The Libertines musician talks about his past struggle with hard drugs, recalling how he smuggled heroin to Japan and the drugs 'took control' of his life.
- Nov 11, 2023
AceShowbiz - Pete Doherty illegally brought drugs into Japan at the height of his heroin addiction. The 44-year-old musician had heroin for the first time in 2002, and it wasn't long before drugs took "control" of his life.
"Hard drugs entered my life and slowly, slowly, and then very quickly, took control," he explained in the new documentary "Peter Doherty - Stranger in My Own Skin".
Pete realised that drugs were consuming his life while he was en route to Japan. The Libertines star smuggled drugs into the country in his guitar case - but for a period of time, he was still feeling like "a million dollars." He recalled, "I felt on top of the world, felt a million dollars."
Pete has managed to turn his life around over the last decade. However, he's still conscious of the ever-present dangers of drug addiction. Speaking about his ongoing battle, Pete explained, "It was a deep immersion in that life and there's a great difference between being clean and being able to live happy and free, clean. I can be clean but I'm still putting time between that immersion and coming out of the waters."
Earlier this year, meanwhile, Pete revealed that he actually found a sense of "belonging" through his addiction. The music star told ES Magazine, "For all the dark sides of [addiction], there was a feeling of surviving - or not surviving - outside of that system that just fascinated me."
"And for those few hours in a crack den, anywhere in the world, it didn't matter where you were, you'd find your people. It's like being interested in anything. Like cyclists - you go anywhere in the world and you find people who are interested in cycling and who know the best places to cycle. That feeling of belonging."
