LiLo comes clean about drug abuse

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Lindsay Lohan: 'I've been stupid and childish and I wasn't thinking. (KAMRAN JEBREILI / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

By now, everyone in the western world knows far, far more about Lindsay Lohan's private life than they ever wanted to. But, unsurprisingly, the troubled starlet has decided we still don't know enough, as Lohan opened up to the U.K. Sun about her myriad problems with drugs, and her recovery process.

The first non-shocker the Mean Girls star revealed was that she hit rock bottom when her father, Michael Lohan, began talking to reporters about her.

"When my father was going public, that's when I hit rock bottom. I abused substances too much and it wasn't the answer to my problems. People need to know that," Lohan told the Sun in the extensive interview. "I tried to mask my problems with alcohol, cocaine and mind-altering substances. Now I'm in a place where I don't need to use anything, and I can feel emotions because I choose to.

"Mind-altering substances are so dangerous. If I can teach others, especially teens, by sharing my experiences, then that's what I will continue to do. I've made some dreadful mistakes but learned from them. That has probably saved my life."

The 23-year-old recalled some of her other low points, such as her first visit to rehab in 2007 (after she took some Ambien and fell asleep in the bathtub) and, later the same year, being caught with cocaine after crashing her car into a tree.

"It was in a purse and I was with friends. I wasn't trying to lie to police," Lohan said, before blaming her cocaine use on her father. "I was only aware of cocaine because of my dad. I was terrified of it. But I tried it because I was stubborn, stupid, and wanted to see what it was like. It's not something I ever want to do again. It made me feel like sh--. It became uninteresting to me. I'm hyper anyway, and I have that kind of personality, so I don't need something like that."

The actress also insisted that, despite being arrested for DUI, the paparazzi were the ones to blame for the crash.

"I wasn't driving like a maniac. There were paparazzi, and their flashes were going off into the window," she said. "I tried to turn, then I sped up because they sped up. That's when I hit the tree. I just thank God everyone was OK. But it was scary. I had three drinks, at most. I've been stupid and childish and I wasn't thinking."

After that, Lohan went to rehab for six weeks, and was forced to wear an alcohol monitoring anklet. Two weeks later, she was arrested yet again for driving under the influence, and the cops found cocaine in her pocket again. This time, Lohan ended up in a Utah rehab centre.

Lohan told the Sun she has since gained control over her substance abuse problems, though she admits she still occasionally drinks alcohol.

"I'm allowed to drink now, but I know my limits. There are certain situations where I have obligations," she said.

"I've now learned my boundaries, and I've been very good with cleaning house with people who I know didn't have my best intentions at heart. A lot of people in L.A. are very self-destructive. Partying so hard simply isn't worth it. Life is worth living, and there is so much to do and experience, it's wonderful."

-- Canwest News Service

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 23, 2010 B9