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Sharon Stone is opening up about the difficult road to living a drug-free life.
In a candid new interview, the Oscar nominee reflected on her long recovery after suffering a near-fatal stroke in 2001 and revealed that quitting cannabis was far more challenging than she ever expected.
“I got off one of my medications that I was on for my stroke last September, and they said I couldn’t go off of it,” Stone told Variety. “They said, ‘You can’t go off of it. You can never go off of it.’ I’m like, ‘I’m going off it,’ and it was like going off of f------ heroin. I was sick as a frigging dog for four and a half months. I just thought, ‘I want my life back.’ I had gotten off the majority of the drugs over the years that they had put me on. But I was like, ‘I want a drug-free life.’”
After overcoming that hurdle, Stone decided it was time to stop smoking marijuana as well. She admitted the experience also took a serious toll on her health.
“Once I got off that, I decided I’m going to quit smoking pot. And because I think they put so much stuff in it now — they really do — when I stopped smoking pot, I also got sick. It’s not like you’re pulling it out of the ground anymore. It’s not like when we were kids. I got pretty sick for a month. I went to my neurologist, and he said, ‘Sharon, I’ve had people dying in the emergency room from marijuana,’” she shared.
Her Stroke Changed Everything
Stone's latest comments echo what she shared in a 2014 interview about how surviving a brain hemorrhage completely changed her outlook on life and aging.
“I actually find aging a benefit. I don’t choose to make growing older a negative. I choose to get older. Growing older is my goal,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
“That’s because in 2001, I had a massive brain hemorrhage. So I know what the alternative to growing older is. I bled in my brain for nine days. I spent two years learning to walk and talk again. I came home from that stroke stuttering and couldn’t read for two years. I was in an ICU for nine days, and the survival rate for what I went through is very low. I don’t need someone to make me feel bad about growing older. I’ll tell you what makes you feel bad: when you think you might not. So I feel really good about talking and having my full vocabulary. It’s been a humbling journey: I was on Law & Order (which is not what I’d hoped for; you get sent all the way to the back of the line to guest star on Law & Order) and I had a hard time with my lines. I can talk about it now because I’m OK now,” she explained.
Why She Stopped Drinking Alcohol
Stone also revealed that giving up alcohol became another major turning point in her wellness journey.
“Perhaps another reason for the way I look is that I don’t drink. Any alcohol. I drank so little to begin with. But seven years ago, I was training and I wanted to get really cut up. I looked at Madonna — we’re the same age — and I asked my trainer, ‘What am I not doing? Find out what she’s doing!” She came back and said, “I don’t think she drinks any alcohol.’ So I decided to try zero for three months. And I saw a huge difference! And that’s when I started to notice people shove alcohol at you,” she explained.
She admitted she was surprised by how individuals reacted after she stopped drinking.
“‘What’s your problem?’ ‘Loosen up!’ ‘Why won’t you drink?’ People became uncomfortable and aggressive. So after eight or nine months, I started telling people I was sober. And the clarity I started to have about myself and others was astounding. I’ve watched actors and actresses go off the rails with drugs and alcohol for years. Particularly when it all happens so fast when you’re young. I want to feel all my feelings, to have every feeling a person can have and never not feel it. Now I’m a big tea drinker, though rarely ones with caffeine. I have an apothecary of tea,” Stone continued.
A Healthy Lifestyle Keeps Her Going
Today, Stone says staying healthy requires consistency and hard work.
“And how am I OK now? I work for it. I work at everything. To me, discipline is a kind of freedom. I belong to 24 Hour Fitness and go four or five times a week. It forces me out. Celebrity can be so introverting. I’m inspired by watching what other people are doing there. I eat clean, I always have. I’m off gluten. People don’t want to see a fat Sharon Stone, do they? I know my brand!” she stated.
