Prince ‘took opiates’ to combat stage fright
Prince reportedly took opiates for years to help combat stage fright.
The legendary singer’s former drug dealer, only known as Doctor D, claims the ‘Purple Rain’ hitmaker – who died on Thursday morning (04.21.16) at his Paisley Park estate – would shell out up to $40,000 a time on drugs because he was so nervous about performing in front of people.
He said: "I first met Prince in 1984 while he was filming the movie ‘Purple Rain’ and he was already majorly addicted to opiates – I didn’t hook him on drugs he was already a really heavy user. In the beginning he would buy speed as well as Dilaudid. I would sell him black beauties which were a black pill and cross tops which were also speed pills. He would use that as a counter balance to get back up again from taking opiates.
"That lasted for a couple of years then he would just buy Dilaudid, which is a heroin-based opiate. It is highly addictive. As far as I knew he never took heroin – as that would leave you out of it for days whereas Dilaudid gives you an energy buzz as well as making you feel relaxed – so he preferred it.
"He needed the drugs because he was so nervous – he could be nervous in a room with just five people in it. He was scared to go out in public, he was scared to talk to people and didn’t like to go on stage – he had the worst case of stage fright I’d ever seen."
And the dealer also claimed his client’s habit cost him up to $300 a day but he felt it was necessary so he "could feel at ease around people".
He added to the Daily Mail Online: "He’d buy large supplies of both drugs – I think the most he ever spent was around $40,000 at one time. I’d say in general his habit was costing him about $2-300 a day but that didn’t matter to him as he had plenty of money – he never ran out …
"He never smoked or shot up, or snorted cocaine. He was always functional too – I never saw him out of it or strung out because I always provided him with what he needed and he would buy in bulk so he was always prepared. At the time I was dealing other drugs too but he never asked for anything else. He wasn’t really a party guy either, he was doing these drugs so he could feel at ease around people."
