The actor, in fact, made a lot of choices over the years that culminated in this week's events. In 1996 he walked out of a treatment center and started using again. In 1997 he skipped urine drug tests ordered by his probation officer, went to jail for about four months, and then started using again. In 1999 he again missed urine tests. Pavlov himself couldn't have designed a better system for inducing relapse.
Some addicts actually move out of their old neighborhood as part of their recovery plan.
Yet within 48 hours of his release in August, the actor was negotiating with his Hollywood agents. Mr. Downey had a responsibility to learn from experience. It was his job to understand that reimmersion in Hollywood was too risky a proposition. Hollywood is, after all, a culture of exceptionalism. People want to be, or think they are, the most beautiful, most talented, most in demand.