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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, August 30, 2009

Pain drugs may have put DJ AM at risk


Advertiser News Services

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

DJ AM

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Spike Lee

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Addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky said yesterday that pain medications likely led disc jockey DJ AM, a former drug addict who died suddenly Friday, away from his sober path.

"It very slowly and subtly reawakens addiction," Pinsky said of pain medication in an interview yesterday. "I'm not saying it was inappropriately prescribed, I'm saying he didn't know the risks."

DJ AM, whose real name was Adam Goldstein, was found dead in his apartment Friday evening. A crack pipe and prescription pills were found in the Manhattan apartment, said a law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. Goldstein was 36 years old.

Pinsky is the host of VH1's "Celebrity Rehab," where he helps troubled stars get off of drugs and alcohol.

BROOKLYN CELEBRATES KING OF POP'S 51ST

Thousands of Michael Jackson fans danced the rain away in a Brooklyn park yesterday at a party hosted by filmmaker Spike Lee, marking what would have been the 51st birthday of the late pop star.

Crowds of partygoers streamed into Prospect Park late yesterday afternoon, many wearing fedoras, sporting white gloves and showing off other Jackson-esque outfits. DJs spun Jackson's hits one after the other as people danced and sang along.

"I was just like everyone else. I loved his talent," said Lee, who directed two music videos for Jackson in 1996. He reminisced how Jackson visited him in his home in Brooklyn to talk about their music video collaboration.

50 CENT FORCED TO CANCEL 'FAMILY DAY'

The rapper 50 Cent has canceled a "Family Day" fair he had planned in his old Queens neighborhood amid police concerns about security for the event.

The fair had been planned for today at a school yard in the borough's Jamaica section, blocks from a spot where the rapper was shot and wounded in 2000.

The musician's manager, Chris Lighty, says the event is being postponed while organizers work out new arrangements with police.

JUANES GOING AHEAD WITH CUBA CONCERT

Juanes is sorry about the huge outrage surrounding his upcoming peace concert in Cuba, but says that his intentions are truly genuine.

"I deeply regret having caused, let's say, this bad moment," he said Friday night.

The Colombian singer still plans to hold his "Peace Without Borders" concert at Havana's Plaza of the Revolution on Sept. 20.

Juanes, 37, had his first "Peace Without Borders" concert in March 2008, drawing thousands to the border between Venezuela and Colombia when tensions were high over a Colombian commando raid into neighboring Ecuador that killed a leading rebel commander.