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Ozzy Says He Now Believes Pot Leads To Other Addictions

Singer no longer in favor of legalizing marijuana after seeing what his son has gone through.

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 [article id="1473501"]"Jack Osbourne Reveals He Was Addicted To Painkiller OxyContin"[/article]). 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 [article id="1473550"]"Rehab Helps Jack Osbourne Get To Root Of Addiction Problems"[/article]).

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 [article id="1473543"]"All About OxyContin, The Pills Known As 'Killers' "[/article]).

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.

For Jack's complete interview, check out [article id="1473670"]"Jack's Addiction: Jack Osbourne Talks About His Addiction And Recovery"[/article].

-- Robert Mancini, with reporting by [article id="1453176"]Gideon Yago[/article]

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