Court Hears Johnny Depp's Drug History

The much-publicised court case, which is in the final stages of wrapping up this week, has drawn much media attention as people worldwide follow it on TV s like a soap Opera. Lines have been marked with "team Johnny" and "team Amber" contingents on social media. It appears everyone wants to have a say.

Johnny's penchant for drugs and alcohol has somewhat been at the forefront of the whole case as Ms Heard uses his alleged addictions as a big reason behind the troubles within the marriage.

Depp filed against Amber Heard in 2019. He claimed that she defamed him by writing an op-ed for the Washington OPost where she painted herself as a victim of domestic abuse. Although she did not identify him by name, Johnny believed it was apparent to all who read it that she was talking about him. As a result, he is claiming $50 million for loss of earnings after being dropped from potential film projects, including the successful and lucrative Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. A series where Johnny has long played the lovable rogue "Captain Jack Sparrow". Ironically the character of Jack Sparrow was based on one of Johnny Depp's musical heroes Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. He had a reputation for being a hard-partying hell-raiser in his younger days. 

Ms Heard rejected the charges and filed a countersuit for $100 million. She believes her career has also been sabotaged due to her marriage to Depp. Heard also claims that Depp attacked her numerous times. Typically when fueled by drugs or alcohol to which she says he has an addiction.

The 58-year-old disclosed that he had a tough childhood. His use of alcohol and narcotics began as a way of "numbing" his emotional troubles. He described his indulgence more as "self-medication" than addiction. 

"I'm not some maniac who has to be high all the time. The characterisation of my quote-unquote 'substance abuse' as described by Ms Heard is grossly embellished, and much of it is just plain false. I was an easy target because once you've trusted someone and told them all your secrets, that information can be used against you." 

Depp asserts that he first tried drugs when he was 11. He claims that his mother regularly physically and verbally abused him, his siblings, and his father. Upset by his unsettled family situation, Depp began taking his mother's "nerve tablets" to escape the chaos around him. It was not long then till Depp was experimenting with cannabis and other substances to "take the edge off".

Despite his drug use beginning relatively early, Depp asserts that he has been able to keep it under control throughout his life. He reasoned that he had spent years at a time sober and that he had never used drugs to "party."

"It was essentially just self-medication. Where you want to escape from your own head."

Johnny also dismissed untrue rumours about him being high while filming Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. His character is famously intoxicated on psychedelics for most of the film. 

Medical professionals hired by Depp to treat him for opiate addiction had testified about their interactions with the actor earlier in the trial. Depp said that he became addicted to Roxicodone- a form of Oxycodone, a powerful prescription painkiller with a high misuse rate when a doctor prescribed it for a leg injury.

Depp claimed that he was aware that he had become addicted to the substance and was only taking it to prevent withdrawal symptoms. 

Many people will sympathise with what Johnny Depp is saying about his relationship with drugs and alcohol, as it is too familiar to many of us. That need to find something to just "take the edge off" everyday life.

 With the case wrapping up this week, the jury will have to go away and decide whether Johnny Depp has been unfairly smeared by Amber Heard or whether he is guilty of domestic abuse. A large part of which will concern whether they think he does, in fact, have an addiction problem. What do you think?