Elton John has thoughts on the legalization of marijuana in America and Canada.
The singer-songwriter was chosen as Time magazine’s Icon of the Year for 2024. While speaking with the publication, he spoke about his struggles with drug addiction and why he isn’t as blasé as about weed as many other people.
“I maintain that it’s addictive. It leads to other drugs. And when you’re stoned — and I’ve been stoned — you don’t think normally,” he said. “Legalizing marijuana in America and Canada is one of the greatest mistakes of all time.”
He explained that his thoughts on legal marijuana stem from his experiences with other drugs. Since overcoming his addiction, he said he has helped people others overcome addiction and offered to help many more. According to the magazine, he is Eminem’s sponsor, orchestrated Robbie Williams’ first stint in rehab and tried to help George Michael (without success).
“It’s tough to tell someone that they’re being an asshole, and it’s tough to hear,” John continued. “Eventually I made the choice to admit that I’m being an asshole.”
Elsewhere in the profile, he recalled being introduced to cocaine by his ex-lover and then-manager, John Reid. At first, he found it was freeing for him and helped him overcome his crippling shyness, but eventually, it took over.
“You make terrible decisions on drugs,” the “Hold Me Closer” artist said. “I wanted love so badly, I’d just take hostages. I’d see someone I liked and spend three or four months together, and then they would resent me because they had nothing in their life apart from me. It really upsets me, thinking back on how many people I probably hurt.”
Looking back on his life, John cited three things that helped him decide to get sober: Watford FC, a local soccer club near where he grew up; Alcoholics Anonymous; and a teenager named Ryan White, who died in 1990, after contracting HIV from a tainted blood transfusion at the start of the AIDS crisis.
“It all came to a climax, really, at the Ryan White funeral in Indianapolis — a really sad and emotional week — and I came back to the hotel thinking I’m just so out of line,” he said. “It was a shock to see how far down the scale of humanity I’d fallen.”
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