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]

No, my principal issue is in FAVOR of tightening the borders. Try not to be such a cheeser.

[toothless]

And that is an argument for what exactly? lol.

[Xenalyte]

The pro-drug logic is EXACTLY the same as the pro-abortion logic. And just as invalid.

I need you to explain how killing a baby is morally equivalent to smoking pot. I'm waiting. And I suspect I'll be waiting for a loooong time.

If you don't answer this, you really need to STFU.

[Xenalyte]

$1,000 worth of pot fits neatly in my pocket Einstein.

Now I know you're a moron with HUGE pants. A grand worth of it would be at least two pounds.

[presidio9]

Upon legalization, you'd need a suitcase to carry a thousand bucks worth of pot. Hello?

Geeze is that a stupid rebuttal. Think about the potency of pot versus a comparable ammount of beer. If they were priced similiarly per dosage you could still carry and conceal a lot more pot. And you don't need to carry as much around. If you have an interested underage buyer, you can always walk to the pot store and buy more.

[toothless]

A Fifth of 190 is enough to kill someone. How much MJ does it take?

[Lee'sGhost]

445 posts on this!!! Are you guys on drugs?

[toothless]

The WOD debate is the single largest issue dividing conservitives.

We can do two 500 post threads a day.

[jayef]

That's it in a nutshell. Anyone who doesn't understand this argument, or dismisses it as "goofy" is being disingenous. At least engage in the debate on these terms. Don't raise strawmwen like abortion and alcohol.

I just want the drug warriors to tell me why they think it is necessary for the government to knock down my door, seize my assets, shoot me in the back, tap my phone, solicit the testimony of CI's with questionable character, burden the courts, waste my tax dollars, incarcerate throngs of non-violent people, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

What measurable benefit do I gain from all of these activities? What possible justification can be given for the overwhelming cost of these activities?

[toothless]

If one single white woman is saved the ravages of being seduced by a jazz musician, its worth it.

[presidio9]

Forgetting for a minute about lethal dosage, we are talking more about establishing habits in minors. Please go back and read the entire thread. Nobody here is defending alcohol. The fact that alcohol is damaging is not an arguement for legalizing pot.

[presidio9]

Now I know you're a moron with HUGE pants. A grand worth of it would be at least two pounds.

Not in NYC it wouldn't.

[jayef]

OK. That's hilarious. You're going to have to cut that out. This is very serious . . . damn it!

[presidio9]

Pot smokers deny the idea that they are hurting anybody but themselves, just like mothers who have abortions.


...3...2...1 don't bother bringing alcohol into this. It is not relevant.

[Xenalyte]

Damn jazz musicians. I'd still be a good little schoolgirl with my hair in pigtails if it weren't for them. Damn them! Damn them all to hell!

[toothless]

YOU were the one who brought up comparing quantities, keep with the program.

[Xenalyte]

Women (not mothers) who have abortions and have the gall to say it's not hurting anyone else are just plain wrong. Killing another human being is a pretty extreme way to hurt said being.

It's refreshing to see that you're still ignoring the no-brain-damage thread. Keep that head in the sand. (If sand it is.)

[dmz]

uhhh, so 4oz of tobacco weighs more than 4oz of pot?

that's heavy, man? {/cheech marin voice}

[toothless]

" don't bother bringing alcohol into this. It is not relevant. "

Because it blows your whole pro-prohibition arguement out of the water?

[WoofDog123]

"Every narcotic mentioned in Jacko's list is available in pill form. I'm wondering why, if he had Dilaudid and Vicodin, he bothered with weed."

The pain killer pills are sometimes crushed, mixed with water, and injected intravenously.