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Houston 'drowned with cocaine in system'
Singer Whitney Houston died by drowning but heart disease and cocaine use were contributing factors, coroner's officials have ruled.
Though Whitney Houston's official cause of death was drowning, the coroner's reported said that cocaine was a contributing factor to her death
The announcement ends weeks of speculation about what killed the Grammy Award-winning singer on 11 February.
Houston, 48, was found submerged in the bathtub at her room in the Beverly Hilton Hotel on the eve of this year's Grammy Awards.
Several bottles of prescription medications were found in her hotel room but a spokesman for the LA county coroner's office said they were not in excessive quantities.
Craig Harvey said cocaine metabolites were found in Houston's system and it was listed as a contributing factor in her death.
The results indicated the singer was a chronic cocaine user, he said.
The exact amount of cocaine in Houston's system was not disclosed but will be contained in a full autopsy report to be released in about two weeks, officials said.
Marijuana, an anti-anxiety medication, a muscle relaxant and anti-histamine were also found in Houston's system the coroner found they did not contribute to her death.
The singer also had buildup of plaque in her arteries that can restrict blood flow. Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said the condition is common in drug users, although he said it was not clear whether Houston had a heart attack on the day she died.
