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.

[RockyMtnMan]

Personal responsibility is for wusses real men need the government to keep them in line.

[presidio9]

Weren't you calling yourself a crankwhore earlier? Yuor father must be proud.

[Xenalyte]

He's already told me that he has no time for facts.

[Xenalyte]

Sarcasm escapes you too. What a surprise.

[presidio9]

You'd make a crappy lawyer.

Thanks for the compliment princess.

[adaven]

This is the stupidest thread ever to appear on FR, so don't try to tell me you read 1200 posts and suddenly decided to respond.

I would not agree with it being the stupidest thread, but with all your replies it ranks right up ther with the funniest. Bookmarked

Oh, and BUMP!

[lugsoul]

Sure. And pot was never legal.

[Xenalyte]

Love your screen name!

[presidio9]

As opposed to the garden-variety losers who don't mind showing their uninformed, dishonest a** in broad daylight, like you?

Are you still here? Talk to the hand...

[lugsoul]

Take it out of your pants.

[eyespysomething]

roflmao

[Xenalyte]

That's funny. I don't care who you are.

[presidio9]

That lie has already been de-bunked, but of course,

It is not a lie, of course, but very straight-forward logic that drug users have a vested interest in ignoring.

[lugsoul]

A man will back up an accusation. You are obviously just a child.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Careful now, I think slugo wants to play with your privates.

[A CA Guy]

These are threads that tend to have a group of people supporting the low-class position that illegal drugs are OK and they are not, they are addictive and dangerous.

You have to be addicted, reckless or just stupid to be getting into the habit of using them illegally.

I have no problem with a dying cancer patient using it, but as a recreation it is the worst stuff. I am glad orange jumpsuits are available for the stubborn ones that wont get out of the drug culture.

[Xenalyte]

So there is some medicinal value to the demon weed?

[MrLeRoy]

If I support the right to read Marxist literature, am I "backing" Marxist literature?

I don't want Marxism or illegal drug use acceptable or practiced.

You didn't answer my question.

And I don't want drug use acceptable or practiced, either---but criminalizing drugs has not accomplished our goal, and has had the following harmful effects:

Deaths of innocents in drug-turf wars; deaths of users due to impurities or unexpectedly high potencies; enrichment of criminals; corruption of the justice system by enriched criminals; and lessened respect for the law in general.

Not to mention flouting the principle that adults should be free to make their own non-rights-violating choices (even if the choices they make are stupid).

[lugsoul]

Trouble with your reading again, Axel?

The word was hand.

And I'm shocked that you'd post such a salacious suggestion on a thread that you have reminded us all, on more than one occasion, is a "family thread."

Oh yes, I forgot. You care not a wit for consistency.

[A CA Guy]

Real men who tend to behave in a criminal matter by going beyond boundaries of acceptability sure do need the law in government to keep them on track.

Good point, you are 100% correct RockyMM