In his first interview since emerging from a California rehab facility, Jack Osbourne revealed details of his addiction to the controversial painkiller OxyContin, and declared, “I don’t want my life to be controlled by a drug.”
Speaking exclusively with MTV News’ Gideon Yago, Osbourne said, “I took myself out of the picture for a second and I looked around at every single person in the room, at who they were, how old they were and what they had going on in their lives. A lot of them were near 30, unemployed, living off their parents. There were heroin addicts, there were the world’s biggest couch potatoes. And it was like, ‘I don’t want to be like that. I don’t want my life to be controlled by a drug.’
“I want to be in control of my life,” he continued. “I was really loaded and I just sat on my mom’s bed and I just said, ‘I am going to go pack my bags, I’m, I’m ready to go. I want to go, I need to go.’ ”
Osbourne checked himself into Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, California, in April for what was then called “an undisclosed addiction”. Jack has since divulged to MTV News that he had become hooked on the dangerous painkiller OxyContin. Oxy, as it’s sometimes called, is often prescribed by doctors to relieve pain. The Food and Drug Administration warns that Oxy can be as addictive as morphine, a quality that has no doubt helped it rise as a popular party drug in recent years. The pills can cause respiratory problems, and can be fatal when crushed and snorted or chewed, according to the FDA.
MTV News will explore Jack’s road to rehab and his journey back to health in an “MTV News Now” special report, premiering Tuesday, July 8 at 11 p.m. ET. Here Jack explains how his addiction developed, what drove him to rehab and the difficult struggle to get clean. His family will also talk about the warning signs of addiction and coping with the news.
The show will be followed on Wednesday, July 9 by a repeat of MTV News’ “True Life: I’m Hooked on OxyContin” at 6:30 p.m. ET.
