Famous Marijuana Users
Several celebrities are famous marijuana users and have even struggled with marijuana misuse. Despite claims that marijuana is not addictive or dangerous, studies have indicated that as many as 30% of those who use it develop some degree of what’s known as a marijuana use disorder.2
Music and movies make frequent references to smoking marijuana, and many songs have been written as dedications to the drug (“A-Yo” by Lady Gaga, “Dooo it” by Miley Cyrus, “The Next Episode” by Dr. Dre, “Because I Got High” by Afroman, “Habits” by Tove Lo, and “Pass That Dutch” by Missy Elliott, to name a few). Some artists believe that pot can enhance their creativity, and this perception is prevalent in American culture.
However, several famous actors, artists, and other stars have recently decided that their marijuana use was a problem and that they needed to get help or quit on their own. Below are a few examples.
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga has spoken openly about her addiction to marijuana. She told reporters that she started smoking pot as a way to cope with the music industry’s physical and mental demands. She has also talked about using marijuana as a way to alleviate anxiety, depression, and chronic pain.1 In a 2013 interview she claimed that she smoked 15 to 20 marijuana cigarettes a day.
She credits Elton John with helping her stop smoking. “He was telling me: ‘Gaga you’re smoking too much.’ He saved me…I’m sober now.”3
Brad Pitt
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Pitt talked about depression and smoking weed as a way to cope. He said that “I got really sick of myself at the end of the 1990s…I was smoking way too much dope…I used to deal with depression.”4
A trip to Morocco around that time led to a change. “I saw poverty to an extreme I had never witnessed before…and the children were inflicted with a lot of deformities…I just quit. I stopped grass then–I mean, pretty much–and decided to get off the couch.”4
In 2016, Angelina Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt. According to TMZ, the marriage ended in part due to Pitt’s weed and alcohol problems.5
Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus has openly advocated for marijuana and claimed that weed was “the best drug on earth” during a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone magazine.
In a 2017 interview with Jimmy Fallon, Cyrus talks about why she stopped smoking weed. She explains to the talk show host that she wants to speak as clearly as possible about her upcoming record. So, she decided to stop toking.
Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson—one of Hollywood’s most famous marijuana users—stopped smoking pot because he said that it was making him emotionally unavailable.6
In a 2017 interview with Vulture magazine, the star talked about how he quit the drug almost a year ago, saying, “I don’t have a problem at all with smoking. I think it’s great… But when you’re doing it all the time, it just becomes… Well, you know. I feel like it was keeping me from being emotionally available.”6
Harrelson was well-known for his cannabis smoking due to incidents such as:
- Misdemeanor charges for possessing marijuana in the 90s.
- Appearing on Ziggy Marley’s song “Wild and Free,” which advocated for the growth of weed.
- Placing a bid to open a pot business in Hawaii.