I think your point of 'scapegoating' a drug to explain a suicide is a very good one. I guess it is a coping mechanism for family etc.

Media moral panics are also awesome in situations like this. It is happening with party pills (BZP-based) here. Some plonker mixes legitimate pills with alcohol, ecstasy, and other street drugs, ODs, and the BZP gets blamed (even though instrux explicitly state not to mix the pills with ANYTHING, and even ER docs are trying to say that they see far more alcohol-related damage than anything to do with BZP).

Wicked.