Drug and Alcohol Abuse - Celebrity Quotes

Drug and Alcohol Abuse - Celebrity Quotes

Whilst researching some drug and alcohol abuse quotes and statistics for the drug awareness training that I carry out on a regular basis for Drug-Aware, I came across numerous celebrity quotations from a range of sources. I have provided the quotes I didn't require below.

There is a certain amount of balance between the advocates of drug and alcohol abuse and those who are anti-drugs (or who are clearer on the dangers). Unfortunately, there is a lot of sensationalism in the press regarding celebrity hellraisers, who often get press attention by saying or doing something that is considered outrageous by the public whilst under the influence of drugs or alcohol. It appears that those celebrities who are anti-drugs either aren't offered the same platform, or keep their opinions private to preserve their image.

Whilst our view point is geared towards drug prevention and dealing with the problems associated with abuse, I make no personal comment here about how appropriate or inappropriate these celebrity drug and alcohol related quotes are (and as such I have not censored them), but I have placed them here for reference purposes so you can form your own opinion.

Many of them were provided without the source, so I also cannot verify their authenticity, but they are undoubtedly duplicated across the Internet and purported as the truth. Let's face it, celebrity drug and alcohol abuse is nothing new to the public, so none of the quotes appear unlikely to me.

They are in no particular order.


Billie Holliday:

“Dope never helped anybody sing better or play music better or do anything better. All dope can do for you is kill you - and kill you the long, slow, hard way.”

and "And I never hurt nobody but myself and that's nobody's business but my own."

Sir Paul McCartney:

“It (LSD) opened my eyes. We only use one-tenth of our brain. Just think of what we could accomplish if we could only tap that hidden part! It would mean a whole new world if the politicians would take LSD. There wouldn't be any more war or poverty or famine.”

Ozzie Osbourne:

"I can honestly say all the bad things that ever happened to me were directly attributed to drugs and alcohol. I mean, I would never urinate at the Alamo at nine o'clock in the morning dressed in a woman's evening dress sober. "

Jim Morrison of The Doors:

“Drugs are a bet with your mind.”

Kurt Cobain of Nirvana:

“Drugs are a waste of time. They destroy your memory and your self-respect and everything that goes along with your self esteem.”

Robbie Williams:

"Some of the best times in my life happened under the influence of drugs... I'd still be doing it if I could make good judgment calls. I'd still be doing it if I didn't blow up to the size of an aircraft hangar, because it was a great time. "

and "The thing about drugs and sex is that you lose all your inhibitions. I've had sex in trains, planes, wine bars... and quite a few car parks! "

Plato:

"He was a wise man who invented beer."

(Editors note: Sounds more like Homer... Simpson that is!)


Brad Pitt:

“If someone wants to do drugs…as long as he or she isn’t corrupting minors or driving under the influence or endangering others, shouldn’t a person have that right?”

In context: "I'll agree that drugs are harmful, but we spend $40 billion a year on the drug war and $8 billion a year incarcerating people, 25 percent of whom are in there for drugs. If someone wants to do drugs, as long as it doesn't affect anyone else in a violent manner, as long as he or she isn't corrupting minors or driving under the influence or endangering others, shouldn't a person have that right? I know the drug war is a can't-miss political issue that no one wants to touch. It's the big pink elephant no one wants to talk about. Think of all the other things we could do with the money." 2006

Nicole Richie:

"I was like a trash can - I took everything."

Naomi Campbell:

"I was at a concert in a European country and I was offered cocaine. It made me feel invincible. Like I could conquer the world. I was just completely over-confident, but it’s all a misconception because when you wake up the next day it’s all gone and you feel awful. And the more you take drugs, the more you want. And that’s how you become an addict. "

Kirstie Alley:

"Most of the people I know have been through drug rehabs two or three times."

and "It's been 26 years and I haven't had a desire to do any drug since."

John Lennon told a Paris newspaper that their band smoked pot at Buckingham Palace before being decorated by the queen in 1965.


Elton John:

"But actually, my drug addiction thing, I was so stubborn. "

Aimee Mann:

"In the '70s, everybody thought drugs were just good times. People didn't really know about drug addiction, or that such a thing existed. When I grew up in the '70s I thought you had to take drugs. It was almost like I didn't think you had a choice. "

Drew Barrymore:

"I started smoking cigarettes when I was nine and a half," she recalls. "Then, I thought if I could smoke and drink, I could also use drugs." December 1, 2004, The Express (UK)

and "My mind seemed to have a huge neon sign in it that blinked nonstop: COKE. GET COKE. So I did. It was great for dieting, partying and picking up my mood. "

Madonna:

"I only tried Vicodin once. Drugs have a weird effect on me. They do the opposite with me. I just chewed the entire inside of my mouth. I bitched at everybody. And I was in more pain. It was the worst experience of my life. So I’m happy to say that none of my pharmaceuticals — and I had a plethora of them given to me — influenced me. "

Pamela Anderson:

"I was not a big drug person. I couldn't smoke pot because it made me so paranoid that I couldn't tell if I had to pee or I was really cold, so I just didn't enjoy it."

Jamie Lee Curtis:

"And I was ashamed of myself for feeling like I had to do that in order to look a certain way. I felt misshapen, just not natural anymore. And I think it was a big stimulator of my drug use."

Keith Richards, Rolling Stones:

"The strangest thing I’ve tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father. He was cremated and I couldn’t resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn’t have cared. "

and “I only get ill when I give up drugs.”

Gloria Gaynor:

"People always want to ask me about my drug problem - I never had a drug problem; I had a self-esteem problem! "

Jennifer Capriati:

"Let me say that the path I did take for a brief period of my life was not of reckless drug use, hurting others, but it was a path of quiet rebellion, of a little experimentation of a darker side of my confusion in a confusing world, lost in the midst of finding my identity."

Davina McCall:

"You name it, I took it. Cocaine, ecstasy, even heroin – although I never injected... I had a job so I looked like I was holding everything together. But then the cracks started to show."

Colin Farrell:

"I ended up on a shrink's couch, and he told me to write down how much I did in a week: 20 E's, 4 grams of coke, six of speed, half an ounce of hash, three bottles of Jack Daniel's, 12 bottles of red wine, 60 pints." 2003

George Michael:

"Cannabis keeps me sane and happy. I’d say it’s a great drug - but obviously it’s not very healthy. You can’t afford to smoke it if you’ve got anything to do. "

Angelina Jolie:

“I hate heroin because I’ve been fascinated by it. I’m not immune, but I won’t do it now, at all.” 1998

Kate Moss:

"I take full responsibility for my actions. I also accept that there are various personal issues that I need to address and have started taking the difficult, yet necessary, steps to resolve them."

Bill Hicks:

"See I think drugs have done some good things for us, I really do, and if you don’t believe drugs have done good things for us, do me a favor: go home tonight and take all your albums, all your tapes, and all your cds and burn ‘em. ’cause you know the musicians who made all that great music that’s enhanced your lives throughout the years.... rrrrrrrrreal f**kin high on drugs. "

Bill Clinton:

“I tried marijuana once. I did not inhale.”

and "Q.- "If you had it to do over again, would you inhale?" A.- "Sure, if I could... I tried before!""

George Clooney:

“I’ve slept with too many women, done too many drugs and been to too many parties. I loved acid when I was at college. It was an escape. I liked mushrooms. They were like easy acid. I did like blow…Blow would dress you up for a party, but never take you there. You’re always like, This is going to be great! Then you’re just depressed.” 1997

Whitney Houston:

"My business is sex, drugs, rock and roll. You know? My friends, we have a good time. But as you get older and you get wiser - you stop a lot of the kid stuff. Trust me. I partied my tail off. You get to a point where... the party’s over."

Fergie Ferguson:

"The drug was the hardest boyfriend I ever had to break up with. I dug deep as to why I got there."

Eric Clapton:

"It was stumbling on to really the bible of the blues, you know, and a very powerful drug to be introduced to us and I absorbed it totally, and it changed my complete outlook on music. "

Bonnie Tyler:

"I've never taken drugs. My drug, I suppose, is drink. I never drink before I sing, but I do make up for it when I come off!"

Robin Williams:

"Reality is just a crutch for people who can't cope with drugs."

Calvin Klein:

"I'm not a drug addict. My wild period wasn't about drugs; it was about sexual freedom. "

Halle Berry:

"People in this business use cocaine and crack, but I never wanted to put that in my body. Why would I? I tried pot when I was 18 or 19. But it just made me scared to leave the house. "

Sienna Miller:

"I still love the odd hallucinogenic drug. If I had a drug of choice, it would be magic mushrooms."

Salvador Dali:

"Take me, I am the drug; take me, I am hallucinogenic."

Peter Fonda:

"I thought LSD was an abused drug in that it was never meant for a person to drop and then go walking down the street. "

Bob Marley:

“Herb is the healing of a nation, alcohol is the destruction.”

David Lee Roth, Singer:

“I used to have a drug problem, now I make enough money.”

Jules Verne, French Author:

“Ah, pierce me 100 times with your needles fine and I will thank you 100 times, Saint Morphine, you who Aeseulapus has made a God.”

Sir Paul McCartney:

"I support decriminalisation. People are smoking pot anyway and to make them criminal is wrong."

and "I think the 'Just say no' mentality is so crazed. I saw a thing in a women's magazine the other day. 'He smokes cannabis, what am I to do? He laughs it off when I try to tell him, he says it's not really harmful...' Of course you're half hoping the advice will be, 'Well, you know it's not that harmful; if you love him, if you talk to him about it, tell him maybe he should keep it in the garden shed or something,' you know, a reasonable point of view. But of course it was, 'No, no, all drugs are bad. Librium's good, Valium's good. But cannabis, ooooh!' I hate that unreasoned attitude."

Cameron Diaz:

"We had only $2 for a joint."

Other celebrities who were accused of drug abuse in a book by Author CraigX (Craig X Rubin) - a former Cannabis dealer and drug paraphernalia store owner - include: Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Harrison Ford, Kirsten Dunst, Drew Barrymore, Luke Wilson, Jack Black, Ricky Martin, Tori Spelling, Luke Perry, Ian Ziering, Eddie Griffin, the biggest shocker Martha Stewart, and more.

If I find any further drug and alcohol abuse - celebrity quotes, I will post them as a comment. Equally, I would be happy to revise any errors.

In the interim, if you would like further information on drug and alcohol abuse and prevention, please visit Drug-Aware.com