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Six Colossal Drug Abuse Meltdowns and How to Spot the Warning Signs

It’s no mystery that celebrities, as well as the everyday Joe, can have problems with drugs. Because celebrities are in the limelight, though, we often see the drug abuse meltdown of famous people more prominently. The following six meltdowns were pretty severe, but there were also warning signs of addiction along the way.

1. David Hasselhoff

One of the better-known meltdowns, this incident is even available to watch online. David Hasselhoff has been known to abuse drugs andf alcohol, and when he loses control, he acts crazy. In 2007, a video of David rambling, drunk, and trying to eat a cheeseburger while spread out on the floor was released on the Internet. He put out a statement after the event and noted that he was struggling with substance abuse.

2. Martin Lawrence

A chronic marijuana user, Martin Lawrence was hospitalized after he had an uncontrolled outburst on the set of “The Thin Line between Love and Hate,” his directorial debut. He has also been accused of battery and verbal abuse while on the sets of films. However, the most memorable of his drugged moments was when he was found screaming at groups of tourists while carrying a gun on Ventura Boulevard.

3. Courtney Love

Courtney Love has had more drug-fueled public outbursts than most. She dated singer Kurt Cobain and has always been around the drug scene. She is known to abuse heroin, cocaine, and prescription drugs, likely accounting for her 1995 crash intro into a music awards show while Kurt Loder was interviewing Madonna. Not only was it embarrassing, it was caught on tape. Presently, Love is reportedly clean, but the 1990s left her with plenty of meltdowns that the world watched.

4. Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan made a very public scene when she refused to pay her bar tab. According to her, she doesn’t pay for drinks, which was probably true at one point. Unfortunately, the bartender gave her the tab for the two expensive bottles of champagne that she took from the bar’s kitchen, and he expected her to pay for it. According to onlookers, she screamed profanities at everyone, including the bartender, but she did finally pay.

Lohan has also made scenes on sets of movies and while driving, often directed toward the paparazzi, which doesn’t help her image. According to some friends, she mixes her drugs and alcohol, which could account for her bizarre, erratic behavior.

5. Britney Spears

Britney Spears has taken amphetamines in the past, and they may have caused her infamous meltdown. In 2007, the singer shocked the world by taking a razor to her head and shaving her hair off while she was in a Los Angeles salon. According to later reports, she did it so that the judge in her case wouldn’t be able to test the hair for traces of illegal substances. During this time, she was also in a custody battle with her ex-husband Kevin Federline for the rights to her two sons.

While Spears may have shaved her head to prevent drug testing, there are plenty of other ways to test a person for illegal substances. Later in 2008, this stint, along with a breakdown at her home, got Britney time in a psychiatric ward after a jury discovered that she regularly took thirty or more prescription amphetamine pills per day. Her prescription drug use was out of control, and the court ordered her to go to alcohol and drug addiction rehab before the custody situation would be reviewed.

6. Charlie Sheen

The king of all meltdowns, is sure to be on at least one kind of substance that he’s abusing. He has a long history of violent, erratic behavior and a very well-documented history of drug abuse. His meltdown is seen as ongoing by Hollywood, but he has allegedly passed all recent drug and alcohol tests. He does not respond to questions about his mental health, but some believe that he may be bipolar. In his own words, “I’m on a drug called Charlie Sheen.”

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