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Robbie Williams has described marijuana as a "lovely drug" - but told how it made him fat.
The singer, who had a long battle with drink, drugs and depression, said smoking it made him binge on food and his weight ballooned.
Speaking in the Radio Times, the 36-year-old said: "Did you see me last year? Have a look at last year. Yep. Year of the Munchie 2009. Weed, it's such a lovely drug. But it doesn't mix well with me - at all."
He added: "It's just a shame about weed, because I did love it."
Williams, whose song Morning Sun is the official charity track for Sport Relief, told of his last spell in rehab, for prescription drug addiction, on his 33rd birthday.
He said: "I was dying. I got to the point where I really, genuinely didn't care. I'd just got fat and depressed before. Then this one was like, 'You might die.'"
But he was "not at all" bothered by the prospect of dying.
The singer said he was first given cocaine by an early 1980s pop star who thought he was joking when he said he didn't know what to do with it.
Chris Hudson, a nurse from drugs information service Frank, wouldn't comment on the former Take That star's remarks directly, but said: "Cannabis messes with your mind - and reactions can be more powerful with stronger strains such as skunk, which is around twice as potent.
"Mental health problems associated with using cannabis include paranoia, panic attacks and anxiety and depression. The risks increase the more you use it."
Williams, who is thought to be about to marry girlfriend Ayda Field, also told the Radio Times that he could not understand why Morning Sun had been chosen as the official Sport Relief single.
The song was released for download yesterday, with proceeds going to vulnerable people in the UK and across the world.
But asked what made the single an appropriate fit for Sport Relief, he said: "Um...good question. What makes it? I don't think it does, to be honest with you.
"I don't where the link is between 'charidee' and the lyrics of that song. 'Cause it really doesn't make that much sense, to be honest. I'm glad it is. But I don't know where it fits in."
Williams has previously suggested that he and Gary Barlow are back in the studio writing songs together.
He told the magazine: "I've got something exciting planned for the end of the year, too. Separate to me.... And that's very, very, very exciting."
Reader views (21)
Great singer - No! Totally mixed up - yup. Problem is, he like so many other so called "stars" don't think before they open their big mouths. Some role model he is for the fans!!!
- Peter, Vienna, Austria, 10/03/2010 09:14
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Reading these comments makes me think you lot have had very sheltered lives. Cannabis use is so widespread it's hard to find someone that doesn't smoke it. Where do all you people live? Do you ever leave your houses?
- James, London, UK, 09/03/2010 22:45
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so.... its ok for eric clapton to make a tune called cocaine eh!!!... well hes loved yeah!!!... its a plant thats alll!! why not stop making weapons that kill, guns, bombs and fighter planes and our kids getting killed and you moan about a singer who has smoked a PLANT!!!!!! wake up people !!!
- Dave Twist, chelmsford, 09/03/2010 16:10
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Oh come on people it's only a bit of weed, it's no big deal. Better than all the city types snorting cocaine all the time.
I'm no fan of Robbie Williams but good on him for speaking out. I totally agree with him, cannabis is a lovely drug and it should be legalised.
Cannabis causes so few problems compared to alcohol, it's crazy that one is legal and the other is illegal.
Each year loads of people are charged with possession of cannabis which ruins their chances of getting their chosen job (as they now have a criminal record), that is the real crime!
- Rebecca, London, The Real World, 09/03/2010 15:45
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How much did rehab cost him ? People like him who promote drug use are a disgrace, he was able to pay to get clean.
He was out of the public eye for quite a while, due to his addiction. He will displease many with this irresponsible statement. Still full of himself isn't he !
- Kd, Kent, 09/03/2010 15:11
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would still be toking up if take that hadnt reformed and done better than him. leech.
- B.Roberts, london, 09/03/2010 14:42
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Williams is an imbecile,was an imbecile and will continue to be one despite his considerable wealth.
- Jacob, Britain without Hope or Crosby, 09/03/2010 14:42
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The picture of Williams which accompanies this item say's it all !
What a joke.I give his forth coming marriage 12 months max, before the girlfriend see's what a huge mistake she has made.Then it will be rehab Rab all over again. Some people will never learn until its to late think on TAKE THAT before you TAKE THAT, BACK. Big mistake HUGE
- Selwyn Channon, london, 09/03/2010 14:24
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Williams is an overrated gormless moron who thinks everyone is interested in his recreational drug use and it somehow makes him appear more interesting than the vacuous idiot he really is.....as he gets older he looks and acts more and more like norman Wisdom.....which is a great shame for our norman!.
- Jacob, Take That and shove it Britain., 09/03/2010 13:37
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Presumably marijuana is pop-star speak for "pies".
I suppose the one upside is that there's a possibility that, at least for a short time, it shut him up.
- Keith, King's Cross, 09/03/2010 13:33
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it mad him fat...shame it didn't make him talented. Still probably explains his constant gurning and Norman Wisdom impersonations
- Al Stuart, ealing, 09/03/2010 13:18
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Alan,, England - Legalisation will keep the control of weed away from the gangs you are refering to. It is Illegal because........answers on a postcard please.
Mick, New York - If weed was legal, just like the worst class A drug ever; alcohol, then more younger people would smoke weed than drink alcohol. I think you'll find more people listen to alcohol adverts on TV than pay attention to Williams, which is why the UK has such an alcohol problem. Everyone seems to think weed is bad, just because it is illegal, and alcohol is good, just because it is legal. How very wrong. We should be concentrating on trying to resolve this alcohol issue, which costs the NHS billions annually, not commenting about weed quotes from a celebrity.
- Dom, London, 09/03/2010 12:57
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Marijuana is a herb and is no worse than tobacco... in-fact tobacco has many more chemicals and addictive agents. The government currently makes huge amounts of money from taxing tobacco whilst prosecuting and fining people who use marijuana; a slight contradiction there I think.
For people who say marijuana use leads to stronger drugs... you could take the same stance with tobacco and alcohol, but you don’t - another contradiction? I feel people should have the choice to choose for themselves... I don't want the government telling me what I can and can't do more than they do already... the same government who took us into an illegal war in Iraq... and fiddled there expenses…
- Paul Byrne, London, 09/03/2010 12:55
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I don't know how I managed to have so much fun dancing all night on orange juice and the odd coca-cola in 1950?
The only weeds around then were those that couldn't dance at all.
If you need any kind of dope to think you are with it; then you are not with it at all; how do you know you are having fun, if your brain is dead and you do not know where you are, or who you are?
Pot heads are not smart or clever, they just imagine they are.
- Mickinlondon, london, 09/03/2010 12:35
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DOPE recomends Dope. I say no more.
- John Bandey, Cerilly . France, 09/03/2010 11:57
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Sounds like a new Steve Harvey from East 17 story. I guess it is goodbye to Mr William's success and goodbye to a reunion with Take That...
- Nav, England, 09/03/2010 10:35
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Isnt marijuana an illegal drug. So it is supplied by criminal sources. Do not celebrity users ever consider that someone along the supply line might have been killed to supply their habit. You constantly read of gun and knife crime between gangs that are usually involved in supplying drugs.
- Alan,, England., 09/03/2010 10:29
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has dopey got a new record or book to promote
- Anon Leicester, england, 09/03/2010 09:59
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Doesnt make him a bad person does it. . .
- Nick, zurich. switzerland, 09/03/2010 09:58
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Robbie is a great singer but a lousy mixed up individual. He needs to get himself cleansed out and be more responsible. Not a good role model for youngsters.
- Dhan Raj, Basildon, 09/03/2010 09:32
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Well done Williams, your "lovely drug" is the beginning of the end of a very long road for so many young people who do not have the money or support that you do.
Think before you open you mouth you idiot,and remember sadly there are so many vulnerable youngsters that listen to the words of WILLIAMS
- Mick, New York, 09/03/2010 08:38
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