NIKKI SIXX On Drug Use By Artists: 'Sobriety Gives You More Energy And More Creativity'

MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx, who was once declared clinically dead after overdosing on heroin at the height of the band's fame, has decried the way the government is handling the United States' opioid crisis. During an appearance on the October 23 edition of MSNBC's "The Beat With Ari Melber", Sixx said (see video below): "When I was coming up, so far as I know, there were no pill forms of heroin. If there were, I was never introduced to it — thank God. But a lot of people that are dealing with addiction right now, they're dealing with it on a pain-pill level, and it's being prescribed to them usually for a good reason — for dealing with pain itself. But then when they're overprescribed and insurance companies are lax in following up on who's getting these prescriptions filled and how many prescriptions can be filled at a time. I know CVS recently talked about only releasing one week worth of pain pills at a time so that people can't abuse them and can't also sell them to people who are… You know, they are in high demand, they're very expensive, and when people can't get these pills, they're then going to the street. Then you're dealing with needles and unregulated drugs, and you have a lot of overdoses there as well with the medications being prescribed."

Sixx also addressed the ongoing debate, as it relates to the use of drugs by songwriters and other artists, about whether being under the influence enhances creativity. He said: "I was thinking about 1987 and how I was barely able to get an album done and a tour. And, actually, the tour was canceled — the last part of the tour. And in 2017, I'm able to do a radio show, write books, do photography, be a better husband, a father, and be part of these conversations that are happening. So I really think that sobriety gives you more energy and more creativity."

Sixx recently announced that he was stepping down from his "Sixx Sense" hosting duties to focus on myriad new endeavors in 2018, including his blossoming photography career, television endeavors and the Broadway adaptation of his New York Times bestselling memoir "The Heroin Diaries: A Year In The Life Of A Shattered Rockstar".

Featuring music from SIXX:A.M.'s "The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack", the first-ever soundtrack tied to a book release, Sixx has teamed up with former Live Nation chairman and "Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark Broadway" producer Michael Cohl to bring this compelling story of addiction and redemption to life on stage.

Photo credit: Courtney Sixx