He’s definitely clean now – which is of course an indication that he wasn’t all that ‘functional’, or else, why clean up? I seem to remember that it was specifically taking care of his son that made him quit…
Of course, he still managed to put out great music while on drugs, so you could call him ‘functional’ from that point of view.
There are many issues caused to long term addicts by the illegality of the stuff; they can be entirely functional in their own country with a secure supply, but if their boss tells them he plans to sends them to Singapore they face a hobson’s choice.
So are they functional or not?
Ernest Hemingway
Almost any pro wrestler. Painkillers, steroids, growth hormones, and all sorts of PED’s are the norm.
Anyone involved in bodybuilding at anything beyond the local level. (Let’s not be naive, you don’t get comic-book ripped from diet and hard work alone, unless you are VERY lucky. If that were the case, every blue-collar, health conscious person on the planet would be Magnus Ver Schwarzenegger.)
Up until very recently, Charlie Sheen was doing pretty damn well for himself.
You are conflating dependency with addiction. While it’s true that professional and non-natural bodybuilders are dependent on a regimen of illegal drugs in order to achieve and maintain their forms; it’s entirely untrue to say that as a class of competitors, these athletes are addicted to any drug.
It think he’s been off for awhile. It certainly did make his music much darker but also great.
Robert Downey Jr. had been on drugs for quite some time, but quit in 2003. It might be argued that his quality increased afterwards, though.