David Ruffin Research Paper

David Ruffin, was born Davis Eli Ruffin in Whynot, Mississippi on Jan.18, 1941(Biography.com). His mother died months after he was born, and he subsequently was raised by his father who was a Baptist minister. He originally left home to pursue the ministry and sing gospel music but when he was free from his father’s reign things began to change. Ruffin sung with several different groups until he was one day heard by Barry Gordy Jr. and began to sing with the Temptations in 1964. Though Ruffin was a talented singer he only sang with the Temptations until 1968.
In early years Ruffin abused alcohol and marijuana, when that was no longer enough the abuse escalated to cocaine. In the beginning Ruffin was able to maintain his appearance and career

but as the cocaine use continued, his downfall began. As the success of the group grew David Ruffin’s ego grew and he began to think only of himself. He wanted the group name to be changed to David Ruffin and the Temptations and he wanted more money. The problem with him wanting more money was that he wasn’t producing the same quality work as he was once before. He would show up late and sometimes miss practices, he would also miss performances. The group had finally had enough, and Ruffin was fired in 1968.
Ruffin’s drug abuse was no secret, according to the New York Times he had been in and out of rehab centers since 1967. The cocaine just seemed to be a habit that he could not quit. He spent 6 months in prison for tax evasion and a 1987 cocaine arrest landed him in jail for repeated parole violations (New York Times). In May of 1988 he was convicted of misdemeanor possession of cocaine. After numerous arrests, fines and jail time he continued using cocaine.
The famous David Ruffin, the man behind hits like “My Girl” and “I Wish It Would Rain” died of an apparent cocaine overdose on June 1, 1991 at the age of 50. Ruffin didn’t seem to have a support system to stop him from making dreadful errors in his life. Maybe his fame grew too fast or maybe the sheltered “church” world he grew up in didn’t prepare him for the fast and furious pace of the new world he found himself in. He started dabbling in things he thought he could handle and as it turned out he couldn’t handle them at all. When David Ruffin died I was too young to know anything about it, but after I watched the movie “The Temptations” and it showed how his life spiraled out of control; it was pretty sad. He was only on time for a short time and it was due to his own short comings.
“Cocaine addiction is a psychological desire to use cocaine regularly” (Dictionary.com).

The use of cocaine can result in heart and brain damage. It can cause strokes and constricting arteries in the heart, causing heart attacks (Dictionary.com). Cocaine use is associated with an increased risk of a range of somatic, psychological, and social problems, such as cardiac toxicity, psychosis, mood and anxiety disorders, aggression and crime” (Burda, DesLauriers & Goldstein,2009). Cocaine is also the most frequent drug related cause of emergency room visits in the United States (Burda et al., 2009). Cocaine causes some symptoms in the central nervous system like euphoria and increased self confidence when taken at a lower dose. When it is taken at a higher does it causes hallucinations, aggressiveness and disorientation. Continued use of cocaine caused the depletion of stored dopamine and this causes intense cravings for cocaine. With all the reported cocaine overdoses in the news and the fact that as children we are told about the effects of drugs, people still use them every day. Knowing just doesn’t seem like enough of a deterrent. We even see drug addicts on street corners and still it’s not enough. The drug addictions and drug overdoses will continue until a person has everything taken from them, and then maybe they will learn that the high is just not worth

it.