Appreciate the kind words from Eyes of Disarray and the recognition from Lazy Divey. To address Vaporized, while what you say is true, I think part of what you are saying plays into the misinformation about drugs other than alcohol. Sure, you might be an addict, and the only way to avoid that is to not ever drink alcohol, and some people do that, but the odds of that being true are truly remote. Most people can casually use drugs, which includes alcohol, marijuana, and what we consider to be harder drugs. Most people have had a drink in their lives, so to damn Scott for trying is to damn them as well.
I should add that my previous post shouldn't be taken to relieve Scott of all blame. There is also being smart about which situations you put yourself in. In fact, that is why I think he was more keen to reform VR than STP. At least those guys mostly tried to help him. Scott says they wanted to be reimbursed for missed shows when he needed rehab, and I don't know how true that is. But I think the reason they have been more open about Scott is that they more understood what he was going through. If Dean was like most people and could use casually, then he didn't know what Scott was going through. The VR guys did.
I also think that, as I had voiced for a while, that Scott just wasn't that happy. I think he played up the Wildabouts and said '2017' for an STP reunion, but privately I think he wanted to get back with VR and to a lesser extent, STP.
The night I wrote my last post, I had a dream. I don't even think in my most fanatic years did I ever dream about a musician I admired. But I did the other night. It was strange. I was working at a college in some capacity, but I was also procuring tickets to a VR reunion happening at the campus bar. In the meantime, I was in a band and the singer of my band had been found dead on campus, and there were suspicions surrounding my buddy and me.
The VR reunion happened, and being employees we got good seats in the balcony by a bar. The show started, and Scott was sort of dressed as if he were in Cabaret, and he was doing a carnival barker impression as he walked to the stage with his megaphone.
Early in the show, Scott headed to one side of the stage and threw up in the middle of a song. He kept trying to get back to singing and then he would collapse. Slash said something about, 'Hey, with Scott, what do you expect?' Scott looked awful and then collapsed for good, motionless. People realized something was wrong, and he was taken out on a stretcher.
Then I woke up. Very strange dream.