Janet Jackson talks about Michael Jackson's Drug Problem

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Janet Jackson says her brother Michael's prescription drug use wasn't a secret to family members.

"People think we were in denial but we weren't," the star of Why Did I Get Married Too? told Oprah on Friday. "We tried intervention several times. He was very much in denial. He didn't think he had a problem."

During one of interventions, Janet said she became so distraught "seeing him and knowing that there was an issue that he was in denial about" that she had to leave the room. Adding: "A lot of the relationships I've been in, they've had issues with addiction. It's difficult when you see it. [I] recognize it so quickly because I've dealt with it in past relationships."

Janet says that the last time she saw Michael was a month before his death at a Jackson family party Janet threw for their parents Katherine, who is now the guardian of Michael's three children, and Joe.

"He was thin then, and we knew that he had a problem," she said. "We all did."

Michael died last June at the age of 50. The autopsy released by the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office concluded that he was the victim of a homicide, backing the coroner’s initial determination that he died from “acute propofol intoxication.” His personal doctor, Conrad Murray, told police he gave the King of Pop the sedative to help him sleep. In addition to propofol, a second sedative lorazepam was also primary responsible for Michael's death. There was also Midazolam, Diazepam, Lidocaine and Ephedrine in his system.

SOURCE: Star Magazine