Philip Seymour Hoffman was hardcore heroin user, says alleged dealer

Philip Seymour Hoffman had a "hard-core" drug problem and injected twice as much heroin a day as a typical addict, according to his alleged dealer.

Robert Vineberg, a jazz musician, was arrested two days after the 46-year-old actor's death as police tried to find who had supplied the fatal dose. Speaking from Rikers Island prison, Vineberg denied selling Hoffman the 73 packets of heroin found near his body.

Vineberg, who also struggles with heroin addiction, told the New York Post that Hoffman was injecting 10 bags of heroin every day. "You do the math," he said of the drugs found in Hoffman's flat. "That's a one-week supply."

"He was using needles. He was a hard-core addict," Vineberg said.

Police found more than 350 bags of heroin in Mr Vineberg's apartment, but he insisted that he had tried to support Hoffman through his addiction.

"I could've saved him," said Vineberg, who once played with Amy Winehouse, as well as David Bowie, Tom Jones and Paul Simon. "If I was with him, it wouldn't have happened. Not under my guard."

The musician said he thought Hoffman's tolerance had fallen after he briefly came off the drug late last year. "When you're clean for that long of a time, your body can't take as much," he said. Both and he and Hoffman would relapse frequently and compared notes by text message about how long they had managed to stay clean. They sometimes attended drug support groups together.

Vineberg said they had not seen each other since October and he last heard from the 46-year-old actor in December. The musician insisted he was being made a "scapegoat" in the wake of the high-profile drug overdose. 

"All of the evidence adduced to date has indicated that Robert did not provide to Mr Hoffman the narcotics that caused his unfortunate death," Ed Kratt, Vineberg's lawyer said.

A 22-year-old DJ and his 22-year-old girlfriend were also arrested during the raid on Vineberg's flat. Both face minor drug charges.