Edward Furlong makes his acting debut in Terminator 2

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Now 44, Edward Furlong has been four years sober, and in a candid interview, the former child star opened up about his descent into hard drugs and his time spent in recovery. “When I was younger, I didn’t have too many people looking out for me and I was left to run wild,” he began. Smoking marijuana, drinking alcohol and taking magic mushrooms, Edward enjoyed the initial rush that came with experimentation.

“If I was older, I wouldn’t have made so many bad decisions,” he reflected.

Feeling as though his “un-normal life” set him up for drug addiction, Edward delved into his psyche as to what attracted him to the partying lifestyle.

“In a weird way, I never really felt like I fit in,” he revealed, then he added cocaine and heroin into the mix.

“When I was high, I had camaraderie with other people. Just drinking and partying,” he told The Daily Mail.

“All of a sudden, I felt like I was with people and I fit in somehow. That’s how it started.”

Edward admitted that “it worked for a long time”, but then drug dependency started to emerge.

“I was partying and wanting to go out every night, but I was so tired, and I’d be drunk and want to do more cocaine so I could wake up and drink some more.

“But that all spirals into, now I’m whacked out of my head and want to go to bed, so now I need something to put me to sleep which would be Xanax or heroin.”

Edward added: “Then I’m not even going to parties anymore – I’m just wanting to do the coke and come down and I’m sitting there alone.”

Years down the line, following a divorce from actress Rachael Bella – best known for her role in The Ring – who he shares a son with, Edward turned to meth.

“Towards the end, I was shooting loads and loads of heroin, meth, smoking DMT [a psychedelic drug] all the time. That’s the way I was all day.

“It’s amazing I’m still alive – there were a couple of close calls. I definitely OD’d but that’s the cycle you know.”

Finally having enough, Edward “didn’t want to be a slave to [drugs] any more” and decided to do the “bravest thing” he’s ever done – to get clean.

Spending a year at Wavelengths Recovery – a drug rehabilitation centre in Huntington Beach, California – Edward has learned “it’s easier than [he] thought it would be”.

“I like myself better, people definitely like me better sober,” he admitted.

“My son and I have a wonderful relationship. I like how simple my life is these days.

“I’m not hungover and wondering what I did last night. There’s so many awesome things and reasons I do it for. I hope to keep it up.”

Edward is now looking forward to earning his “five-year chip” to mark five years of sobriety.

Anybody experiencing drug addiction can seek help from their local drug treatment services.

The Frank drugs helpline is open on 0300 123 6600 for confidential advice.

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