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.

[Xenalyte]

The problem is that it's not the government's business. A little concept called "personal accountability" seems to escape many here, which frankly scares me.

[MrLeRoy]

False---drugs harm only the user, whereas abortion harms another person.

100% wrong.

Whose rights are violated by drug use?

[ActionNewsBill]

The legalize drugs logic employs exaclty the same logic as the legalize abortion logic.

The ban drugs logic employs exactly the same logic as the ban guns logic.

For the record, I am pro-life, and I find your statement equating abortion and pot-smoking as one of the most inane and ludicrous ever made here.

[jmc813]

Hey, alcohol is much worse than the spliff. Yeah right.

Yet another stunningly logical argument. Would you explain to everyone why you think pot is worse for the user than alcohol?

[presidio9]

Yes, but notice how you don't deny that it is you nutjobs who constantly harp on how "everybody's doing it." You are not capable of consistent logic. That is why you view a world with legalized drugs postively.

[Xenalyte]

No, it does NOT. I shall try to explain this in words of one syllable so you understand.

Drug use in and of itself does not harm anyone, except (arguably) the user - and I would refer you to the thread you so steadily ignore.

Abortion kills someone.

There is no moral equivalence, and your wishing cannot make it so.

[jayef]

Crank . . . not crack . . . there is a difference; however, both will indeed turn you into a whore.

[presidio9]

There you go again lying and evading.

I have not lied once hippie. Stop trying to make yourself into a victim. Be a man and say something intelligent.

[jmc813]

I think you, like all other libertarians, are goofy. Your interpretation of the Constitution is simplistic and self-serving. It is because of people who share your philosophy that abortion is legal.

From a libertarian Constitutionalist standpoint, Roe v. Wade was a terrible decision.

Libertarians for Life

[jayef]

Denial is not an argument.

[KEVLAR]

Same goes for you alky.

[presidio9]

The problem is that it's not the government's business.

Riiight. Neither is abortion.

[MrLeRoy]

it is you nutjobs who constantly harp on how "everybody's doing it."

Provide evidence that I have ever made that argument.

[jayef]

Stop.

[jayef]

Stop.

[presidio9]

Whose rights are violated by drug use?

Access, not use.

[jayef]

Stop.

[Xenalyte]

Yes, but notice how you don't deny that it is you nutjobs who constantly harp on how "everybody's doing it."

Point me to one thread on which I, as an admitted nutjob, have said any such thing.

You can't, because I haven't.

[lugsoul]

You obviously would not know a logical conclusion if it bit you. Did anyone here suggest that a legal drug economy would be driven by street dealers without any regulation? Can you go sell bourbon on the street corner, legally? Can you go sell Dilaudid on the the street corner, legally?

Of course not. And, by the way, when the price is driven by costs of production and distribution, without the illegality premium built in, why do you think street dealers are going to be interested in this trade as a way of life?

[ActionNewsBill]

There you go again trying to associate alcohol with pot. It does not help your arguement.

At least I have an argument to make, based on factual research, anecdotal evidence and personal experience.

First: Alcohol is worse than pot. Period.

Second: Legalization/regulation would make illegal drugs harder to get for minors.

Third: You have not made any logical defense of your position. Just the usual bloviating nonsense.