Jelly Roll: His Drug Addiction, ‘Complicated’ Relationship With Alcohol
Jelly Roll talked candidly in a new interview with People magazine, discussing his struggle with drugs and alcohol. He said, “I had to learn that you could drink alcohol without doing cocaine. It took me a long time to learn that.”
He added, “I’ve never said that, but that’s real. There was a long time where I just assumed, when people told me they drank without doing cocaine, I was like, I thought we only drank to do cocaine.”
Jelly admits that he’s never been to rehab for his drug addiction; he says he does spend a lot of his time visiting various centers across the country. During those visits, he brings warm meals, plays music, and “does a little encouraging.”
He noted that he always said, “If I ever got in this situation,” he would do everything he could to “give back.” Jelly appreciates the fact that “just me showing up places can make people happy is such a gift.” He feels like if God gave him that gift, he should “show up.”
Getting through and past his drug addiction made his relationship with alcohol “complicated.” He said he thought drinking was to make “us not feel like drug addicts.”
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Jelly admits that he still drinks and that he “never really” had a problem with alcohol. He said with his fantastic year in music, he will “still have a cocktail.” He revealed that the night of the CMA Awards, “we partied,” but he stayed away from drugs.
Jelly admitted that his “vices” remain that of alcohol and marijuana, but he indulges carefully.
He said he never talked about this in interviews, but because he does drink and smoke weed, he will “attend meetings occasionally.” Jelly said he is “really struggling with thinking of my behavioral pattern,” so he’ll go to a meeting. He says he does that out of an “abundance of respect” for the people who really “got off the drugs completely.”
Jelly concluded that he doesn’t “necessarily claim” to be a part of the program because he respects their work and would never “want to diminish it” with some of his actions. He said, “AA has done a lot for me.”
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