The singer had battled her demons in public, too often making headlines for erratic behavior, destructive relationships and abortive performances.

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Dr. Paulo Negro, a psychiatrist with Kolmac Clinic, one of the largest outpatient addiction treatment programs in Maryland, said drugs are lie weapons of mass destruction.

“We are all weak creatures the more that you leave to your willpower the more likely you are not likely to succeed,” he said.

Success, he says, can mean intense counseling, support, meetings, a sponsor and changing your lifestyle and the people around you.

But she was remembered fondly by her neighbors in Camden, the creative but gritty neighborhood where she lived on and off for years.

"She was too young to die and too talented, and too beautiful," said Peggy Conlon, landlady of the Dublin Castle pub, where Winehouse occasionally stopped for a drink. "She's sorely missed by everyone, not one person had a bad word to say about that kid."

Actor Russell Brand, a former drug addict, wrote a lengthy tribute in which he urged the media and public to change the way addiction is perceived - "not as a crime or a romantic affectation but as a disease that will kill.

"Winehouse and I shared an affliction, the disease of addiction," he wrote. "Addiction is a serious disease; it will end with jail, mental institutions or death."