Years of addiction caught up to Whitney.

& The Whitney Houston cause of death was established this week, the singer had cocaine in her system at the time of her death, it was revealed.

& The results of an autopsy performed on the singer revealed traces of the Class A drug in her body.

& A Los Angeles County Coroner spokesman said the tests indicated "chronic use of cocaine".

& Giving Houston's official cause of death as accidental drowning, the Coroner also noted that heart disease played a part in her demise.

Drugs in system...

& According to the report, marijuana, Xanax, Benadryl and the muscle relaxant Flexeril were also detected, but did not contribute to her death.

& "Cocaine and metabolites were identified and were contributory to the death," the toxicology report states.

& "Marijuana, Alprazolam (Xanax), Cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril) and Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) were identified but did not contribute to the death."

Cause of Death...

& The official cause of death was ruled as "drowning and effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use".

& Houston was just 48-years-old when she was found unconscious in the bath of her Beverly Hilton Hotel room on February 11.

& The pop diva's unresponsive body was discovered by members of her entourage just hours before she was due to perform at Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party. She was pronounced dead by paramedics at 3.55pm.

& The announcement earlier this week eended weeks of speculation about what killed Houston.

& According to the toxicology report, written by Chief Medical Examiner Anthony T. Hernandez, there was no foul play in the Grammy Award-winning singer's death.

& Several bottles of prescription medication were found in her hotel suite, but coroner's officials have said the pills were "not in alarming amounts".

Many years of addiction...

& Houston battled an addiction to drugs and alcohol for years but was thought to be on the road to recovery and had just wrapped 'Sparkle' - a remake of the 1976 movie.

& During an interview with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey earlier this month, the singer's sister-in law Patricia said she always feared drugs would enter Whitney's life

& She added that she would be "kidding herself" if she claimed she hadn't been concerned about her the 'One Moment In Time' singer's lifestyle.
& Asked whether she thought drugs would end up "taking" the Bodyguard star, she said: "The handwriting was kind of on the wall."

& But she told Oprah Whitney had been changing how she lived and said: "It wasn't about substance abuse or anything like that relative to the later days.

& "It was just more of a lifestyle. I was afraid for other things. I saw her chasing a dream - you know - looking for love in all the wrong places."
& Gary Houston, Whitney's brother, said he had always looked out for his sister but as time went on "the stakes got higher".

& Asked if he feared one day receiving a call like the one he got on February 11th, he said: "Not this soon. I never thought it would end up like this really."

& Houston was buried in a New Jersey cemetery next to her father, John Russell Houston Jr., after an emotional funeral service attended by family, friends and her celebrity pals.

& Bobbi Kristina Brown, Houston's 19-year-old daughter with ex-husband Bobby Brown, is the sole beneficiary of the singer's fortune.

& (Image: WENN)