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.

[A CA Guy]

So Amsterdam moved on as the gateway to harder stuff, what did you expect?

[A CA Guy]

You linked me to this guy on a drug activists website.

[RockyMtnMan]

I don't follow, Amsterdam has had the same drug laws since I can remember.

[ActionNewsBill]

You linked me to this guy on a drug activists website.

Is there an echo in here?

Yes, so what? The data is still good.

It comes from two respectable sources that happened to be posted at that site.

[AAABEST]

Hey guys, I know that what Ozzy thinks about "sweetleaf" is of vital importance, but I really need you to look this over and give me your feedback. Thanks in advance.

[Ken H]

you think you can't get 2/3rds of most any politicians to pass laws or amendments to get your money.

Don't forget the three-fourths of State Legislatures required to pass these 30,000 Amendments, most of which increase the size and scope of the Federal government at the expense of State governments.

[toothless]

come on guys, dont let this thread die. I wan't to hear more gems like 'marijuana was never legal'.

thx.

[Destructor]

"Coffee leads to Red Bull, which leads to crank? How does that make sense? If it were true, my entire office would be amped all the time."

What makes you so sure that they're not? Some people are able to hide their addictions up to the point where they hit bottom.

[Xenalyte]

The fact that my company, a very conservative one, conducts random drug tests would argue against an office full of addicts.

Were I you, I'd watch it with the characterizations. Some more prickly than I might take it amiss.

Do you seriously maintain that coffee leads to Red Bull, which leads to crank? I used to drink a pot of coffee a day when I was teaching. I have yet to drink a Red Bull, let alone do the crank.

Do you abstain from all caffeine for fear of becoming a crankhead?

[toothless]

"Do you abstain from all caffeine for fear of becoming a crankhead?"

I didn't before Ozzy let me know I might end up there.

[lugsoul]

Yeah, and "alcohol is not a drug."

[toothless]

dont forget 'the WOD is not prohibition' that one was good.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

If I were a lurker hoping to find facts on the drug war, I certainly wouldn't use any of your posts for my education.

I have just got to say it, it just amazes me how dumb you are. The lukers are not about to read all 1500 or so posts. They will on average only read the story, and that story is that a man who once openly celebrated the use of pot and other illegal drugs, now says that said same drugs are bad.

End of story.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

Let me get this straight. You actually believe that if Marijuana did not exist, Ozzy would have never used any drugs whatsoever.

Didn't say that at all.

WHAT I SAID FOR THE 1600TH TIME IS THAT A MAN WHO ONCE OPENLY CELEBRATED THE USE OF POT AND OTHER ILLEGAL DRUGS, NOW SAYS THAT POT LEADS TO THE USE OF OTHER ILLEGAL DRUGS.

Hope you get that straight.

[AxelPaulsenJr]

You must be new to Free Republic....."seriesly", "series" and "hugh"(huge) are acceptable spelling variations.

You must however be new to this thread. Xena and I have been having a friendly duel over spelling for the last 1500 or so posts.

[lugsoul]

"WHAT I SAID FOR THE 1600TH TIME IS THAT A MAN WHO ONCE OPENLY CELEBRATED THE USE OF POT AND OTHER ILLEGAL (and legal) DRUGS, NOW SAYS THAT POT LEADS TO THE USE OF OTHER ILLEGAL DRUGS." (and that coffee leads to the use of crank).

[AxelPaulsenJr]

LOL, yeah drug usage has done a number on his brain hasn't it? LOL

[ActionNewsBill]

I have just got to say it, it just amazes me how dumb you are.

Considering the source, I'm don't think my feelings will be hurt..

The lukers[sic] are not about to read all 1500 or so posts. They will on average only read the story.

Let me rephrase that for you.

Your posts are shallow, devoid of fact and logic, without any redeeming caharacteristics whatsoever, and yet sadly amusing at the same time.

Anyone reading the words that spew from your keyboard would have a hard time believing you have graduated from high school.

Does that make things more clear for you, or should I "dumb it down" to a third grade level so you can understand?

[Xenalyte]

That one's my favorite. "Prohibition of drugs is not prohibition."

[Xenalyte]

Xena and I have been having a friendly duel over spelling for the last 1500 or so posts.

On guard, varlet!

Oh, wait, it's not that kind of duel. Man, I am SOOOO ready for the season to start.