Sir Elton John on cannabis legalization: For him “one of the biggest mistakes”

Sir Elton John (77) has spoken out clearly against the legalization of cannabis in the USA and Canada. “This is one of the biggest mistakes of all time,” said the music legend in an interview with Time magazine, which previously named him “Icon of the Year 2024.”

The British singer bases his tough stance on his own experiences: “I definitely think it’s addictive. It leads to other drugs. And when you’re stoned – and I was – you don’t think normally,” explained Reginald Kenneth Dwight, his birth name , speaking to the magazine.

The “Rocket Man” interpreter himself looks back on a checkered past with drugs. As he revealed in the interview, he was first introduced to cocaine by his ex-partner and then manager John Reid (75). At first the drug helped with his crippling shyness, but eventually it took over.

“You make terrible decisions on drugs,” John said. “I wanted to be loved so desperately that I just took hostages. I saw someone I liked and spent three or four months with them, and then they hated me because they had nothing left in their life but me.”

Since overcoming his own addiction, Elton John has been helping other people in their fight against addiction. As the magazine reports, he played an important role in Robbie Williams’ (50) first withdrawal and therefore also tried – albeit unsuccessfully – to support George Michael (1963-2016).

According to Elton John, he found the strength to get clean himself through three things: his home football club Watford FC (The Hornets), Alcoholics Anonymous and a teenager named Ryan White, who died in 1990 as a result of an HIV infection .

has been clean for 29 years, so he has been clean for 34 years now. He has been in a relationship with the Canadian film producer David Furnish (62) since 1993, i.e. 31 years, partnered since 2005 and married since 2014. Her two sons (born 2010, 2013) were born with the help of a surrogate mother.