Quoted Text

Sir Paul McCartney had to fulfil one important condition before Heather Mills agreed to marry him, she revealed yesterday.

He had to agree to stop smoking cannabis.

Heather Mills McCartney - as she now calls herself - said her husband would use the drug as regularly as others drink cups of tea.

'Him and (his first wife) Linda smoked it every day for the whole of their lives together,' she said of a relationship that lasted more than 30 years. 'But I would not get married to him if he was taking drugs. I hate it.

'I could not have him lying to our child (they have a twoyearold daughter, Beatrice) about not taking drugs and then going out for a sneaky puff.'

Despite having slept on the streets as a teenager and then spent several years working as a model - both worlds where drug abuse is rife - 37-year- old Heather said she had never been tempted to experiment herself.

'I've never taken drugs in my life,' she said.

'One time at Ascot two models ran into the toilets and sniffed some cocaine off the cistern and I was, like, totally shocked.

'I never drank either until I met Paul. I was drunk (recently) on two glasses of wine at a Christmas party. I'm a very cheap date.'

Her abstinence is in marked contrast to the early years of her 63-year-old husband, whom she married in 2002.

As a Beatle, he was a the forefront of the Sixties psychedelic revolution. And in an interview two years ago, he said that drugs had 'informed' much of the band's music including songs such as Got to Get You Into My Life (which was about pot) and Day Tripper (about LSD).

He also admitted that he had tried both heroin and cocaine when the Beatles were in their prime.

In 1980, McCartney was arrested at Tokyo airport after customs officials discovered half a pound of marijuana in his luggage. He spent ten days in a Japanese prison cell before being released and deported.

Despite his habit, it appears Sir Paul had little difficulty giving up smoking dope following his fiancee's ultimatum. 'He says he had a good incentive,' she said when asked if he had found it hard to stop.

Heather said her revulsion of drugs came from having spent time counselling addicts.

'Fifty per cent of people can smoke joints their entire life and be fine. But the other 50 per cent, if there is a history of depression in their family or in their genes, then they cannot smoke marijuana.'

Given her own family's history of mental instability, she was sure that she would 'go wacky' if she ever tried it, she said.

In the interview with the Observer magazine, Heather said she was having difficulty sleeping because of screeching voices in her head.

'It was good,' she said, when asked about being with her husband during his current tour of America, 'but I didn't sleep well.

The screaming always goes on in my head.'

Confused, the interviewer inquired whether she was referring to Sir Paul's fans screaming outside the hotel - before being put straight. 'The screaming of the dogs and cats I had seen on the videos (about animals being skinned alive in China for their fur),' she said.

'Little puppy dogs and girl private cats, their faces so trusting. Just before the noose comes.'

Heather, who is campaigning for an EU wide ban on fur from China, was also scathing about celebrities who wear fur such as Naomi Campbell.

She described the supermodel as a 'stupid, superficial hypocrite' after she started modelling fur having previously led a campaign for Peta, the animal welfare group.

Quoted from Buttmunker

My God, I can't believe how much they all smoked!  

With the exception of John, who smoked til the day he died, I believe the other three lads quit at some point.  

Do we know when Paul, Ringo, and George quit smoking cigarettes?

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JULIAN LENNON has followed in the footsteps of his late father's BEATLE bandmates by giving up smoking. The musician has given up the habit after 25-years - something his father John failed to achieve during his lifetime. He says, "I'm no longer a smoker for sure now, and I'm feeling pretty positive about the future. Smoking had been my crutch for many years. I could hide behind a cigarette." Sir Paul MCCartney and Ringo Starr both quit the habit after years of heavy smoking.

Quoted from Chris

I think it's ridiculous that many '60s pictures of Paul contain cigarettes that have been air-brushed out.

Quoted from Chris

It just seems rather revisionist, especially considering how well known it is that they took so many drugs.

I think every recent appearance of the promo shot used for the US "I Want to Hold Your Hand" cover has been altered, as well as one of the common photos that's seen (properly, other than that cheesy "cut-out" look) on the front of one of the Capitol boxes. I guess I shouldn't split so many hairs, but hell....it's a more worthwhile point of debate than "Which one probably kissed the best?"

Quoted from pamina

drugs and fags made John look older then he really was