Saturday, Feb. 14, 1998 | 9:53 a.m.
Tests did reveal small amounts of Valium and another mild sedative in Bono's bloodstream at the time of his death, but experts say the amounts were likely too small to have impaired his skiing.
No alcohol and no narcotics showed up in the tests released Thursday by the Douglas County sheriff's office.
Bono's family reported him missing during a ski vacation at Lake Tahoe's Heavenly Valley Ski Resort on Jan. 5. His body was later found just off a ski trail. He had skied headlong into a tree.
An autopsy listed the cause of death as blunt-force trauma.
Bono, 62, was a Republican U.S. representative from Palm Springs, Calif.
The toxicology tests showed three substances in Bono's bloodstream:
-351 nanograms per milliliter of diazepam, better known as Valium. That amount is considered to be at the low end of the range classified as "therapeutic."
-357 ng/ml of nordiazepam, a metabolized byproduct of Valium, also found in the therapeutic range.
-4.4 micrograms per milliliter of meprobromate, a tranquilizer or sedative. This also falls within the therapeutic use range.
According to Lee Cantrell of the California Poison Control System in San Diego, the levels of diazepam found in Bono's system are consistent with normal use. The levels of meprobamate are small enough to be considered trace amounts, he said.
Cantrell added it's unlikely that the drugs in these amounts impaired Bono's ability to ski safely.
"I would be reluctant to say that it directly contributed," he said. "That would be a jump."
Best known as the shorter half ot the 1960's and '70s pop duet Sonny & Cher, Bono was a former mayor of Palm Springs and was in his second term in the House of Representatives.
He was skiing with his third wife, Mary Whitaker, and their two children at the time of his accident. She has since announced plans to run for his seat in Congress.
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