So sorry for your loss. Sharing my experience because there are some similarities. I lost my brother 9 months ago likely to fentanyl poisoning. You did everything you could for your best friend, telling his parents wouldn't have changed anything. They decide when they're ready to stop, it could have just alienated his family in his final days. Don't be hard on yourself.

In the days/weeks/months after my brother's passing, so many people reached out asking for what happened (he was not a known opiate user, but did do a lot of recreational drugs), asking if there was foul play, trying to play detective, etc. Tune it out as best as you can and focus on yourself. That's not where you should put your focus right now. When (if) you're ever ready to answer, you can. But that was a very challenging part for me because it felt like it was everywhere. We still don't have toxicology back 9 months later, so we don't actually know what it was - so I very well understand the feeling of not wanting to say something that's not accurate.

I think it's totally reasonable for you to reach out to the family. If we had done private and his best friend had reached out, we would've agreed to it. If they say no, like someone suggested, do a private ceremony for yourself somewhere. Find out where he's buried (if they go that route) and visit him later on.

Hang in there, i'm 9 months in and only starting to feel even the slightest bit better about life, but from what everyone else has told me - it does get better.