NEWS: Daily Telegraph - 17/02/2007 'Rock idols ice hell'

Rock idol's ice hell
By Kathy McCabe and Lillian Saleh
February 17, 2007 12:00am

THE lead singer of chart-topping rock band Grinspoon has become the first Australian celebrity known to succumb to the drug known as ice.

Singer Phil Jamieson is undergoing treatment for addiction to crystal methamphetamine as the drug continues to claim thousands of victims from all walks of life.

Jamieson was last week admitted to Odyssey House's detox unit at Ingleburn, in Sydney's southwest.

The singer/songwriter left the centre yesterday to complete a four to six-week rehabilitation program at a private clinic.

His wife Julie Fitzgerald is expecting their second child in four weeks.

The singer for the ARIA award-winning band admitted himself for treatment after an intervention by his wife and family, who had become concerned about his erratic behaviour.

While the singer has a reputation for embracing the rock'n'roll lifestyle, those close to him said yesterday they could barely recognise him when he was on the addictive drug.

The songwriter has also penned several songs about drugs – including the band's breakthrough hit Chemical Heart – and the band drew their name from Harvard Medical School professor and marijuana supporter, Dr Lester Grinspoon.

Grinspoon manager Gregg Donovan yesterday issued a statement on behalf of the band members and Jamieson's family.

"Grinspoon frontman Phil Jamieson has voluntarily admitted himself to rehab in relation to substance abuse issues," the statement read.

"Grinspoon will be releasing their fifth studio album (Alibis And Other Lies) later this year. The band has spent the last few months in the studio recording it and all are very excited by what has come out of these sessions.

"Everybody in the Grinspoon camp and his family are supportive of Phil's movements in getting himself into rehab, and can't wait to have him back on board."

A source told The Saturday Daily Telegraph Jamieson had kept to himself while undergoing a medicated withdrawal treatment at Odyssey House.

"He came in low key," the insider said.

"He's looked a lot better but he is still recognisable. One resident recognised him but was told by staff to keep quiet. He just keeps to himself."

Oddysey House is dealing with an "ice epidemic".

"We are getting hundreds of people coming through. We've got 19-year-olds in here who can't even say their own names," the insider said.

A recent report by the Australian National Council on Drugs found 1.5 million Australians had tried methamphetamines, including speed and ice.

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Secret addicts trapped in the ice
By Lillian Saleh
February 17, 2007 12:00am

THEY are young, successful, family-oriented and in stable relationships.

According to drug experts, thousands of people from ordinary backgrounds are at the fore of the ice scourge engulfing the country.

As Grinspoon frontman Phil Jamieson became the first Australian celebrity known to enter rehab for ice addiction, drug experts yesterday called for more treatment centres to tackle the alarming rise in the number of addicts seeking help.

St Vincent's Hospital's alcohol and drug service head Dr Alex Wodak said that ice was now the second-most commonly taken illegal drug after marijuana.

A heroin shortage has opened the market to methamphetamine producers, who can mass produce the chemical concoction in backyard labs.

A report by the Australian National Council on Drugs found almost one in 10 Australians aged over 14 – 1.5 million people – had tried methamphetamines, including ice and speed.

The report found there were now 73,000 ice users nationally – almost double the number of heroin addicts.

And, according to Dr Wodak, they are not your typical drug users.

"People who are getting into trouble from ice tend to be younger, people who are otherwise quite successful in their lives, have jobs, families and stable relationships," he said.

Dr Wodak said finding new ways of ingesting the drug, such as inhaling vapours, often delivered the user a higher concentration of the substance.

"Inhalation is a very potent way to administer a drug because it goes straight through the bloodstream and hits the brain at a very high concentration," Dr Wodak said.

"That increased impact causes increased side-effects.

"It's a scary business – the number of people who present to hospital in huge numbers."

ANCD executive officer Gino Vumbaca said drugs such as heroin worked by suppressing the central nervous system, but ice was a powerful stimulant.

"People can spiral very quickly from occasional weekend use to regular dependence and the impact on the body can be devastating," he said.

"It tricks the body into believing it has an unlimited reserve of energy and sometimes they can go on two or three-day binges."

Dr Wodak said the key to addressing the ice epidemic was making treatment facilities more accessible.

"Treatment is not expensive. Unfortunately, a lot of money is being thrown at law and enforcement and this whole 'get tough on drugs' thing is just politics," he said.

"We need to be offering a lot more help to people."

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Grinspoon star tells of ice hell
By Kathy McCabe, Music Editor
May 25, 2007 11:00am

GRINSPOON frontman Phil Jamieson yesterday told how seeking treatment for his addiction to the destructive drug ice was a "humbling experience".

The outspoken singer and the band's acclaimed guitarist Pat Davern yesterday released a statement to herald the imminent release of their new album as the band relaunch their career with the single Black Tattoo.

Jamieson told of his recent stint in rehab and said no one should have been shocked by his previous erratic behaviour as it was symptomatic of the music industry.

And he expects intense fan scrutiny of the lyrics from the album Alibis And Other Lies to find more revelations about his battle against addiction.

"Go for your lives! It is what it is. There was no shock what happened to me, these things happen in this industry regularly," he says in the album biography released by record label Universal yesterday.

"For me, I'm better, so that's good. It's a fairly humbling experience, and my ego and vanity have been a little bit humbled.

"But I've dealt with it and I'm better for it. Lyrically, people can look for what they want."

Jamieson, who has always enjoyed a reputation as one of Australian rock's hardest players both on and off the stage, was cryptic about what provoked him to take up ice last year.

After increasingly erratic behaviour, the father of two was admitted to Odyssey House in February to detox and has continued treatment since his release.

Jamieson hinted the demands of his side project Lost Gospel - he organised the band's recording and touring commitments as well as performing - may have contributed.

"I became very obsessed about music - in a bad way," he said.

"Lost Gospel provided an outlet for me but it was a full-on experience."

Davern said the future of the band, whose line-up has not changed since their inception 13 years ago, was never in doubt while Jamieson was receiving treatment.

"We obviously had our moments," Davern said. "But the band's excited about our future, and that's what keeps us going. We've had a few setbacks, but we've gotten over all of the bulls...."

The band perform their first show back together next Wednesday in Melbourne, with their concert at The Metro in Sydney on Thursday already sold out.

With a new baby girl, Evita, joining the Jamieson family of Phil, wife Julie and daughter Lyla, the rock frontman admits he faces challenges to maintain his sobriety while on the road.

"It's scary to know how I will go on tour," he said. "I want to play to people; I just don't know how much fun it will be sober."

The single Black Tattoo, which is released on June 30, is already being heralded as a return to form by fans on the band's internet forum.

Radio stations have added it to playlists while video shows will screen the clip this weekend, setting the band up for a triumphant return to the charts.

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And he expects intense fan scrutiny of the lyrics from the album Alibis And Other Lies to find more revelations about his battle against addiction.

"Go for your lives! It is what it is. There was no shock what happened to me, these things happen in this industry regularly," he says in the album biography released by record label Universal yesterday.

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Jamieson 'betrayed' over drug addiction
11th July 2007, 17:28 WST

Grinspoon frontman Phil Jamieson says he feels his right to privacy has been "completely raped" after a nurse outed his drug addiction.

Jamieson has been tight-lipped in interviews about his stint earlier this year in a Sydney clinic where he was reportedly admitted to overcome an addiction to the drug methamphetamine, better known as crystal meth.

Grinspoon is currently on the road ahead of the release of Alibis and Other Lies, their fifth album of original material.

It is the new work, of course, which Jamieson would prefer to talk about.

But his high-profile dramas earlier this year remain a hot topic - not due to the charismatic singer-guitarist himself, Jamieson is quick to point out.

"I haven't said anything to anyone," he told AAP from Kalgoorlie.

"I was outed by a nurse. My confidence, or my confidentiality, was completely raped."

Jamieson has kept the subject off limits in interviews and hopes an intense conversation with Andrew Denton for ABC TV's Enough Rope program will dispel any myths or misunderstandings that have circulated.

"The only time I've ever spoken about it in an interview in any long context is with Andrew Denton on Enough Rope and that'll be the end of it hopefully," Jamieson said.

"That airs on the 23rd of July. That was really intense but I felt that was the only way to communicate what had actually gone on in relation to what had happened to me."

Jamieson hit out at Australia's tabloid media which, he said, astounded him.

He also replied to "cynics of this industry" who suggest he is taking advantage of his personal dramas in a bid for publicity for the band and the new album's release.

"A lot of people have gone through what I've gone through and have not had it publicised," he said.

"I was betrayed by the hospital I was staying at and that nurse was promptly fired. But before then, the story was out."

He said despite not speaking specifically about his drug addiction, it would be "fantastic" if parents and children were moved to speak about drug issues having followed his plight as reported in the media.

"I'm really grateful that if parents can talk to their kids about what's going on in their lives because of what's going on in mine, that's fantastic. But I don't want it to seem that it's got anything to do with the record or my job in any context."

Alibis and Other Lies is due to be released on July 14.

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bearnan21 said:

i thought he was off that stuff, hes put on a heap of weight. He used to be thin as

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Grinspoon frontman tells of 'ice' addiction
Posted Mon Jul 23, 2007 0:26am AEST

Phil Jamieson says he has been clean for almost five months.

Phil Jamieson, frontman of Australian rock band Grinspoon, has spoken candidly about his addiction to crystal methamphetamine.

Speaking to Andrew Denton on ABC TV's Enough Rope, which airs tonight, Jamieson opens up about being an "ice" junkie and the effect it had on his life.

He says he began taking "ice" in social situations, but not long after he started he was addicted and using every day.

"I would do things by myself and I'd never done that. I'd use by myself and I'd hide it," he said.

"It was really socially unacceptable, except within a very close circle of friends of mine, and I'd become withdrawn, really paranoid. But I felt that without it, I just wasn't normal at all. I had to take it to be normal. I started realising, this thing's doing me, like it's got me."

Jamieson says he became paranoid about everyday situations, including being in public, going to buy food and driving.

He says even though he had a young daughter and was estranged from his wife, the drug had come to be all that mattered in his life.

"So really, life's pretty simple, except ... I was also married and I had children. So it wasn't simple, but I thought it was and had just become a desperate person," he said.


Stealing

At one point he stole money from bandmates to fuel his addiction and then phoned them to explain what he had done.

"That was pretty much a rock-bottom incident because I don't think anyone actually realised and I don't think any of my family or even Julie [his wife] realised how bad it had got," he said.

"Because as emotionally manipulative as I'd got ... I was good at lying, really good at lying, so I hocked a guitar and got rid of stuff and stole money from ... other people's accounts. It was all pretty dodgy."

When his "ice" addiction was revealed in the media, Jamieson says the reality hit home.

"Julie had picked me up from Minto where I detoxed, and driven me out to a country town where I was going to rehab and I looked over and saw that cover and thought someone had done a trick, like stuck it out and posted it on there, and I was like, 'that's not very funny'," he said.

"Then I looked at it, and it was real ... I couldn't believe it was actually me. And I couldn't believe people love bad news.

"It was pretty strange but I think because crystal meth, or ice, it's a bit of a worry as far as drugs go in Australia."


Clean

Jamieson says he has been clean for almost five months and that he has "good weeks and bad weeks".

He says although the relationship with his family is improving, it will still take time to heal wounds.

"I think actions speak louder than words for me. And how I live my life, and how I live our life together is going to [need] repairing. But in saying that, I don't know how to make it up," he said.

"I can't. It's impossible. It's done, so I just have to reassess myself.

"[I have to] just [keep] moving forward and trying to be positive ... for our future."

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Grinspoon junkie opens up
July 23, 2007 12:00am

LEAD singer of Grinspoon Phil Jamieson has spoken of the depths of his ice addiction, including stealing from his bandmates and realising he was "a junkie".

Jamieson, lead singer of the Australian rock band named after illicit drug expert and Harvard Medical School professor Lester Grinspoon, says he began using crystal methamphetamine in 2004, recreationally at first.
After two years of using the drug, along with cocaine and ecstasy as a source of musical inspiration, the married father of two says he became an everyday ice user on the brink of a psychological, career and family melt-down.

Jamieson had become one of Australia's most high-profile victims of the ice epidemic.

"August last year, was when things got messy," he tells Andrew Denton on ABC television program Enough Rope tonight.

"I felt without (the drug) I just wasn't normal. I had to take it to be normal (and) I started realising this thing's doing me ... like it's got me."

Jamieson, who described ice as heavier than other drugs he had used, said his life became centred around using the drug and writing songs.

Racked by paranoia, he would stay awake for four days and then sleep for two while he also stole to meet the financial costs of his addiction.

"I'd be paranoid about walking, being in public, going to the bank, going to buy food, going to the corner shop, driving, everything.

"I'd become a junkie. It was horrible," Jamieson says.

"I was good at lying, really good at lying, and I hocked a guitar and got rid of stuff and stole money ... it was all pretty dodgy.

"I stole money, um, from the band, which wasn't great, and then I had to ring them and tell them. That was pretty much a rock bottom incident."

Jamieson's wife Julie also left their Sydney home, with their two young daughters, to live with her parents in Queensland before the troubled couple re-united to attend relationship counselling.

It's at this point, Jamieson says, he admitted to his ice addition and he went into rehab - and a five-day intensive detox program - in February this year.

The stint in rehab received front-page treatment in the nation's tabloid media, and Jamieson says he has come to understand the reason why.

"Because crystal meth, or ice, is ... a bit of a worry as far as drugs go in Australia."

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