Drugs & Alcohol

The doctor commissioned to save Prince's life treated one of the most strung out rock stars in history.

Former Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler sought treatment from Dr. Howard Kornfeld in the mid-'90s to kick a vicious heroin habit.

Adler's been open about his demons -- his heroin problem got him booted from Guns N' Roses. In 1996, right around the time he was being treated by Kornfeld, he suffered a stroke from an OD that left one side of his face paralyzed.

We're told Dr. Kornfeld treated Adler with the same synthetic opiate Kornfeld's son carried in his backpack to Prince's home.

Justin Tuck had a reverse Kobe Bryant style retirement Friday -- instead of people showering him with gifts, he was the one doing the giving ... handing out 70 BOTTLES of $200 scotch.

The former NY Giants superstar signed an honorary 1-day contract with the team today so he could retire as a G-Man ... and passed out bottles of Johnnie Walker Blue Label to 70 people -- media members, coaches and executives.

"I wanted to thank all the people who have had an impact on my career and helped me get to this incredible milestone," Tuck said.

"To recognize their love and support, I’m giving each a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label -- just like I did for my team after winning Super Bowl XLVI in 2012."

Andrew Kornfeld, the man who flew to Prince's home on a thwarted rescue mission that ended with his call to 911, made it clear to a photog Thursday ... he wasn't going to talk about the ongoing criminal investigation into the singer's death.

Andrew's dad, rehab specialist Dr. Howard Kornfeld, got the call from Prince's rep the day before the singer died, pleading with him to come to Minnesota to save Prince from a fatal OD. The doctor couldn't make it but sent his son, who was in the house when Prince was discovered in the elevator.

As we reported, Andrew is under investigation because when cops arrived they found pills -- a synthetic opiate used to treat Percocet addicts -- in his backpack. Andrew, who is not a doctor, is being investigated for the unauthorized practice of medicine.

The photog got Andrew at a nature preserve in Northern California.

We also got video Thursday of Dr. Kornfeld outside his rehab facility, Recovery Without Walls, in Marin County, CA. He was also mum.

2 Chainz is blaming Justin Bieber for getting his codeine cough syrup of choice yanked off shelves -- but he's also giving the Biebs full hood status ... by accident.

The rapper joined the Drink Champs podcast with N.O.R.E and DJ EFN and openly talked about his lean habit, and bemoaned the fact his favorite brand, Actavis, is no longer for sale.

Chainz thinks JB, and a few others, are responsible for the drug's demise -- but watch what happens when he starts backing up the bus.

If this is true ... Bieber better get used to getting pulled over.

Arsenio Hall just clapped back at Sinead O'Connor with a $5 MILLION defamation lawsuit over her claim he was fueling Prince's habit.

His lawyers, Marty Singer and Lynda Goldman, filed the suit Thursday morning, in which Arsenio calls Sinead a "desperate attention-seeker" for posting an incendiary rant on Facebook earlier this week. She called Prince a "longtime hard drug user" who got his supply from "Arsenio Hall (AKA Prince's and Eddie Murphy's bitch)."

In the suit, Arsenio flat out denies ever supplying Prince with illegal drugs -- and adds, he hasn't had contact with Sinead for 25 years. He also denies spiking her with drugs back in the day ... as she claimed.

As for why she targeted him -- Arsenio says she's repeatedly said she met Prince a couple times and she "detested" him. She also says she told Prince "to go f*** himself."

Authorities in Minnesota have made the overprescribing practices of Prince's doctors the focus of their investigation ... sources connected with the case tell TMZ.

We're told the criminal probe has zeroed in on a drug that almost killed Prince 6 days before his death -- Percocet. TMZ broke the story, EMTs gave Prince a "save shot" at the Moline airport after his plane made an emergency landing.

We're told law enforcement in Minnesota is looking at 3 possible abuses ... multiple doctors who overprescribed meds to the singer, aliases the singer and his doctors may have used, and multiple pharmacies that filled the prescriptions.

As we reported, Prince had prescriptions filled at least 4 times in the 7 days before he died, and at least one of the pharmacies was 6.1 miles from his home ... much farther than 8 other drug stores.

The man who called 911 in Prince's death could face criminal prosecution if he was expecting to get paid for helping the singer ... and it all comes down to the pills in his backpack.

The lawyer for Andrew Kornfeld -- whose dad runs a rehab facility in Marin County, California -- says his client is entitled to immunity from prosecution because he was acting as a Good Samaritan.

The issue -- Andrew had a synthetic opiate in his backpack, and he's not a doctor. Our sources say investigators are keenly interested in knowing why Andrew brought the pills. They are often used to wean people off drugs like Percocet -- the opiate which fueled Prince's addiction.

Andrew's attorney points to a Minnesota law that protects people who might be committing drug crimes from being prosecuted if they call 911. The idea is to give people an incentive to help others in dire need without fear of prosecution.

Here's the problem. Under the law, the person who calls 911 does NOT get immunity if they receive or expect to receive compensation for picking up the phone and making the call. It's unclear if Andrew and his dad were going to get paid, but the recovery center charges for its services, so it's a good bet they were expecting compensation.

As for the drugs in the backpack ... even if Andrew's dad prescribed the drug for Prince, our DEA sources say it's illegal for anyone to take the drugs across state lines and deliver drugs in states where the doctor is not board certified.

The Federal Drug Enforcement Administration is now involved in the death investigation of Prince, and our law enforcement sources say drugs are the focal point of the criminal probe.

Our sources say the DEA and the Minnesota Attorney General are looking into the various prescriptions that were written for Prince, and the focus is opiates. Prince had a life-threatening Percocet addiction and authorities believe opiates will likely be either the sole or at least a significant factor in his death.

Our sources say the investigation is sweeping ... doctors and pharmacies involved in prescribing and filling meds for Prince are targeted, but possible enablers are also in the crosshairs.

Our sources now say the toxicology report may still be weeks away, although it was initially set to be released 2 weeks after the autopsy.

Eminem's ex-wife, Kim Mathers, was trying to kill herself when she rolled her car into a ditch last October in an alleged drunk driving accident.

Kim called into the Detroit radio show "Mojo in the Morning" on channel 95.5 to come clean on the car accident. The case had been sealed, leading people to think she was getting preferential treatment from the court. Kim says the docs were sealed only because they had medical information related to her suicide attempt.

She admits she specifically found a road where no one else would get hurt, ingested pills and alcohol before she "hit the gas and aimed for a pole." Her Cadillac Escalade flipped but Kim ultimately survived the wreck.

Kim says she's currently getting help. Listen to the clip ... she also talks about how Eminem's helped her through the ordeal.

The addiction specialist who was at Prince's house the day he died brought a backpack containing a synthetic opiate ... and his criminal defense lawyer now insists he should not be prosecuted.

Prince's people called Dr. Howard Kornfeld the day before the singer died, saying they believed Prince was on the verge of dying from drugs. Prince was apparently on board to get help, but the doctor said it would be 2 days before he could get there.

Dr. Kornfeld sent his son, Andrew, who worked at their facility -- Recovery Without Walls. Andrew flew out early and was at Prince's home the day he died.

Andrew's lawyer, William Mauzy, just said Andrew did not supply Prince with any drugs, although he did have synthetic opiates in his backpack. The drug is called buprenorphine, a synthetic opiate for pain management and to wean people off actual opiates.

It was Andrew who called 911 after the staff found Prince unconscious in the elevator.

Prince was supposed to meet with a doctor specializing in addiction treatment the day after he died ... to deal with a "grave medical condition."

Dr. Howard Kornfeld, a national authority on opioid addiction, could not clear his schedule on April 21st, so he sent his son, Andrew, to meet with the singer ... this according to the Star Tribune.

Dr. Kornfeld was supposed to come the following day, and his son -- who works with him at the Recovery Without Walls clinic -- was going to outline the course of treatment. Andrew is the person who called 911 to report Prince was lifeless in the elevator.

According to the report, Dr. Kornfeld was initially contacted by one of Prince's reps, who said the singer "was dealing with a grave medical emergency."

The Minneapolis Fire Dept. just made a big change ... a life-saving drug for people who OD is now part of its emergency toolbox ... just weeks after Prince's death.

The brass says NARCAN has been on their radar for months, so the timing is just coincidence.

TMZ broke the story ... NARCAN, the so-called "save shot," probably did just that -- saved Prince's life 6 days before his death after his plane made an emergency landing in Moline, Illinois after he OD'd on Percocet.

A bodybuilding legend has a message for Miami Marlins star Dee Gordon -- KICK THE PEDS AND COME TRAIN WITH ME!!!!

We spoke with 2008 Mr. Olympia Dexter Jackson -- a 5-TIME Arnold Classic winner -- who says he knows all about Gordon's 80 game suspension for PED use ... and wants to help him train clean.

"I know all the tricks of the trade," Jackson says ... "[training PED-free] is gonna take longer, but you gotta know how to treat your body right."

Sinead O'Connor is blaming Prince's drug problems on his good friend, Arsenio Hall -- but he says the Irish singer is totally full of it.

Sinead went on the attack, saying ... "Two words for the DEA investigating where (sic) prince got his drugs over the decades ... Arsenio Hall (AKA Prince's and Eddie Murphy's bitch)."

She went on to say on her Facebook page ... she's actually reported Arsenio to the Carver County Sheriff's department, which is investigating Prince's death.

A rep for Arsenio says Sinead's claim is "absolutely false, ridiculous and absurd."

She can thank Prince for writing her biggest hit, "Nothing Compares 2 U" -- but fact is, Sinead was NOT close to Prince ... and she's made other outrageous claims about him. She once alleged he punched her and held her against her will at Paisley Park.

Wiz Khalifa doesn't always drink beer -- he's more of a smoker -- but when he does he likes his brew infused with hemp.

Yeah, Khalifa is gearing up to launch his own line of beer, juice, carbonated juice, energy drinks, and non-alcoholic cocktails ... all infused with the hemp plant.

According to the trademark docs Wiz filed he wants to sell the drinks under his "Khalifa Kush" handle ... which is also the brand he uses to push his strains of weed.

Bad news though if you're looking for a liquid high -- even though hemp looks like weed, the THC levels are too low to produce a strong buzz.

Prince passed up at least 8 pharmacies close to Paisley Park on his way to pick up prescription pills hours before his death ... and it could all have been to hide a paper trail of multiple prescriptions.

As TMZ reported ... Prince visited Walgreens chain drugstores 4 times in the week leading up to his death. However, the location the singer visited the night before his death was 6 miles from home. An odd choice considering there were several other pharmacies located just over a mile from his house.

Although it's unclear exactly why Prince traveled so far ... family members tell TMZ they were worried the singer was using multiple doctors and aliases. Most pharmacies will throw up a red flag if a patient visits too often ... so by visiting multiple locations in his area, the singer could have flown under the radar.