Justin Bieber. XNY/Star Max/GC Images
Justin Bieber has been open when it comes to his struggles with past drug use.
In the January 2020 docuseries Justin Bieber: Seasons, the singer revealed that he began smoking marijuana when he was “12 or 13.” As Bieber grew up in the spotlight, he later turned to “pretty heavy drugs,” including lean (a mixture of codeine cough syrup, soda and hard candy), pills, MDMA, psychedelic mushrooms and more.
“I was young, like everybody in the industry and people in the world who experiment and do normal, growing-up things,” he reflected. “But my experience was in front of cameras and I had a different level of exposure. I had a lot of money and a lot of things.”
Bieber ultimately sought out therapy for his substance abuse and mental health struggles.
In February 2025, concern for Justin’s well-being sparked online after fans noticed he was seemingly no longer following his wife, Hailey Bieber, on Instagram. Justin later claimed his account was hacked.
Throughout his career, Justin Bieber has been an open book with his dedicated legion of Beliebers about his ongoing struggles with his mental health. “Justin has become a recluse and a changed person. He has no interest in being a celebrity and an artist,” an insider close to the Grammy winner told Us Weekly exclusively […]
That same month, he was also photographed out and about while shirtless.
Rumors swirled that Justin was doing drugs again, but the musician’s rep slammed the “absolutely not true” speculation in a statement to TMZ. Per the rep, the discussion about Justin’s mental health “shows that despite the obvious truth, people are committed to keeping negative, salacious, harmful narratives alive.”
Keep scrolling to see Justin’s honest quotes about his past drug use:
Taking Adderall
In February 2016, Justin shared that he was on Adderall, which is meant for treating ADHD, for at least a year.
“I’m not getting restful sleep, so during the day I need [Adderall] to concentrate because I’m not getting the proper [amount],” he said in an interview with GQ. “You know, when you sleep, your body creates endorphins, creates these things, and when you’re not getting that sleep … ”
Justin confessed he was hoping to stop taking the medication soon because it felt like it gave him “anxiety.”
An Unhealthy Coping Mechanism
In a joint Vogue interview with Hailey, Justin opened up about how he turned to drugs like Xanax to self-soothe amid his personal struggles.
“I found myself doing things that I was so ashamed of, being super-promiscuous and stuff, and I think I used Xanax because I was so ashamed,” he told the outlet in February 2019. “My mom always said to treat women with respect. For me that was always in my head while I was doing it, so I could never enjoy it. Drugs put a screen between me and what I was doing.”
Getting Real
Justin took to social media to share that he was feeling “overwhelmed” about his past struggles.
“I started doing pretty heavy drugs at 19 and abused all of my relationships. I became resentful, disrespectful to women and angry,” he wrote via Instagram in September 2019. “I became distant to everyone who loved me and I was hiding behind a shell of a person I had become. I felt like I could never turn it around.”
While Justin was having a hard time, he admitted he was focusing on the future and becoming the best version of himself.
“It’s taken me years to bounce back from all these terrible decisions, fix broken relationships and change relationship habits,” he continued. “Luckily God blessed me with extraordinary people who love me for me.”
Having Security Step In
Justin confessed that his drug use once got so bad his security team would have to check to make sure he was alive.
“My security and stuff would come into my room at night to check my pulse,” he recalled in his 2020 docuseries. “People don’t know how serious it got. It was legit crazy scary. I was waking up in the morning and the first thing I was doing was popping pills and smoking a blunt and starting my day. It just got scary.”