Young actors speak out about drug abuse

Two young entertainers on Monday spoke out about drug abuse in the wake of the death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman from a suspected overdose.

Singer Demi Lovato, who has sought treatment for drug and alcohol addiction, urged people to treat drug addiction seriously and take action against it.

The X Factor judge, who has struggled with marijuana and cocaine addiction in the past, took to Twitter to hit out at celebrities who “glamourise” drug addiction.

“I wish more people would lose the stigma and treat addiction as the deadly and serious disease that it is. Drugs are not something to glamourise in pop music or film to portray as harmless recreational fun. It’s not cute, cool or admirable,” she posted.

“It’s time people start really taking action on changing what we’re actually singing or rapping about these days, because you never know if you could be glamourising a certain drug to a first time user or alcoholic who could possibly end up dead because they end up suffering from the same deadly disease so many have already died from. This stuff is not something to mess with.”

Meanwhile, Desperate Housewives actor Shawn Pyfrom ­— best known for playing actress Marcia Cross’ mischievous son Andrew Van De Kamp ­— admitted that he is an addict and has struggled with drug and alcohol abuse.

Seemingly moved to speak out after Hoffman’s death, Pyfrom took to Tumblr to write a lengthy open letter to others who may be struggling the same way he did because he “could not hear of another person being robbed of their life due to addiction”.

“i just read the news about mr. philip seymour hoffman, and against the advise of others; i had to write this open letter. i can’t stay quiet anymore about this[sic],” the 27-year-old wrote on his Tumblr. “i am an alcoholic and a drug addict [sic]”.

The actor did not indicate what drugs he had taken but added that on Sunday he “celebrated five months of sobriety”.

Supernatural actor Jared Padalecki reacted slightly differently to Hoffman’s death, drawing the ire of the Twitter masses. “‘Sad’ isn’t the word I’d use to describe a 46-year-old man throwing his life away to drugs. ‘Senseless’ is more like it. ‘Stupid,’” he wrote in a since-deleted tweet. He later qualified his comment with “I didn’t mean PSH is stupid or that addiction isn’t a reality. I simply meant I have a different definition of ‘tragedy’.”