Pubdate: Sat, 11 Oct 2003 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Copyright: 2003 Hearst Communications Inc. Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388 Author: James Barron, New York Times Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Rush+Limbaugh Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone) RADIO HOST LIMBAUGH ADMITS HE'S ADDICTED New York -- Rush Limbaugh, the nation's most popular radio talk-show host with an audience of 20 million people a week, announced Friday that he is addicted to prescription pain relievers and would check into a rehabilitation center. Limbaugh, who has been in the forefront of conservative talk radio since the mid-1980s and is widely credited with mobilizing support for the Republican sweep of Congress in 1994 and the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998, made the announcement nine days after he resigned as an ESPN sports analyst because of race-related comments he had made about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. Limbaugh -- a college dropout who soared to nationwide fame with acid comments about Democrats and environmental "wackos," among others -- made the announcement at the end of his midday program. Pulling his golden microphone closer to his mouth, rubbing his nose, scratching an eyebrow, Limbaugh told his audience on 600 stations nationwide, including KSFO in San Francisco, that he wanted "to once and for all break the hold that this highly addictive medication has on me." Limbaugh, who has regularly told his listeners that drug users should be jailed, said he began taking painkillers after undergoing spinal surgery in the 1990s. But the operation did not ease the discomfort in his lower back or his neck. He said that instead of having more surgery, "I chose to treat the pain with prescribed medication, and this medication turned out to be highly addictive." He said that he had tried to end his dependence on pain pills before, twice checking into "medical facilities." This time, he said, he had agreed with his doctor about "the next steps" he needed to take. CIGAR BOXES FILLED WITH CASH He did not say what drugs he is addicted to. He was linked to an investigation in Florida last week after his maid was quoted in the National Enquirer as saying she met him in parking lots where he handed her cigar boxes filled with cash and she handed him cigar boxes filled with pills, including OxyContin, a time-release narcotic that has been widely abused. OxyContin is known on the streets by the term "hillbilly heroin." Friday, the Associated Press quoted law-enforcement officials it did not name as saying that Limbaugh was being investigated by the state's attorney's office in Palm Beach County, Fla. Limbaugh's lawyer, Roy Black, did not return a telephone call for comment. On the air, Limbaugh said he would not discuss the details "until this investigation is complete." He took issue with reports on the investigation but said he would not comment on them. "I'm only going to say that the stories you have read, the stories you've heard, contain inaccuracies and distortions," he said, "and I'm going to clear those up when I am finally free to speak about them." He did not say when that might be. Nor did he say what rehab center he would check into. He said he would spend 30 days there, beginning immediately after his broadcast Friday. Michael Sitrick, a spokesman for the company that syndicates Limbaugh's program, said there was "no relationship" between Friday's announcement and Limbaugh's comments about McNabb. "These are completely unrelated issues," Sitrick said. REFUSED TO COMMENT Limbaugh had declined to discuss the drug issue last Friday, his first day on the air after reports of the Florida investigation had been published. He said he had received thousands of positive e-mail messages. But on Monday, the Wall Street Journal said in an editorial that he had let his listeners down by not discussing the drug allegations. "It strikes us that what people are really waiting to see is whether he will take the consequences of his actions like a man," the editorial said. Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard Law School professor, said he believed that Limbaugh's departure for rehabilitation was intended to "pre-empt the story." He also said he did not believe that Limbaugh should be prosecuted. Prosecutors rarely charge people who misuse prescription drugs, he said, though they sometimes do file charges against celebrities. "You get more bang for the prosecution buck -- you get an enormous deterrent effect," Dershowitz said. "So the question is whether his status as a celebrity trumps the standard that you usually don't go after users of illegal pharmaceuticals." In 15 years as a syndicated radio star who prided himself on directness, Limbaugh had made headlines before with surprise announcements to an audience that includes fans so devoted they call themselves dittoheads. In 2001, a few months after signing a nine-year, $285 million contract that was the largest in the history of radio, he said his hearing had all but disappeared. He had surgery to have an electronic device placed in his skull to restore his hearing. NOTHING 'QUITE LIKE THIS' Friday, Tom Taylor, the editor of Inside Radio, a radio industry newsletter, said Limbaugh had headed into "terra incognita." "We've never really seen anything quite like this before," Taylor said. "It's certainly a test of Rush's relationship with his audience. The analogy would be what we saw a couple of years ago, in the crisis with his hearing. Most of his listeners have stuck with Rush for 15 years." Michael Harrison, the publisher of Talkers, a radio trade magazine, predicted that the Limbaugh show's long-term ratings would not be hurt. "It's going to help his career because Rush is now humanized -- people love when people show a human side," he said. "It may make some of his people scratch their heads and say: 'Oh, my gosh. Rush is a human being and not a god. ' " - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk