Whitney Houston’s Descent Into Drug Hell

Unable to conquer her demons, pop diva Whitney Houston drowned in the bathtub of her Beverly Hilton hotel suite while under the influence of cocaine and other drugs on Feb. 11, 2012. She was 48 years old and a national joke after her infamous “crack is whack” comment, which marked the beginning of a downward spiral into heavy drug use!

That’s the claim of music industry mogul L.A. Reid, who’s blown the lid off Whitney’s notorious TV interview with Diane Sawyer! In his memoir, “Sing to Me,” Epic Records boss L.A. — who wrote and produced songs for Whitney — said he went to “great pains” to arrange the December 2002 interview. His goal was to “counter some bad publicity Whitney had created at a recent Michael Jackson tribute,” he penned.

He’d noticed Whitney’s “commitment” to her career had changed, but wrote he didn’t realize “much of this change … came from her substance abuse issues.” During the interview, Whitney alluded to having used cocaine, prescription pills and marijuana, but drew the line at crack cocaine, saying: “I make too much money to ever smoke crack. Crack is whack.” Stunned, L.A. wrote that he called Whitney’s top publicist and asked, “What have we done?”

“The interview with Whitney was a strategic mistake,” he concluded. “I should have protected her; instead, I exposed her.” But that mistake was just another in a series of bad decisions that would lead to Whitney's watery death.

The National ENQUIRER revealed how Whitney's drug use had spiraled out of control in 2000, with a scoop on an earlier near-fatal overdose in another luxurious L.A. hotel suite. She was staying there with husband Bobby Brown, and was supposed to attend a meeting with him. Three hours after the planned start, Bobby sent a member of their entourage to find her.

"The staffer had a key and, after pounding on the door and getting no answer, he let himself into the suite," revealed a close family friend. "He found Whitney unconscious on the bed. He could see drug residue still in the room. "There was also a rolled-up bill and a water pipe." A doctor was called, and the incident was covered up — even though Whitney's  drug dealer,  "Uncle Rob" — had already turned to The ENQUIRER in an effort to help his most reliable customer!

"Whitney is doing a lot of cocaine," said the New Jersey drug dealer. "Too much! Ten years ago, she was spending about $1,000 a week on cocaine and marijuana. Now it's about $2,500. She can't stop and she'll destroy herself. I've even told her, 'You're doing too much. You've got to slow down!'"

Whitney went on to a new drug dealer — and The ENQUIRER soon learned that daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown had also become a customer of a man known as "Jay." The 18-year-old tried to be discreet, though. "Bobbi only buys drugs from Jay when Whitney is out of town," said the source. Sadly, Bobbi Kristina (pictured here with her mother in 2009) would follow her mother's path to hellish addiction, and finally pass away on July 26, 2015, after spending months in a coma following a wild night of partying.

Tragically, The ENQUIRER revealed how Whitney was let down until her tragic end — with a bombshell exclusive that someone close to Whitney had spent 15 minutes cleaning her hotel suite of any traces of cocaine before calling for help. Those crucial moments may have meant the difference between life or death for the legendary superstar. In the aftermath of her funeral, Whitney's family and her entourage were consumed with guilt, said insiders — just like L.A. Reid, asking: "What have we done?"