Hollywood actor Sharon Stone has revealed that giving up her stroke medication was one of the hardest experiences of her life, comparing the withdrawal to “going off f—ing heroin”. She also said she has now stopped using cannabis as part of her decision to live a drug-free life.
Speaking to People, the Basic Instinct star reflected on the years following the near-fatal stroke she suffered nearly 25 years ago. The stroke forced her to step away from acting for two years. Despite doctors telling her she would need medication for life, Stone said she eventually decided to stop taking it.
“They said, ‘You can’t go off of it. You can never go off of it.’ I’m like, ‘I’m going off it,’ and it was like going off of f—ing heroin,” Stone said. “I was sick as a frigging dog for four and a half months. I just thought, ‘I want my life back.'”
The 68-year-old said she has gradually stopped taking most of the medication she once relied on because she wanted to live without drugs.
“Once I got off that, I decided I’m going to quit smoking pot,” she said. “Because I think they put so much stuff in it now — they really do. When I stopped smoking pot, I also got sick.”
Stone said cannabis today is very different from what it was when she was younger.
“It’s not like you’re pulling it out of the ground anymore. It’s not like when we were kids,” she said. “I got pretty sick for a month. I went to my neurologist, and he said, ‘Sharon, I’ve had people dying in the emergency room from marijuana.'”
The actor has spoken publicly before about the impact of drug abuse. While hosting the ART HOUSE Gala in June 2023, she said many of her friends had died because of addiction. She also urged people not to confuse medical treatment with substance abuse while recalling concerns about drugs being prescribed during one of her son’s recovery from a skiing accident.
“My brother went to Attica. He crossed the line. Do not cross the line with me,” she said.
Stone became a mother in 2000 when she and her former husband, Phil Bronstein, adopted their first son, Roan. She later adopted two more sons, Laird in 2005 and Quinn in 2006.
The actor has also become increasingly open about the long-term impact of her 2001 stroke, when a ruptured vertebral artery bled into her brain for nine days. She has previously said doctors gave her only a one per cent chance of survival.
“For a long time I wanted to pretend that I was just fine,” Stone said. “I need eight hours of uninterrupted sleep for my brain medication to work so that I don’t have seizures. So I’m a disability hire, and because of that I don’t get hired a lot. These are the things that I’ve been dealing with for the past 22 years, and I am open about that now.”
Reflecting on the aftermath of the stroke, she said it changed every part of her life.
“I lost everything. I lost all my money. I lost custody of my child. I lost my career. I lost all those things that you feel are your real identity and your life,” she said. “I never really got most of it back, but I’ve reached a point where I’m okay with it, where I really do recognise that I’m enough.”
