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.

[laotzu]

"...how is that not private behavior?"

It is private behavior.

[presidio9]

Since there are about 10 of you it is impossible for me to spend much time responding to any one of your posts. Luckily, you pretty much all repeat the same tired points so it is not as much work as it could be if your cause was valid, but still...

[jayef]

Like most statists, you only understand laws in terms of their punitive aspects. How sad.

[jayef]

I guess I'm missing your point.

[jayef]

You guys are a riot. Uhhh yup, what he said.

Alcohol is bad, but it's legal. Nobody goes to jail for possessing alcohol. Marijuana is not as bad, but it's illegal. Lot's of people go to jail for possessing marijuana.

Do you understand my problem now?

[mvpel]

Nope. Not at all. I just enjoy hearing you guys try to explain how alcohol is so bad, but legalizing drugs will solve that problem. Don't you see what a loser that arguement is?

You're consistently missing the point.

The point is, as bad as the situation with alcohol is today, it was far, far worse under prohibition. Criminal gangs ran a lucritive business, used that money to corrupt our political, police, and justice systems; and slaughtered each other in the streets.

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre

You can still see the bullet holes in the granite on a building in downtown Chicago.

The prohibition of alcohol multiplied the societal problems that would otherwise have existed. Instead of just having some stinky drunks stumbling around downtown Chicago begging for dimes, you had well-heeled businessmen blazing away with their submachine guns over alcohol distribution territories, leading directly to the enactment of the first major infringement on our Constitutional rights, the National Firearms Act.

When was the last time a Miller distributor did a drive-by shooting against a Budweiser distributor?

Don't you get it? Prohibition is the disease, not the cure.

[toothless]

The point that YOU are missing is that alcohol ISN'T that bad. Certainly not bad enough to warrent prohibition. Neither is pot.

[jayef]

No, he doesn't get it. He already admitted such. He says all of our aruguments are the same.

This is how I imagine the argument goes in his head:

Self: Drugs are bad, mmmkay!

Dopers: Drugs are good, mmmmkay!

Self: Bad

Dopers: Good

Self: Bad

Dopers: Good

[jayef]

The point is, that it doesn't matter. Cheeseburgers and fries are bad. The only people you see trying to outlaw those are do gooder lefties and trial lawyers looking for carrion.

[lugsoul]

I have provided you with an opportunity to explain your position without even having to get into the alcohol v. pot issue. The same theoretical positions and objections can just as easily be applied to any number of substances, some legal, some not. What I am trying to get to is whether your issue with pot derives from any generally applicable principle, or is it just pot that makes you batty? And, giving you the benefit of the doubt, if it derives from generally applicable principles, how do we apply those in the real world?

But you haven't responded.

[lugsoul]

Still silence?

Okay, in case you actually want to explain your position instead of just posting sound bites, let's go to the "drugs harm those around the user, not just the user" issue. What kinds of harm caused by a substance, to "those around the user", justify making the substance illegal and devoting substantial resources to prosecuting those who use it?

Violent acts by the user resulting from impairment?

Theft or robbery of money to obtain drugs?

Deteriorating health of user?

Abuse of family members?

Difficulty in managing interpersonal relationships?

Loss of worker productivity?

Increased health care costs spread across insurance pool?

Which of these things, if any, justify prohibition?

[ActionNewsBill]

I know that the news today of one of drugdums greatest and finest coming out against ganja,pot,maryjane,doobie doobie do,weed, and whatever that crap is known by had to be a real downer for all you anti-woddies.

Yeah, that Ozzie has a lot on the ball doesn't he.

He's a real role model for conservatives to emulate don't you think? "Ozzy sez : Pot bad.....conservatives cheer Ozzie....consider nominating him for Governor of California."

[commonerX]

People have to repeat the point to you because you can't support your arguement with rational answers. You can only use generalizations and labels. NEXT

[zoyd]

Jack also said that he was drinking and using a variety of substances — including Vicodin, Valium, Xanax, Dilaudid, Lorcet, Lortab, Percocet and marijuana

I just have the feeling that Jack would have become an addict with or without marijuana -- that laundry list is pretty large.

[commonerX]

I agree with a list like that Ozzy should looking at the fact that something much more serious is going on with his kid. Most of those names I never even heard of.

[Xenalyte]

I made you blush! (You have to imagine me singing that in a kid's singsongy-type voice, in which "blush" has two syllables.)

[Xenalyte]

I know you are, but what am I?

[A CA Guy]

Not to mention his latent homosexuality!

Whoops, I just mentioned it!

[A CA Guy]

Your #607 & this one as well had excellent points. The problem is you are dealing with child like people who are not part of the mainstream of society who want their drugs and success of this issue at the cost of every casualty to be had (more than likely).
These are misfits and dysfunctional people who are mostly out of control and just want their stuff. Their too busy pushing their vices to open their ears and to let the fact resonate.

[mvpel]

Too bad the facts didn't resonate for you, my friend.