PHILIP ANSELMO: ‘Methadone Is ‘The Worst Drug In The F*cking World’

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In a 2nd round of Loudwire’s ‘Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?’, ex-PANTERA and current DOWN singer Philip H. Anselmo was asked if it’s true that he stopped doing hard drugs since 2005, so that he could be cleared for back surgery.  He responded (transcribed by Blabbermouth.net): “Yeah. The doctor would not come near me while I was still on methadone. He was, like, ‘Nope.’ And that made me go bananas in an effort to come off that drug.”

He continued: “Coming off methadone is like falling from a fifty-story building every five minutes. And every other minute in between, you’re being pushed to the edge. The anxiety level is through the roof and on top of that, while I was going through detox, Hurricane Katrina had wiped out New Orleans, so I was in Houston, Texas [or] Katy, Texas, and it took us three months to get back home. And by the time I got back home, I was this close… and then I finally looked at this piece of f*cking sh*t in my hand, this little tiny chip of medicine, methadone… It’s garbage. It’s soul-stealing garbage. And I said, ‘Is this really gonna control my life anymore?’ And I just threw it away, walked away, and I said, ‘F*ck it! Bring on the sickness. Bring on the whatever.’ But I had defeated it, really. What I did was take my fingernail shaver, and I would shave down a little piece, a little more, a little more, a little more, daily ’till it was nothing. I weaned myself off. But I will say, the residue that methadone leaves behind… I didn’t feel right probably for a year after that. It’s so miserable, and it’s so… I guess, chemical-altering. It’s the worst drug in the f*cking world, right next to h*roin, which I always defined as definable evil, which it really is.”

 Anselmo went on to say: “You’ve gotta understand, I was a young man, and when painkillers came into my life, I made every rookie mistake in the world, like most motherf*ckers do. And sure enough, it’s not very long after you start taking massive amounts of f*cking pain pills, massive amounts of the worst drug ever made next to methadone: Soma. They are the worst. They need to be yanked off the f*cking shelf, because very doctor would tell me, ‘They’re not addictive.’ It’s, like, ‘What? That’s why I took seventeen last night.'”

He added: “Using h*roin was what I call slamming the door shut — like, ‘F*ck off! Leave me alone! If I’m gonna be this miserable, then f*cking I’m going away for a little while.’ And I did. And I’m glad to not be there anymore. Jesus Christ, what a horrible, horrible thing!

“First and foremost, you children out there, don’t use hard drugs. There’s ways around things. Go to a doctor, get checked out. Don’t just take your friend’s word for it. ‘Hey, this pill’s gonna fix everything. This drug’s gonna fix everything.’ It’s not true. It’s fake. Don’t use hard drugs. And I learned the hard way, but here I am.”