12 Celebrities Who Used Heroin But Beat It

Heroin has recently been called an epidemic and a plague in our country.  The number of deaths from heroin use has escalated dramatically nationwide.  It is a serious problem with life threatening consequences.

For a change of pace, we want to highlight that many people who have used or been addicted to heroin now live happy, successful lives.  So here are 12 famous people who once used or were addicted to heroin, but are living free of heroin today:

1.  Robert Downey Jr.  Between 1996 and 2001, Robert Downey Jr. was arrested numerous times on drug-related charges? including heroin possession. “I accidentally [got] involved in heroin after smoking crack for the first time. It finally tied my shoelaces together,” Downey Jr. told Rolling Stone in 2010.   “Smoking dope and smoking coke, you are rendered defenseless.”  Today he enjoys sober success, in 2013 he was named Forbes top earning actor.  He has been in 2 movies making more than $1billion dollars, Marvel’s The Avengers and Iron Man 3.

 

2.  Angelina Jolie told 60 Minutes TV Show in 2011, “’I took just every drug possible – coke, ecstacy, heroin, everything,’ In 1996, Angelina told the UK’s Mirror: “I have done just about every drug possible: cocaine, ecstasy, LSD and,? my favorite, heroin.”

3.  Nicole Richie?on CNN in 2005 stated, “By 18 I had stopped using cocaine and that’s when I got — got into ?pills a little bit and then — and then I got into heroin.”

 

4.  Chris Herren, former Boston Celtics NBA player stated in his autobiography Basketball Junkie “People think that when you’re doing drugs you’re high all the time, out partying. They think you’re having fun. That’s not it at all. You’re not having fun. You’re in hell.”  Chris has been clean and sober since 2008.

5.  Russell Brand? told The Guardian in 2013, “I cannot accurately convey to you the efficiency of heroin in neutralizing pain.  The mentality and behavior of drug addicts and alcoholics is wholly irrational until you understand that they are completely powerless over their addiction.”

6.  Steven Tyler, Aerosmith lead signer states in his autobiography, he was spending $2,000 a week on heroin, cocaine and alcohol. “I blew 20 million. I ?snorted my Porsche, I snorted my plane, I snorted my house in that din of? drugs and booze and being lost.”

7.  Eric Clapton? was depressed and addicted to heroin during 1971 and 1972. With help from friends Pete Townshend, Stevie Winwood, Ron Wood, Jim Capaldi, and others, Clapton had kicked heroin for good by 1974 when his Number One album 461 Ocean Boulevard came out.  http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/eric-

clapton/biography#ixzz2yVWgjbifhttp://coolalbumreview.com.

8.  Samuel L. Jackson? overdosed three times on heroin.  He told biographer Jeff Hudson, “The third time I OD’d on heroin I quit? the drug completely. It’s too dangerous, I was mad. I was crazed. I was not happy with who I was.”

9. Rock star P!nk  “I overdosed in ’95, and then I never took drugs again, ever.”  “Heroin is a horrible thing. I’ve seen first hand what it can do to people and it’s not pretty. I was never that much into it to need treatment. “But you name it, I took it. I buried three friends from heroin overdoses.She recently told Britain’s The New Review (speaking about her daughter), “No, she (is) never gonna f**king touch heroin. I’m gonna make sure of it. And if she wants to f**king hate me for it, that’s fine.”

10.  Ozzy Osbourne – In 1978 Ozzy admitted he was addicted to heroin and entered rehab.  His public struggles with his addictions over the years show that there is always hope, and recovery is possible at any time.

11.  Corey Feldman? was arrested in 1990 for heroin possession.  In 2013 he told HuffPost Live “…maybe I should try that [heroin] now. So I did, and boom – instantly addicted…The only one that really ever took me down that fast and that hard was heroin, and it was awful. It lasted maybe a year, a year and two months.”

12.  Tatum O’Neil describes her heroin use in her memoir, Found: “I had started craving [heroin] psychologically, longing to sink into oblivion. Then without it, I began to experience frighteningly dark depressions, with fierce anger as their flip side.”

Thanks to all of these celebrities and to the many other people who publicly discuss their use and struggles with drugs, particularly heroin.  They offer hope and examples that there can be a wonderful life waiting anyone who is struggling with heroin addiction or heroin abuse.

If you or someone you know is affected by heroin addiction or use, reach out for help.  It is a deadly drug.  New Hope Recovery Center offers treatment for heroin and other addictions, you can reach us at 888-707-HOPE (4673), or [email protected].