AS THE years pass, former Libertines fulcrum Pete Doherty looks less and less like a wayward rock ‘n’ roll spirit living out the “live fast, die young” dream. These days, after almost two decades in the public eye and a growing, widespread awareness of mental health issues which might once have been dismissed as mere “eccentricity,” what he’s always been is thrown into sharp focus – that is, a man struggling with profound addiction issues whose illness has been anything but helped by a lifetime working in the music industry.
