Yahoo Lifestyle Jared Leto opens up about past drug use: 'I never had a 'no' for any of that stuff'
Jared Leto experienced a "moment of clarity" that emboldened him to stop using drugs.
The actor and Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman looked back at his past relationship with substances in a conversation with Apple Music's Zane Lowe on Thursday, revealing that he was exposed to them from an early age. "I grew up in an environment where there were drugs around," Leto said. "I mean, I knew what the smell of weed [was] as a very, very young kid."
He continued, "I remember walking by some trees, like bushes or something as a young kid, maybe [around] fourth grade or something, and saying to the other kids, 'Oh, someone's smoking pot there.' They're like, 'What do you mean? What's pot?' They didn't know what that certain spice was, but for us it was pretty normal."
Lia Toby/Getty Images Jared Leto
Leto said he "never had a 'no' for any of that stuff," adding, "I was always interested in that. I was always interested in drugs. I was always interested in an experience. I was always interested in taking some risk. And I think that's probably common for people that like to experiment or explore probably some common things."
The Haunted Mansion star contined, "Addiction is a whole 'nother part of it, of course. Taking drugs is one thing, but does it start taking you? And my experience was certainly one that I took it for a ride and then it took me for a ride, for sure."
A breakthrough helped him choose a different path. "I had an epiphany. There were two paths that I could take in life, I guess is the only way I can describe it," he said. "And I took that path and I've had very close friends that didn't. And they're not here anymore. Many."
Leto previously opened up about his relationship with drugs in 2016, telling Rolling Stone that he "made a choice to pursue other dreams."
"I guess that's just the kind of f---ed thing about a lot of drugs: The opportunity cost is too high," he said. "Some drugs are incredible, but the risk versus reward is out of line. I just saw too many examples of what not to do."
Watch Leto's conversation with Lowe in full above, in which he also discusses his band Thirty Seconds to Mars' sixth studio album, It's the End of the World but It's a Beautiful Day, out today.
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