'My Friend Michael' by Frank Cascio: A Telling Look Into Jackson's Personal Life [PHOTO]

One of Michael Jackson's closest friends, Frank Cascio, is releasing a tell-all of sorts. Starting from his position as a personal assistant up to his former post as personal manager, Cascio tells of his close relationship with the King of Pop. The clincher: taking a step back from the stance adopted by the Jackson family, Cascio says the singer was prone to drug abuse. Starting with Demerol in 1984, Jackson eventually graduated to harder and more dangerous drugs as the years progressed. It was Cascio's belief that the singer would never put his career in jeopardy by taking the drug use too far, a naive confidence that soon "blew up in my face."

Distributed by HarperCollins, the book is said to be quite revelatory in the aspect of Jackson's drug problem but vehemently defends him against charges of child abuse.

"People might question my parents' judgment in sending two young boys off to spend time alone with a man who had been accused of molesting another boy. But to us, the suggestion that we were in any danger was completely absurd," Cascio recounts. His close ties with Jackson was made through his father, who managed the Hemsley Palace in Manhattan and was another close friend of Jackson's as reported by the Associated Press. Cascio says that Michael originally planned to have 10 kids; such was his love for children.

The book promises to be the definitive source in all things surrounding Jackson's drug problems-from how it was kept off the record and off the books to how it all ended. The book's release can be seen as an accompaniment to the recently concluded Conrad Murray trial. Murray, Jackson's former doctor, has been convicted of involuntary man slaughter and is said to be facing up to 4 years in jail time as well as the revoking of his medical license.