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.

[mvpel]

So now a drug-addled boozer loser is a font of "common sense" because he's saying something that you already agree with?

[sam_paine]

Seriously, just exactly what medication is being used to fix Ozzy's "neurological damage" to his body?

Most assuredly another candidate for the wonderdrug: Ritalin.

[KEVLAR]

Ban this, ban that. Talk like that is pretty scary IMHO.

[dead]

New York's Rockefeller drug laws mandate prison time for the possession of 4 ounces of a narcotic substance.

Your common sense opinion may be common, but it does not make sense.

[dead]

Pot, and countless other drugs, were already illegal when Ozzy and his dopey son screwed up their lives with them.

At least Ozzy has an excuse for failing to see the idiocy of his position that drug laws save people from drugs. Do you share the same excuse?

[toothless]

" Most of the people in prison for drug offenses are not the users"

Oh really?

I guess I imagined the 720,000 arrests last year for simple posession. To you it might be conservitive, but to the 720,000 people a night in jail and a criminal record is socialist.

"For you to say that "real" conservatives are not against drugs is just ignorant."

Hmm, the same "conservitives" who would fight tooth and nail against the use of spys and snitches and the erosion of the 4th amendment when it comes to the war on guns love it when it comes to the war on drugs.

The same "conservitives" who complain about the commerce clause being used to expand federal power 100 fold beyond constitutional limits love it when it comes to the war on drugs.

The same "conservitives" who talk of the 9th and 10th amendments when it comes to puting gay men in jail for buggery, love federal supremacy position when it comes to the war on drugs.

Conservitve? No. Socialist? Smells like it to me!

[mvpel]

Four ounces of tobacco will make about two packs worth of cigarettes. More than personal use, you say?

[CWOJackson]

Welcome aboard...you're doing a great job.

[toothless]

"To you it might be conservitive, but to the 720,000 people a night in jail and a criminal record is socialist. "

I was refering to 720,000 people getting a criminal record and spending a night in anal rape camp. Socalist.

[Pahuanui]

I believe we were discussing PRISONS, not jails. Big difference.

Both represent the deprivation of liberty to those incarcerated there. No difference at all in this regard.

[CWOJackson]

Hey, you're earning your stripes when they call you Socialist.

[toothless]

"Socalist."

Not you per se, just the policy, sorry about that.

[Pahuanui]

Hey, you're earning your stripes when they call you Socialist.

And I think he should be nominated for the Carl Spackler Award.

[toothless]

Taking on interns now CWO? heh.

[Tall_Texan]

Ozzy, the rotten apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it, love?

[Kevin Curry]

"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."

LOL! Ozzy Osbourne is calling marijuana a gateway drug. Says drugs are not good for the mind or body.

Time for the Liberdopians to queue up and call Ozzy a liar or misinformed.

Gee. What would Ozzy Osbourne know about drug abuse anyway?

[CWOJackson]

Hey, I don't want to horn in on his (or her, no offense) action. Seems like he (or her) has you folks pretty well surrounded on his (or her) own.

Just offering encouragement.