Former MSNBC host Touré Neblett got into the weeds about his former pot use Friday, saying he had to stop smoking it because he couldn’t handle it.
But don’t get him wrong — he’s not anti-weed. He’s all for legalizing it. And God bless anyone who can do it without getting hooked. Unfortunately, Touré, who prefers his one-name title and is now a book coach, doesn’t fall in that category.
“Weed is fun for those who can handle it,” he tweeted Friday. “I encourage it for those who can control it. For some, like me, the usage can go too far. If you’re smoking a lot and wanting to stop and finding that you can’t then you have an issue. That was me. I finally was able to stop.”
Touré has a podcast and a YouTube channel. On Thursday, he warned his fans that things were about to take a drastically personal turn.
“I’m gonna start filling up my #YouTube channel with some really personal, vulnerable new content in the coming weeks so please subscribe so you catch it first when it drops… Because Adulting Is Hard,” he wrote.
It wasn’t an empty promise. He began tweeting about his history with marijuana at 6:57 a.m. and has been writing about it for much of the day.
Touré knows something about shock value. In 2012, he said on MSNBC’s “The Cycle” that then-GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was “engaging in the n*ggerization” of President Obama.” (RELATED: Touré Accuses Romney Of Painting Obama As Someone To Fear)
On legalizing the stinky stuff, Touré wrote, “I think marijuana should be legalized. People should not be criminalized for what they put in their bodies. Black people in particular should no longer be terrorized by the failed War on Drugs. But for some people, like me, weed is too addictive. I had to stop.”
The lefty journalist has a whole philosophy on tokers.
“Some people on here are ‘criticizing’ or something because, they say, it’s just weed,” he wrote. “For you, it is just weed. Great. Go to it. For me, and many others, it’s an addictive substance that becomes too much to manage and we have to find a way to quit in order to be our best selves.”
Speaking of best selves, back in January, the #MeToo movement nabbed Touré for allegedly sexually harassing a makeup artist. The woman named Dani said he often spoke hypothetically about having sex with her and wondered what it would be like to have anal with her. The accusation came on the heels of Touré ironically appearing in the Surviving R. Kelly documentary. (RELATED: It’s almost like Harvey Weinstein Is Still An A**hole)
Touré apologized to the woman.
“On the show, our team, including myself, engaged in edgy, crass banter, that at the time I did not think was offensive for our tight-knit group,” he said in a statement through a publicist. “I am sorry for my language and for making her feel uncomfortable in any way.”
But let’s get back to his thoughts on weed.
“The idea that weed is not addictive is an idea that the weed addict can use to tell himself that he doesn’t have a problem,” he wrote. “Or, more accurately, something that the voice of the addiction can use to keep you from admitting to yourself that you have a problem.”
Touré says the temptation is always there.
“When the feeling of being sober and the joy of being clear-minded means more to you than the thrill of the high then it becomes easier to stay sober. But the temptation remains,” he explained. “The voice of the addiction fights to stay alive.”
