What's good for the goose isn't necessarily good for the gander.....
I have never actually watched "Glee" but I have definitely heard from friends of mine that it is a good show because of the talent of the cast and the way that they have tackled some tough issues throughout the storyline. It is so sad to hear about a tragedy like this happening, especially to someone so young and who apparently had a bright future ahead of him.
Speaking from both personal and professional experience, I can say without a doubt that the mainstream idea of a strict abstinence-only approach to the treatment of drug & alcohol addiction has caused much more harm than good. Treatment centers with this narrow-minded philosophy are doing society a great injustice. Because their focus is on complete abstinence from any "mind or mood altering chemical", they are basically setting a person up for failure from the moment they walk in the door. The simple truth is that the majority of those who seek help for an addiction to any substance are going to relapse and use again at some point. And when the person does use again, they often pick up right where they left off believing their tolerance is still the same as it had been when they quit using. That combined with using multiple substances together can and often does lead to tragic results as we have seen with this young man.
By focusing solely on a 12-step based, total abstinence recovery program, the treatment center that Cory attended let him down because it was like they withheld information that could have potentially saved his life. Instead of saying to him "Just don't use anymore and work the 12 steps", they should have educated him on a variety of things including the potentially fatal effects of mixing opiates and alcohol, the way one's tolerance to heroin decreases after having not used for a while, and the availability of opiate replacement maintenance therapies for those addicted to heroin. It is so important for the person to know that there are many alternatives out there to the traditional approach to treatment. Some people may need to take the opiate replacement therapy route for a while and go to the methadone clinic or see a doctor for suboxone maintenance. And some will benefit most from simply practicing harm reduction strategies such as using clean needles and equipment because they are not able or willing to stop for whatever reason. The point is that different things will work for different peoiple and it is not for any one person or facility to force any particular method or approach down someone's throat. This will only lead to frustration, anger, and the perpetuation of the negative stereotypes and stigmas that plague those who are addicted.