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.

[headsonpikes]

Voices of reason bump. ;^)

[Xenalyte]

[toothless]

"I am reading and believing what a man who has actually experienced what he is talking about. "

Like coffee leading to crank?

good thing I hate the taste of coffee.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

but I feel confident most lurkers read far enough into articles to have learned the truth here.

What truth is that? That a man who has lived what he is talking about, makes sense?

[eyespysomething]

So research doesn't matter, just what a drug addled ex-heavy metal rocker thinks (if you want to call it that)?


Right-o.

[Last Visible Dog]

Pot does seem to play a trick that catches some first time users unaware and sends them running to the hospital in a panic. Speeds the heart up (WAY up, much more than caffeine, which may not be good for people with known or latent cardiac conditions). It also produces perceptional changes which while not unpleasant are unfamiliar to the novice. Some people panic because they didn't expect this; they thought they would just mellow down physically as well as mentally. I've never had pot, ever so this is second hand. But the reports seem, to me, to be credible. And this is probably why the stuff remains banned. So be warned.

I have never heard of anybody running to the hospital in a panic because they used the wild wood weed (I have known a lot of people that have used the substance).

Check the medical studies (not the propaganda). Pot has far less of a negative effect on users than alcohol. Also you need to look into history to understand why pot is illegal. The brewers in this country pushed to demonize and outlaw pot because they did not want the competition. If alcohol was illegal and pot was legal we would have far less substance problems in this country (IMHO). Alcohol is physically addictive (very similar to heroin in a percent of the population), marijuana in not.

[lugsoul]

You really are the picture girl today. Nice find.

[mvpel]

People ware filling your little head with stories. Contrary to Hollywood legend, when alcohol was illegal there was far less use of it.

Thanks for responding.

But you again missed the point - the post had nothing to do with the use or lack thereof of alcohol, but the damage done to our police and criminal justice systems by the enormous amount of money and lack of lawful contract enforcement that the prohibition against alcohol engendered, not to mention the murder and mayhem.

I still await your reply on that point.

[Xenalyte]

Starbucks is SO sued.

[jayef]

The harm heroin does is due in part to its prohibition.

[Xenalyte]

Levity rules, especially when the WODdies are hucking pebbles at us.

[toothless]

I realize that, but it should be up to the states what to do with it.

[presidio9]

Yeah, I saw the Untouchables. It was a great movie. But alcohol and pot are simply not the same thing. The War on Drugs is not Prohibition. So there is not much else to address here. Less kids are doing drugs because they are illegal. That's all I need to know.

[lugsoul]

Hucking pebbles I can deal with, no problem. It's when the bat-winged stoners get all hopped up on grass and pull out the axe that I start to get a little worried.

[RockyMtnMan]

Tell that to Monica :-O

[toothless]

"The War on Drugs is not Prohibition."

lol.

[presidio9]

Glad you think so. The vast majority of FR lurkers read only the headline. Sometimes the article. You are shooting yourself in the foot. But if you insist on doing so, I'm happy to help.

[lugsoul]

"Less kids are doing drugs because they are illegal. That's all I need to know."

Maybe we should just make premarital sex illegal, too, and throw kids in jail for it.

[presidio9]

bump

[toothless]

http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/popmech1.htm

More interesting history for you.