thursday.

Houston, 48, was "found submerged in bathtub filled with water" and "no trauma or foul play is suspected," the coroner said.

The toxicology tests found other drugs in her body, including marijuana, the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, the muscle relaxant Flexeril and the allergy medicine Benadryl, the report said. But these drugs "did not contribute to the death," it said.

The final coroner report is expected to be made public within two weeks, the coroner said.

Houston died February 11 in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, the day before the music industry gathered for the annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

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Filed under: California • Celebrity • Showbiz • Whitney Houston
soundoff (466 Responses)
  1. KS

    Cocaine is a hell of a drug!

    March 22, 2012 at 5:50 pm | Report abuse |
  2. Minorkle

    John and Ken on KFI Radio in Los Angeles are owed an apology.

    March 22, 2012 at 5:50 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Raelene

    OMG!! PPL wanna tlk s@**t kuz they found WEED in her system???? Really? Get a Fkn Life!!!

    March 22, 2012 at 5:50 pm | Report abuse |
    • JV

      Take A FKN english class!

      March 22, 2012 at 5:53 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Logan H.

    Not a bad way to die really....painless and peacefull! Sounds good to me!

    March 22, 2012 at 5:51 pm | Report abuse |
  5. Jim P.

    "Drowning" would seem to cover it. The condition of her arteries would not seem terribly relevant to snorting a lung full of water.

    I have to wonder if there are *any* major celebrities or entertainers who are actually clean and sober. You sow the wind, you reap the effects.

    March 22, 2012 at 5:51 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Taluga

    The result of our actions are not accidents. It is said we reap what we sow!

    March 22, 2012 at 5:51 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Dan Bednarik, PhD

    Give it a rest Wolf - Sanjay Gupta made it pretty clear. She had a prior history that made cocaine use lethal in a secondary context as she drowned. If she didn't drown she probably would have expired from the cardiac event.

    March 22, 2012 at 5:51 pm | Report abuse |
  8. paul1121

    I partyed on coke and booze back in the 80's. But as one gets older, you stop doing those things. Guess she still lived like it's 1985.

    March 22, 2012 at 5:51 pm | Report abuse |
  9. Marie

    Cocaine use? Impossible! She was "clean"! Well, in a way drowning in a tub means she was clean but, no from drug use...Good Riddance.

    March 22, 2012 at 5:51 pm | Report abuse |
  10. CATZ

    No big surprise, but still makes me angry that she wasted such a beautiful voice. Sad that she could not value herself more.

    March 22, 2012 at 5:51 pm | Report abuse |
  11. scriss

    It is no surprise about finding drugs in her body – it is Hollywood after all.

    Take some drugs, fall asleep in the tub and drown – classic Hollywood way to go.

    March 22, 2012 at 5:51 pm | Report abuse |
  12. redware

    And for this New Jerse lowered its flags? Shame!

    March 22, 2012 at 5:52 pm | Report abuse |
  13. Yakobi

    Remember, "Crack is whack".

    March 22, 2012 at 5:52 pm | Report abuse |
  14. mommaearth

    What a waste,,,,case.

    March 22, 2012 at 5:52 pm | Report abuse |
  15. Wanderer81

    We have seen NOTHING but a steady stream of problems and bodies under the Obama Administration.

    March 22, 2012 at 5:52 pm | Report abuse |
    • lsrrynickie

      It’s an epidemic of drug deaths !

      March 22, 2012 at 5:54 pm | Report abuse |
    • Jeff_S

      What in the world does a rich person drowning after using cocaine have to do with Obama? One of the least intelligent things a person can say.

      March 22, 2012 at 5:55 pm | Report abuse |
    • bambam

      I think you meant to say the Bush administration. Otherwise, you clearly don't know what you're talking about.

      March 22, 2012 at 5:55 pm | Report abuse |
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