Jack Osbourne Admits to Oxy Addiction

By Stephen M. Silverman

Thursday July 03, 2003 10:00 AM EDT

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Yahoo Buzz
• E-mail

Speaking for the first time since his June 18 release after two months of treatment at a Pasadena, Calif., rehab facility, Jack Osbourne admitted to an addiction to the controversial painkiller OxyContin, reports MTV News.

Speaking to the network -- which also airs his family's series, "The Osbournes" -- in an exclusive interview, Osbourne, 17, said: "I don't want my life to be controlled by a drug." (The entire interview is scheduled to air on MTV at 11 p.m. Tuesday, reports the Associated Press.)

He also said he closely examined his friends and had an epiphany -- realizing that he didn't want to turn out like them, which is why he checked himself into rehab.

"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," he said.

"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 want to be in control of my life."

As for the breaking point, he said, referring to his mother, Sharon, "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.' "

At the time he checked into Las Encinas Hospital, Osbourne was described by the family spokesperson as having "an undisclosed addiction."

According to the Food and Drug Administration, OxyContin ("Oxy" for short) can become as addictive as morphine and can lead to respiratory problems, even death, when crushed and snorted or chewed.