Whitney Houston death ruled drowning, cocaine

LOS ANGELES - Whitney Houston was a chronic cocaine user who had the drug in her system when she drowned in a hotel bathtub, coroner's officials said Thursday after releasing autopsy findings that also noted that heart disease contributed to her death.

The disclosure ended weeks of speculation about what killed the Grammy-winning singer Feb. 11, on the eve of the Grammy Awards.

Houston was found submerged in the bathtub of her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and her death was ruled accidental. Several bottles of prescription medications were found in her hotel room, but coroner's officials said there weren't excessive quantities.

"We are saddened to learn of the toxicology results, although we are glad to now have closure," Patricia Houston, the singer's sister-in-law and manager, wrote in a statement.

Beverly Hills police said there was no evidence of wrongdoing in connection with Houston's death.

Coroner's Chief of Operations Craig Harvey said cocaine and its by-products were found in Houston's system. The drug was listed as a contributing factor in her death. He said the results indicated Houston was a chronic cocaine user.

Toxicology results also showed Houston had marijuana, Xanax, the muscle relaxant Flexeril, and the allergy medication Benadryl in her system. Houston died just hours before she was scheduled to appear at producer Clive Davis' pre-Grammy Awards bash.

The singer also had heart disease that caused blockages in her arteries. Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said the condition was common in drug users, although he said it wasn't clear whether Houston had had a heart attack on the day she died.

The exact amount of cocaine in Houston's system was not disclosed, but will be contained in a full autopsy report to be released in about two weeks, officials said.

Family and friends said after Houston's death that they didn't believe she was still abusing drugs.

"I don't think drugs was an issue for her before her death. I don't know what happened that day," Patricia Houston said in a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Whitney Houston, 48, was buried in a New Jersey cemetery next to her father after an emotional four-hour funeral that was attended by friends, family, and superstars such as Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, and Roberta Flack.

Houston, a sensation from her first, eponymous album in 1985, was one of the world's best-selling artists from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s.

She had been attempting a comeback when she died.