While hosting the ART HOUSE Gala honoring Nan Goldin on Wednesday, the actor and activist for social justice raised awareness of the opioid epidemic.
Sharon Stone is speaking out against drug use in general and prescription drug abuse in particular.
The actor and activist for the movies spoke about the alleged drug pushing she allegedly encountered while her son was being treated for a skiing accident in the hospital while hosting the ART HOUSE Gala honoring Nan Goldin on Wednesday.
“In the late ’70s and ’80s, I modeled in New York. I was at Studio 54 quite a bit. Many of my friends have passed away. Bringing attention to the medical situation, Stone, 65, yelled at The Bowery, “Don’t f— with me.
Do not cross the line between health, healing, and abuse, the Casino celebrity continued. Due to his transgression, my brother was sent to Attica Prison. With me, do not cross the line. ”.
In an earlier part of her speech, Stone discussed how she had to repeatedly request that her son’s doctors stop giving him OxyContin. She didn’t name the son.
A high risk of addiction and dependence exists with this opioid-class drug. With the opioid epidemic in the United States well-documented and the number of overdose deaths from the drug continuing to rise, the subject has become incredibly divisive.
“Over the course of the next day and a half, I had to have it re-inserted into his chart at every single stop. In the day and a half it took him to get a rod and seven pins in his leg, I received six calls asking, “Can you please read it back to me?”. Four nurses, an anesthesiologist, doctors, and others who had nothing to do with my son’s condition all explained to me why my son required OxyContin and that no other medication would suffice. “No other drug!”.
He’s 17, and when he turns 18, I really think he could decide for himself whether or not to have anaphylaxis.
Stone continued, “It’s not that bad! How bad is it really? He’s not that sick. It wasn’t until the sixth call that I finally said, “I’m going on CNN tomorrow and if I get one more of these calls, I’m going to say that your hospital is a drug cartel.”. ’ “.
“I don’t think Nan or I are against painkillers. Do not. We reject drug dealers who receive payment,” she continued.
The founder of the advocacy group Prescription Addiction Intervention Now (PAIN), Nan Goldin, is well-known for bringing attention to the HIV/AIDS crisis, the LGBTQ+ communities, and the opioid crisis. Aiding in the fight against AIDS and homelessness in N.Y.C.
“I lost my entire community… At first, no one understood what this illness was. They referred to it as the gay cancer. I work to keep my people alive, Goldin, 69, told the audience.
In collaboration with Goldin, Stone hasn’t been afraid to speak out about a number of issues, such as the AIDS epidemic, which she claims “nearly destroyed” her career in the 1990s when so few people were talking about it.
The women’s rights activist revealed to Variety in 2021 how her “extreme feminist” father instilled these values in her. She constantly fights back against the double standards women face with aging and sexism.
“He came from affluence, oil drilling, and there was a terrible accident when he was a young child. Three months later, his father passed away, and all the money went to another family, Stone recalled.
“He thought it was so unfair that his mother didn’t receive half of it just because she was a woman,” she continued. My father insisted that I adopt a feminist mindset. To the point where I never considered myself to be a feminist. These were the guidelines in my home. ”.
When Stone and her ex-husband Phil Bronstein adopted their first child, son Roan, then 23 years old, they became parents for the first time in 2000. Her third son, Quinn, 16, was adopted a year after she adopted her second son, Laird, who was 18 at the time.
The actress from Silver has been open about the numerous tragedies she’s gone through in her life, both before and after becoming a mother, including multiple miscarriages.
“As females, we lack a forum to discuss the gravity of this loss. Stone wrote on an Instagram post from PEOPLE in 2022, “I lost nine children by miscarriage. Despite the fact that it is a significant burden on both a physical and an emotional level, we are led to believe that we should deal with it in silence and failure by ourselves.”.
Stone continues to see the lessons in her life experiences despite her difficulties, including the loss of her beloved brother Patrick in February.
In an interview with AARP in April 2021, Stone claimed, “I’ve survived everything — sexual harassment, miscarriages, a brain bleed, divorce, a lightning strike. “I don’t have time to play around. I’m here to be a good daughter, a present and active parent, and an involved citizen. Everything else is merely a diversion. ”.
