Ozzy Says He Now Believes Pot Leads To Other Addictions

MTV ^ | 07.08.2003 | Robert Mancini, with reporting by Gideon Yago

[presidio9]

Ozzy Osbourne may have weathered the lowest lows that drug addiction has to offer, but the news that his son Jack was seeking treatment for substance abuse taught him a lesson that his own decades of addiction never did.

"I used to think they should legalize pot, but you know what? They should ban the lot," Osbourne told MTV News, addressing Jack's battle for the first time. "One thing leads to another. Coffee leads to Red Bull, Red Bull leads to crank.

"When I found out the full depth of him getting into OxyContin, which is like hillbilly heroin, I was shocked and stunned," Osbourne continued. "The thing that's amazing was how rapidly he went from smoking pot to doing hillbilly heroin."

Ozzy's son entered a California rehabilitation facility in April to battle what was later revealed to be an addiction to the prescription painkiller OxyContin (see "Jack Osbourne Reveals He Was Addicted To Painkiller OxyContin"). Jack also said that he was drinking and using a variety of substances — including Vicodin, Valium, Xanax, Dilaudid, Lorcet, Lortab, Percocet and marijuana — before his trip to rehab (see "Rehab Helps Jack Osbourne Get To Root Of Addiction Problems").

Jack's laundry list of controlled substances made his father painfully aware of just how readily available drugs are. "When I started doing drugs years ago, they were hard to get, but today it's everywhere," Osbourne said. "It's not just America. It's not just California. It's not just Beverly Hills. It's not just downtown New York. It's not just London. It's all over the world" (see "All About OxyContin, The Pills Known As 'Killers' ").

This relatively easy access to allegedly "controlled" substances is especially hard for Ozzy to swallow given his firsthand experience with the damage that drugs can do.

"I'm 55 years old, and I didn't get off scot-free," Osbourne explained. "I have to take medication for the rest of my life because I've done so much neurological damage to my body," Osbourne said.

We'll have much more from our interviews with Ozzy and Jack in an "MTV News Now" special report, premiering Tuesday at 11 p.m. ET/PT (Jack's complete interview will appear on MTVNews.com when the show premieres). The show will be followed the next day by a repeat of MTV News' "True Life: I'm Hooked on OxyContin" at 6:30 p.m.

[LiteKeeper]

INTREP

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[goodseedhomeschool]

The man is growing up finally. How refreshing. All those years of substance abuse had to have taken a toll on his body.

[sfvgt]

.....gee, I wonder what his views are on spray paint and transmission fluid?

[presidio9]

Just wait. This thread will soon be full of Libertarian Children saying that Alcohol is much worse than marijuana.

[TroutStalker]

Coffee leads to Red Bull, Red Bull leads to crank.

He'll turn into another mayor of New York.

[thoughtomator]

Watch how people who have derided him for years as a bloomin' idiot suddenly treat him as authoritative. It's magic!

[Luis Gonzalez]

Now wait a minute.

The majority opinion here is that drugs destroy an individual's capacity to think, make decisions, exercise proper judgement, and reason.

So, after all the years of hard-core drug use, what makes you think he's right on this?

[dennisw]

"I'm 55 years old, and I didn't get off scot-free," Osbourne explained. "I have to take medication for the rest of my life because I've done so much neurological damage to my body," Osbourne said.

First I've heard. Anyone know what meds he must take?

[mvpel]

Looking at Ozzy's drunken stumblebum antics, and the number of people killed every year by drunks, I'd say that your sarcastic tone belies a willful disregard of reality.

[dead]

Jack's laundry list of controlled substances made his father painfully aware of just how readily available drugs are.

His first clue might have been the fact that he himself was always able to get any drug he wanted his whole life.

Good thing we’re paying BILLIONS for that effective drug war, huh Ozzy?

Have another drink. What tastes good with bat head?

[RonF]

Yup, my thinking exactly. When Ozzy says things that contradict conservatism, he's the Devil Incarnate. When he says something that they do agree with, watch -- he'll be acclaimed a genius, or at least the prodigal son.

[presidio9]

Yep. Drugs had no effect on Osborn. Two wrongs make a right. Let's legalize them and damn the consequences I say.

[RonF]

"When I found out the full depth of him getting into OxyContin, which is like hillbilly heroin, I was shocked and stunned," Osbourne continued. "The thing that's amazing was how rapidly he went from smoking pot to doing hillbilly heroin."

With the example you and your social set provided, Ozzy, what's to be amazed at?

[goodseedhomeschool]

I am saying that he is right to now see the error of his previous ways using drugs. It now is a problem for his child. It took him many years it would seem to see how bad drugs really are.

[mvpel]

Osborne pickled his brain with alcohol. Shall we go back to the heady days of prohibition when husbands loved their children and everything was all warm, fuzzy, and happy?

[Quick1]

Breathing oxygen also leads to doing hard drugs. Why? Because everyone who has done hard drugs has breathed oxygen.

The same can apply for drinking water, eating, etc.

[RonF]

Jack also said that he was drinking and using a variety of substances — including Vicodin, Valium, Xanax, Dilaudid, Lorcet, Lortab, Percocet and marijuana — before his trip to rehab (see "Rehab Helps Jack Osbourne Get To Root Of Addiction Problems"). Jack's laundry list of controlled substances made his father painfully aware of just how readily available drugs are.

Maybe readily available given the contacts and money that Jack Osbourne has, but with the exception of weed, the rest of that list isn't all that easy to get ahold of for the average person. Maybe if Jack wasn't hanging around the MTV set (both location and people), he'd find it a lot harder.

[sirshackleton]

Dilaudid? That was big with Elvis. Dilaudid is heavy duty, man