Drew Barrymore’s days of drug use are behind her. The actress spoke candidly in a new interview about her past with cocaine, which she said she started doing at the age of 12.
When asked whether she misses the drug on Norm Macdonald Has a Show, which premiered on Netflix on Friday, September 14, Barrymore, 43, responded, “No. Oh, God. I mean, it’s been a very long time, but no. Nothing would make me have a panic attack and seem like a bigger nightmare.”
She clarified that she never tried hallucinogenics or heroin during her battle with addiction. “I don’t know what that’s like,” she said. “But I think I liked to feel good. I’m an upper person. You know, I’m like, ‘Woo hoo!’ I also didn’t want to be like, ‘Man, I see s–t.’”
Though the Golden Globe winner no longer uses drugs, she said she does still drink socially. “I enjoy my life and get out of my own head,” she explained. “It’s not like I’m this militant person of clarity and presence, but [cocaine] literally seems like my worst nightmare right now.”
Barrymore said she has one rule when she goes out and orders an alcoholic beverage: “I will not drink my drink at a bar that has not been in my line of vision or, like, the side cornea.”
The E.T. the Extra Terrestrial star, who also used to smoke marijuana, previously told The Guardian that she first went to rehab at the age of 12. A year later, she fell off the wagon and was hospitalized for 18 months.
Barrymore said on Friday that she believes being a child star is “a recipe for disaster,” but she is glad those days are long gone for her. “I got my s–t over with at, like, 14,” she recalled. “Midlife crisis, institutionalized, blacklisted, no family. I got it done.”
Season 1 of Norm Macdonald Has a Show is now streaming on Netflix.
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