Jack Black reminisces about his drug use

Ben Stiller’s new film with Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr., ‘Tropic Thunder’ is set to hit theatres in mid August,  The action comedy is about a group of self-absorbed actors who set out to do a big-budget war movie but are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying. Jack Black recently did an interview with Blender magazine discussing his role in the film. In the movie, 28-year-old actor plays a character who is forced to go through with withdrawal, and so, naturally, the conversation turned to Black’s own drug use.

On smoking marijuana:

There is an occasional celebratory jay, but it’s not a wake-and-bake scenario anymore at all. And no cigarettes. To help stop, I took Wellbutrin for two years, and then I stopped the Wellbutrin before Tropic Thunder. They say you’ve got to be careful quitting Wellbutrin because some people have withdrawal symptoms. And I was like, “Good! That’s the movie. That’s what I need! Withdrawal symptoms!” I didn’t have shakes and crazy quakes–it feels like your brain is sucking in on itself, like there’s a small black hole in the center of your brain galaxy. But it only lasted for a couple of weeks, and then I was back to normal.

On Black’s early exposure to hard drugs:

In ninth grade, I did acid and cocaine. I wanted desperately to be an American badass. There’s something so romantic, when you’re a kid, about being a criminal. You want to belong to the tough-guy club. Running from the cops. Hiding in the bushes. Making schemes and plans to get it over on the Man.

On heroin:

Somebody gave me a small amount of it in an envelope and I kept it for months. I didn’t want to use it, but I didn’t want to throw it away, either, because I was always curious about it.My girlfriend at the time was there, and I snorted it, but she didn’t know I did it. It didn’t agree with me. I couldn’t really feel my legs, and my heart felt like it was slowing down too much. I thought, Oh, my God, it’s just going to shut me down. I’m going to die. So I told my girlfriend, “I’m going to take a walk.” I went down to the 7-Eleven at the bottom of the hill, and I had this strange sensation that my legs were pumping, but the feet were just sort of lifeless stumps. I did a little shopping and then walked back up the hill and survived. And never did it again.

On withdrawal:

I’ve never had to detox.

In other Jack Black news the irreverent rock duo Tenacious D, have also begun work on a new album — just don’t hold your breath waiting for it.

The project marks the follow-up to the 2006 film project “The Pick of Destiny,” which bombed at the box office.
“We probably only have one to one and a half songs right now, and we probably need 12 to 15,” Black’s bandmate Kyle Gass told Billboard.com. “It might take the rest of our lives, but I think it’ll be worth waiting for.”