Agree with you MoJoe, see nothing outwardly apparent whatsoever to suggest BRE was a drug taker of any kind & to be honest, I dont give a crap what he choose to take or not take behind closed doors anyway. I dont think a high functioning coke freak is giving his summer weekends away for years to little athletics while still holding a full time job taking up every other day though, but maybe he did. Neither he nor anyone else who would know is stepping forward to tell us anytime soon, and if they did, it'd provide nothing more than further speculation about what behaviour might be or might not be attributed to it, yet not answering any questions or providing any clarity at all.
I also think any speculation about his house is irrelevant too. I know plenty of people who can afford to exhibit a much more luxurious style of life to the outside world but appear modest because they dont need anymore nor care to splurge their money on showing the world how much they can afford to buy. Perhaps knowing they own the roof over their head & dont have to pay a mortgage to a bank was far more important to them than how they appear to people who dont know them & whatever inferences they care to draw about then, whether accurate or not at all. I know couples who've retired at 50 instead of 65 with this attitude & have more money than their whole street put together, but you'd never know it. Others I know have the best of everything complete with flashy homes and a fleet of toys in the garage, but dont own any of it in reality & it will probably have broken down long before they'd ever be able to call it theirs. Plenty of people dont have a green thumb or cant find time for a garden either. None of that makes them anymore a gambler or a drug taker than it makes any one of us though.
In regard to the mental health issues: As someone who has had plenty on both sides of my family, thankfully all manageable & no where near as destructive as Ive witnessed in other families, I wouldnt dare to speculate on what others may be suffering especially when it isnt a glaringly obvious affliction, if at all. Its just unnecessary speculation thats akin to unfounded gossip & makes no difference at all IMO. Until such time that concrete evidence may be revealed to warrant the discussion being revisited based on fact, I find that irrelevant too.
This is all JMO, its not personal & its not directed at nor in response to anyone at all.