NAMES IN THE NEWS : Used Drugs Since ‘60s--Vereen

Entertainer Ben Vereen, who blamed the 1987 death of his daughter in an auto accident for pushing him into using drugs, admits now he had been a drug abuser since the 1960s.

“Sometimes what people really need is a good hug, so they know they are loved. We didn’t understand love. Instead, we bought into drugs,” Vereen said in this week’s issue of Parade.

Vereen said his drug use became worse after his daughter, Naja, was killed, but another daughter, Malaika, forced him to see what the drugs were doing to him, and he wound up in a treatment center.