Candor Cost...

[From New York Daily News]

Whitney Houston's nationally televised confession that she has used drugs may spur action from child-welfare authorities in New Jersey, an official there said.

The singer, who confessed to ABC's Diane Sawyer last week that she has taken cocaine, pills, marijuana and alcohol, has a 9-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina, with husband Bobby Brown - who admitted he smoked pot to alleviate a "bipolar" disorder.

"Due to the confidentiality rules, I wouldn't be able to comment specifically if we are investigating someone or not," N.J. Division of Youth and Family Services spokesman Joseph Delmar told us on Friday.

"Speaking in general terms, if someone has a substance-abuse problem that could jeopardize the safety of the children in the home, it would be a concern for us," said Delmar. "Once we receive a referral on something like this, we would reach out to the family and ask for their cooperation.

"If we believe the child is in immediate danger, we would remove the child from the home. The child would not be returned home until a treatment plan is completed."

The case is reminiscent of one involving Courtney Love, who in 1992 was quoted by Vanity Fair admitting to heroin use during her pregnancy. L.A. Child Welfare officials briefly removed her daughter, Frances Bean, by Kurt Cobain, when she was 2 weeks old and placed her with Love's sister Jamie. (Love later insisted she was misquoted.)

Houston also told Sawyer that her mother, Cissy Houston, had brought in a professional drug intervention team in 1999. But the singer balked, saying: "I'm not doing it. I will go and leave the country, take Krissy with me, and we'll just go."

Meanwhile, Dr. Michael Nuccitelli, executive director of SLS Health, a drug-treatment facility in Brewster, N.Y., said that judging by their comments and "haggard" appearance, "it doesn't appear that [Houston and Brown] are going through rehabilitation."

Brown's statement that he is treating a bipolar disorder is a "rationalization, a defense mechanism," said Nuccitelli.

"If Whitney Houston really accepted that she had an alcohol or drug problem, she would relinquish her resentment that her mother tried to help her."

Nuccitelli added: "My recommendation would not be to bring in the [child welfare] authorities at this time, but for the parents to get counseling."

NEWSFILE: 8 DECEMBER 2002