Ozzy Osbourne has maintained that tobacco is the ‘most addictive thing’ he has ever consumed.
The Black Sabbath rocker, 75, opened up about his experience with the product during a conversation with his family about legalizing marijuana on The Osbournes Podcast.
The rocker, who recently revealed he’s got ‘at best 10 years left’ amid his health battles, said he believed marijuana should be ‘legalized everywhere’ before he described just how habit-forming tobacco had been for him.
‘I think it should be legalized everywhere,’ Ozzy said. ‘I will say this, it definitely is a gateway drug… I would sooner have people smoke marijuana than smoke tobacco. Tobacco, without any second thought, is the most addictive thing I ever put in my body.’
His wife Sharon Osbourne, 71, on the other hand, made no secret of her dislike for cannabis. ‘Marijuana is stuff that makes you into a blob and you sit there all day, you lose any incentive to do anything and I think it sucks,’ she said.
Ozzy Osbourne has maintained that tobacco is the ‘most addictive thing’ he has ever consumed
The tobacco line is a statement Ozzy has made numerous times in the past; pictured 1983
Their son Jack Osbourne, 38, felt marijuana should be legalized but added there needed to be more education about its effects.
‘I think it should be legalized but I think people need to get honest about what marijuana actually does,’ Jack said.
‘Takes away your incentive,’ Sharon continued.
Jack continued, adding marijuana was not the ‘cure-all’ many believed it is: ‘The last 20 years there’s been such a push to legalize it medically and recreationally and they basically treat it like it’s the wonder drug and the cure-all for everything… which is not true,’ he said.
‘It is amazing and it does do wonders for people with certain ailments and their bodies if they have the right kind of makeup, it can do amazing things. It can also do horrible things for people,’ he added.
‘Alcohol can, tobacco can,’ his father added.
The tobacco line is a statement Ozzy has made numerous times in the past. ‘That said, by far the most addictive thing I’ve ever put in my body is tobacco,’ Ozzy told The Telegraph in 2009.
‘By the end, I was chewing the gum, smoking the fake cigarettes, wearing the patches and smoking 20 a day. I tried cigars, but within a week I was smoking 30 Cohibas a day, and inhaling. Now I don’t do anything any more. I got bored of always being f—-ed up on something or other.’
His wife Sharon Osbourne, on the other hand, made no secret of her dislike for cannabis, saying she thought it ‘sucks’
Their son Jack Osbourne felt marijuana should be legalized but added there needed to be more education about its effects
The latest update comes after Ozzy gave a frank interview about his health and how he doesn’t fear dying as he doesn’t want a ‘long miserable existence’ but there’s still ‘plenty of life’ in him yet.
Ozzy – who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2003 – revealed doctors found a tumour in his spine during a fourth operation on his back following a 2019 fall.
He told Rolling Stone UK: ‘I don’t fear dying, but I don’t want to have a long, painful and miserable existence.
‘I like the idea that if you have a terminal illness, you can go to a place in Switzerland and get it done quickly. I saw my father die of cancer.
‘But look, I said to Sharon that I’d smoked a joint recently and she said, “What are you doing that for?
‘It’ll f***ing kill you!” I said, “How long do you want me to f***ing live for?!” At best, I’ve got 10 years left and when you’re older, time picks up speed. Me and Sharon had our 41st wedding anniversary recently, and that’s just unbelievable to me!’
‘That said, by far the most addictive thing I’ve ever put in my body is tobacco,’ Ozzy told the Telegraph in 2009; Osbourne pictured 1988
Detailing the series of operations he’s had recently following his fall in 2019, he confessed: ‘It’s really knocked me about. The second surgery went drastically wrong and virtually left me crippled.
‘I thought I’d be up and running after the second and third, but with the last one they put a f***ing rod in my spine. They found a tumour in one of the vertebrae, so they had to dig all that out too. It’s pretty rough, man, and my balance is all f****d up.’
Last year, the musician underwent ‘life-altering’ surgery to remove and realign a series of pins in his neck and back from a 2003 quad biking accident.
In September, Ozzy revealed on his family’s podcast The Osbournes Podcast that he had another surgery in the pipeline.
He said: ‘My lower back is, I’m going for an epidural soon because what’s happening, what they’ve discovered is the neck has been fixed, below the neck there’s two vertebrae where the bike hit me and disintegrated, there’s nothing left of ’em,’
His son Jack Osbourne asked: ‘Are they fusing discs?’
Ozzy admits he’s got ‘at best 10 years left’ and has been left ‘virtually crippled’ from multiple back surgeries (pictured last month)
Ozzy explained that he ‘didn’t know’ what the medical professionals were going to be doing but said: ‘All I know is right now, I’m in a lot of pain, I’m in a lot of discomfort’
He recently said he is ‘battling through’ his health issues and recently had a filter removed from his artery.
Earlier this year the threat of blood clots hitting Ozzy’s major organs was reduced, with him admitting he’s desperate to ‘get on with his life.
Speaking on his Ozzy Speaks SiriusXM channel, he said: ‘I’m battling through, like, for instance last Monday, I went to have a filter removed.’
He added: ‘When I had the blood clots in my legs, they put a filter in your artery to stop the blood clots going to your heart and your brain. It sounds worse than it is. So, on Monday I went to have it removed.
‘The blood clots have jammed you all up. It’s just disappointment after disappointment. Just get this thing f****** done so I can go get on with my life.
Ozzy admitted he is in ‘constant pain’, adding: ‘I feel like a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest. The only thing I’ve got that keeps me going is making records. But I can’t do that forever.
‘I gotta get out there. I’m still in constant pain. I do the best I can to stay away from the pain medication.’
