June 26 is International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. The theme this year is 'make health your new high in life, not drugs'. On this day we look at at ten celebrities who battled with and beat drug addiction.
Sanjay Dutt
Cooling his heels in jail now, Sunil Dutt's son has had a tumultuous life. He developed a drug addiction problem after his mother passed away from cancer and he even spent five months behind bars in 1982 for possession of drugs. It's rumoured that he lost out to Jackie Shroff in the Shubash Ghai blockbuster Hero because of his substance abuse problems. Finally, he was sent to a rehab centre in the US by his father and came back to give Bollywood some memorable hits including the much-loved gangster in the Munna Bhai franchise.
Manisha Koirala
Another B-towner who had massive problems with addiction was actress Manisha Koirala who was one of the leading actresses of the 90s. Sadly, she succumbed to the pressure and was constantly in the limelight for her smoking, drinking and drug abuse problems which also led to her downfall. Since then, the actress has toned down her act and was recently in the news for overcoming ovarian cancer. She even turned into anti-drugs campaigner with fellow actor Sanjay Dutt and spoke out about the dangers of drug use.
Robert Downey Jr.
It's hard to believe that the man who brought to life the narcissistic Tony Stark in the Iron Man franchise and The Avengers and commands a fee of $100 million dollars (the highest for an actor) was once battling a massive drug addiction problem and not given roles because of he was considered a liability. For those not in the know, Downey Jr. was one of the most promising actors of the 90s but lost it all to drugs. He was arrested numerous times on various drug charges and was a heavy marijuana, cocaine and heroin user. He even went to rehab numerous times but kept on relapsing until he finally kicked the habit and came back to give us some memorable roles as Tony Stark and Sherlock Holmes.
Samuel Jackson
Downey Jr.'s Avengers co-star also battled drug addiction in the past and even overdosed on heroin several times. He was finally sent to a New York rehab clinic by his family and came back to play a cocaine addict in Jungle Fever, a role that he considered cathartic. He commented on the transition, 'It was a funny kind of thing. By the time I was out of rehab, about a week or so later I was on set and we were ready to start shooting.' The actor then went on gain cult classic status with his mobster act in Pulp Fiction and went on to achieve major stardom.
Oprah Winfrey
Arguably television's most powerful host, she admitted to doing crack cocaine during her troubled youth when she was also abused. The TV host divulged her secrets on air when she recalled a story about a woman on her show who had also suffered from substance abuse, 'Years ago I had a woman on my show who was talking about drugs and how she was addicted to her boyfriend and I had used drugs in my 20s with this boyfriend and I was more addicted to the boyfriend than I was to the drugs,' she revealed. 'So the admission to using drugs on television was the biggest thing.'
Charlie Sheen
If there's one actor who's synonymous with the high life it's Charlie Sheen, who's widely remembered for his role in sitcom Two and a Half Men where he played a character who was just as hard-drinking and womanising as himself. The actor had an epic meltdown where he racially abused his show producer Chuck Lorre which led to the show being temporarily shelved and actor being fired. Finally, Sheen checked into a rehab centre last January after he was hospitalised after a partying spree. The actor claims that he no longer craves the feeling of being on drugs as it 'bored the hell out of him after a while'.
Angelina Jolie
The actor had once said in an interview, 'I have done just about every drug possible: cocaine, ecstasy, LSD and, my favourite, heroin.' A man claiming to be her drug dealer recently talked about her shocking heroin and cocaine use in the 90s and claimed even then that she'd dreamt of adopting a kid. Since then, she has really cleaned up her act gotten engaged to fellow actor Brad Pitt and has six children. She's even become a spokesperson for cancer awareness after revealing she got a double mastectomy and recently spoke up against sexual violence against women in her role as a UN ambassador.
Keith Richards
Part of one of the most iconic rock bands of all time The Rolling Stones, the so-called 'pirate junkie' has no regrets about his past transgression with substance abuse and even claims they helped write some of the greatest hits of all time. He quoted former UK Prime Minister Churchill saying. It's like Churchill said about alcohol, 'Believe me I've taken a lot more out of alcohol than it's ever taken out of me!' And I kind of feel the same way about the dope and stuff. I got something out of it.' Recent reports suggest that the actor, who was an inspiration for Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, has given up all other hard drugs and only smokes marijuana now.
Ozzy Osbourne
Perhaps it's a case of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll but rockers seem to be serial abusers. The original Prince of Darkness and one of the pioneers of metal with his band Black Sabbath dealt with substance abuse in his active years. He was finally fired by his band for his problems which only compounded the issue and led to him using drugs even more. Since then he has cleaned up his act and apologised for his drinking and drugs which he claimed 'turned him into an asshole'.
Steven Tyler
The Aerosmith frontman who's now 65 recently opened up his past cocaine use and how he spent millions on the drugs. He claims to have spent over $ 5 million on drugs in the 70s and 80s. He has confessed how the drugs took his children away and blew his marriages. He claims that he got sober in mid-80s and after relapsing once checked into a Betty Ford clinic in 2009. Since then he has become a judge on American Idol and admitted he's done with the drug life.
We can see a common pattern among all these celebrities they start using the drugs to deal with fame or to enjoy the 'high' life, it slowly spirals out of control until they lose themselves, their work and sometimes their loved ones. In most cases, it's only after hitting rock-bottom and accepting that drugs were the problem do they find a way out of it. The lesson that we can take away from this is that addiction is a very dangerous thing and it doesn't matter who you are or how much willpower you have drugs will take away your life. And we can also learn that redemption is always possible, no matter how badly you've messed it up. So let us take a vow on this day to protect everyone in our society from the menace of drugs. The drug business works on supply and demand the moment the demand goes away, so will the threat that drugs pose to our society.
