Peaches Geldof: Another Victim of London's Easy Peasy Drug Culture

Daughter of Sir Bob Geldof Found Unconscious in Her London Apartment

A spokesperson from the London Ambulance service today confirmed that paramedics were called to a North London apartment early Monday morning to respond to a female reportedly unconscious from a drug overdose. The female was confirmed to be Peaches Geldof, 19 year-old daughter of Live Aid organizer and Boomtown Rats singer Sir Bob Geldof. Peaches Geldof had been given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation prior to the ambulance's arrival. Geldof was assessed by paramedics at the scene and refused hospital treatment, reportedly in an attempt to keep the incident from her father.

Peaches Geldof is also the daughter of Paula Yates, a TV presenter and writer who died in 2000 at age 41 from a heroin overdose. Yates had struggled with depression and drug addiction for years following the death of her then-husband, Michael Hutchence, lead singer for the band INXS.

Peaches Geldof was videotaped earlier in the year paying money for drugs and was questioned but not charged by police. Geldof's drug escapades reportedly landed her in hot water with her father, who threatened to force her to move back into the family home.

Peaches Geldof is the most recent in a barrage of celebrity narcotics dramas in London's permissive drug culture. Also earlier this year, photos of singer Amy Winehouse posing with crack pipes in her London home have surfaced and been widely distributed. Winehouse and her incarcerated husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, are admittedly addicted to crack cocaine and heroin. British model Kate Moss's penchant for cocaine is a well-documented fact.

Yet, in spite of clear drug law violations, celebrities that use are rarely prosecuted in Britain, with judges preferring rehabilitation over punishment. A United Nations report released in March of this year chastised the British legal system for not enforcing narcotics laws for celebrities, saying that it sends a dangerous message to British youth. The report states that Britain has one of the highest rates of cocaine abuse in Europe and that falling prices for cocaine put the drug within the reach of most of the British population.