If you’ve ever seen a newborn bird or mouse, their skin is so thin it’s translucent. It’s difficult to imagine the vulnerability of such a creature, so new to the world. They need constant protection. Any exposure might kill them.
When the drugs are gone, addicts have no skin. We are that vulnerable. Our eyes stay shut tight, as even the sunlight hurts.
If Matthew Perry was like me, and I think he was, he couldn’t survive the world without help. He was just as vulnerable. As I read the contents of his toxicology report, I thought, He just hurt too much.
We don’t feel vulnerable to drugs, but to feeling. We can’t stand it after being numb so long.
The false narratives surrounding addiction in our nation keep us sick.
On Thursday, news broke that five people, including Perry’s assistant and doctors, were charged with providing him the ketamine that led to his accidental overdose in 2023. “They knew what they were doing was wrong. They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry,” proclaimed U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. “But they did it anyways. In the end, these defendants were more interested in profiting off of Mr. Perry than caring for his well being.”
It enraged me. I understand why charging these people may seem like a good idea. Text messages between two of the doctors indeed show a deep callousness toward Perry, whom they refer to as “a moron” as they speculate about their potential payday.
But the false narratives surrounding addiction in our nation keep us sick. Arresting Perry’s suppliers is not a solution to addiction. It’s smoke and mirrors; a PR tactic meant to convince Americans our government is doing something about the problem.
The truth is addiction is a terrible and mysterious disorder of the brain. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Heath Ledger, Prince, Whitney Houston and Matthew Perry did not survive it.
Inexplicably, I did — so far. I’ve been off heroin for many years.
But if I were to overdose tomorrow, the Drug Enforcement Administration would not be dispatched to investigate. I am not in the public eye and don’t have a fan base. Law enforcement doesn’t need to prove to anyone they’re doing something about my death. I’d be just one more statistic.
I also can’t imagine any dealer considering a career change because of these arrests. The market for drugs is like any other, a question of supply and demand. If the five people who helped Perry procure drugs hadn’t come through, he would have found five others who would. He had the money to do so.
Not everyone does.
Addiction is a medical issue, not a moral one. What does “justice” look like? Arresting a doctor here or a personal assistant there? This sort of targeted prosecution is the flimsiest of Band-Aids. It implies the matter has been closed, and it enables society to bypass our responsibility — both to Perry and to each other.
How do we convince the American people to invest in evidence-based drug treatments for addicts when other patients can’t get the basic health coverage they need? France cut heroin overdoses by almost 80%, a stunning success rate. But it has health care for all and centers devoted to not just getting addicts off drugs, but also to providing therapy and job training. There’s another aspect of this tragedy that is difficult to convey, and even more difficult to accept. And that is the notion of what is and isn’t help. I’ve been dope sick before, and it’s a hell I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. There’s another aspect of this tragedy that is difficult to convey, and even more difficult to accept. And that is the notion of what is and isn’t help. Perry asked his longtime live-in assistant for relief; according to court documents, the assistant administered three injections of ketamine between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on the day of the actor’s death. I can’t imagine Perry wanting that assistant punished for fulfilling his requests. (And of course, now we’ll never be able to ask.) I don’t expect everyone to understand an impulse that isn’t rational. But for addicts, help is often only one thing: more of what kills us. If we lived in a nation that recognized addiction as the disorder of the brain it is proven to be; if we provided medical support not just to addicts, but to all Americans; and if we finally gave up the yoke of puritanism and accepted the medical science surrounding addiction treatment, I might say: Go ahead. Arrest the dealers. But we do not live in such a nation. When our government cracked down on doctors for overprescribing with no other solutions in place, some addicts looked for relief on the streets. Some killed themselves. People in chronic pain were stranded. Illegal fentanyl killed hundreds of thousands. Should Kamala Harris become our next president, I hope she has the wherewithal to rewrite our addiction policy. In the meantime, the men and women who fed Perry’s addiction will go to jail — probably. Perry’s assistant has already pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death. The public’s thirst for revenge may be slaked temporarily. But nothing else will change.
Elizabeth Grey
Elizabeth Grey is an American essayist and a Substack bestseller with her newsletter, Elizabeth Grey Writes. She’s presently putting the final touches on her memoir, "Ghost Week." 
